North Dakota homebirth midwives and doulas - Page 2 « Back to Group Discussions

[zensven42]

CNMs are prohibited from practicing at home births in ND. They can only practice in hospital or birth centers. However CNM is the only midwife credential available, and since most insurance will only pay for credentialed providers, this means it is rare to obtain a home birth that is covered by insurance here. I have never heard of anyone getting their insurance to pay for homebirth here. Also I do not think my list has every homebirth provider around here in it, but it lists a large percentage. ND does not have very many doulas or midwives. I think as far as midwives go, your choice is Paulette or nothing for homebirth in Minot

[Pkaaahboo]

Thank you for your response, I really appreciate it.  :)
 

[Metamorphesis]

Pkaaahboo - I've had to deliver twice at Trinity & both times it was not a pleasant experience (to say the least). This might get kinda long so I apologize upfront. My first experience with Trinity was with a midwife, she was awesome staying with my birth plan. However, she did induce me because my baby was 2lbs heavier than my others. After the induction they continued with the petocin (sp?), I didn't feel it was necessary because I wanted to have my uterus massaged but they said it was "policy". I had to share a room with another women and there was hardly any room for my family. There was a bathroom for both of us to share with no shower in it. To shower you have to walk down the hall to stall showers (3 of them) then walk back to your room. Not something I really wanted to do right after having a baby, it didn't sit well. The nurse seemed irritated when I asked for help to nurse my son. This was the better experience. My last delivery was a nightmare! I had to go with a doctor who also wanted to induce (I went into labor on my own thank God). My husband took me when I was having slight contractions. I wasn't having any pain & the nurses weren't picking up any contractions on the monitor (even though I told them that it felt like cramping when you're going to start your period). They told my husband to go home because it was after visiting hours & I wasn't technically in labor (at this point I was starting to dialate and I think I was almost a 2). They told us that they would give me something to help my cervix get ready for delivery (this was my 4th baby so I didn't really think I needed it but they already weren't listening). So, he goes home & I'm laboring, I asked them to check me & I was at 3cm (I had told my doctor repeatedly that I basically am delivering at 5cm because things happen very quickly). After the nurse checked me she didn't say anything about calling my husband back. A couple of hours later I asked them to check me again & they were irritated with me that I even asked & looked at me like I was crazy. Of course at this point I was dialated to 5cm & that's when they called my doctor. I called my husband and let him know, got off the phone, rolled over & my water broke! I couldn't get to the call button so I was yelling for them to come in. My daughter was crowning & immediately the nurse was telling the other nurses to get the foresceps to pull her out. Mind you, my water just broke & I wasn't even pushing yet. Immediately I was stressed & starting pushing like crazy. My daughter was born without them but after she came the nurses started making fun of me for telling them the cramping felt like I was gonna start my period & how funny I was for saying that. So after all of that, they continued with the petocin "hospital policy". I think it's important to mention that there are 3 labor & delivery rooms but not one of them has a private bathroom. There is one in the hallway between two of the rooms & the 3rd room is across a different hallway so you have to walk through another birthing room to get to the bathroom. Thank God, no one else was in that room either time I was in labor. Again I had to share a  room that was too small for my family to even sit in a chair (they were on the other side of the room being occupied by the other women's family. The bathrooms didn't have enough room (I felt) for both of our pads & water bottles, etc to be sanitary. The nursery nurses were good for the most part but one of them took my daughter to the nursery without making sure that I was fully awake & aware first. Then, the day we were supposed to go home a different nursery nurse came in & informed me that they weren't going to let my daughter go home with me because of her jaundice (her # was 9). It was laughable to keep her, just a way to charge our insurance. Anyway, I had to fight with the doctor and the nurse so that she didn't have to stay. I was nursing & they told me that I would have to leave the hospital and come back every 2-4 hours to nurse her (I was nursing on demand). I even asked them if I could just sit in the nursery with her & take care of her myself if it was really that bad & they told me no. I finally had to tell them that I wasn't leaving with out my daughter & that I know how to use the sun & open my window at home long enough for her jaundice to be treated & I could bring her back when she needed to get checked again. Finally we were able to go home. The stress was so unnecessary! This time around we're having a home birth & I couldn't be more excited! Sorry that this is so long but my experience wasn't a good one & I try to deter people from using Trinity because frankly they suck! Btw, I do know now that they've added 2 private rooms who knows how they choose who gets what room & how much extra they'll charge because you have a "special" room.

[Pkaaahboo]

Metamorphesis - Thank you so much for that post.  It's been a bit depressing to see all the bad posts about Trinity.  There was one good post about Bismark and so I may look into that.  Do you remember the name of your midwife at Trinity?  I would like someone who at least sticks to a birth plan!  Did they let you labor how you wanted?  In your own clothes, were you able to eat, no IV, that sort of thing?  Do you know if they have a birthing tub?  We left the hospital only hours after my last birth so I wouldn't care so much about the bathrooms.  I might while I'm laboring though...not having a private one.  Are you having a home birth with Paulette?  I'm concerned about having a home birth with someone who doesn't have the "credentials"...I know a lot of that is breed into me and crazy (don't judge me!  :) ) but I also know that if I'm not comfortable with it then it's not setting me up for a successful birth.  I'm trying to make things so I'm less stressed.  My labors take forever (and I mean like 2 days, not exaggerating) so a two hour drive will be more irritating on bumpy roads than worrisome.  I can't tell how much I really appreciate you getting back!  Also, if you've heard of better birthing experiences at surrounding hospitals, I'm all ears.  Thanks again!
 

[zensven42]

One thing to remember is that it DEFINITELY is not all about credentials. You could get a CNM who has only been practicing for a couple years but is "credentialed", or you could get Paulette, who is not "credentialed" but has been practicing midwifery for over 30 years. I am not judging you, but rather just helping put it into perspective for you. I think you may not have realized how long Paulette has been doing this. Also, I believe Paulette would drive to you for the birth

[Pkaaahboo]

zensven42 - Yeah...I'm realizing every day that what I think I know is useless.  Where I continue to pick up all this wisdom I'm not sure, but I'm grateful that most days I remain teachable.  First of all, no, I did not know that she has been doing it that long and that was one of my lurking questions, which made me really excited by the way, thank you.  Secondly, I finally got in touch with a Bradley instructor (since we use the Bradley Birth Method) in South Dakota and she informed me of the laws for the Dakotas and why things are the way they are in the hospitals and why so many women who want real natural births do home births.  Needless to say, we're preparing for a home birth and I'm calling Paulette in a few minutes.  Thanks for the response, it must be irritating dealing with the uninformed.  :)
 

[Metamorphesis]

Hi again Pkaaahboo. At Trinity we used Wendy Flansberg (they also have a second midwife that you're required to meet with & whoever is on call delivers your baby) but she was still for the iv. She stayed close with my birth plan but after the second time of me asking for something to "take the edge off", she gave it to me. 30 minutes later I delivered, I don't necessarily blame her but whatever she gave me made me and my son so sleepy it was literally hours before he would even nurse. Again, if she had listened to me telling her that my last baby was delivered just 30 minutes after I was given something to "take the edge off", maybe she would have reminded me in labor. It goes both ways I think here. She did allowed me to have a liquid diet (first one to do so) which was nice. I wanted to get up and move around without having the monitor on but they put a mobile monitor on, which I had never heard of before. I walked around the hallway a few times but labored mostly in the bed sitting up. They didn't have a birthing bar or anything like that when I first delivered almost 3 years ago and I don't know if they would allow you to deliver in any position other than on your back in the bed. They don't even have a shower that you can stand in during labor (that I know of, only after delivery) so no on the tub. I don't know how they would respond to you laboring for that long with only 3 birthing rooms, if they would try to rush delivery or give a c-section. We are using Paulette this time around and I'm already comfortable with her. I have some issues with Group B Strep that was neg my last pregnancy but Trinity "had" to give the antibiotic for it any way and I'm given to yeast infections during pregnancy which made after delivery that much worse trying to heal. Paulette wasn't deterred by it at all, she had a plan and said that we could do vit C & ecinacea a month before delivery and that would wipe out anything that might be there. I appreciate her hands off approach. She didn't take any blood other than to check my iron level & check my urine, blood pressure & babies heartbeat. My initial response to her approach was, "aren't you gonna do more", then I thought why? I've had all these other tests done just two years ago so why do it again when everything was fine. It is a little strange acting out a more natural approach but I'm more comfortable without someone probing my stomach, inducing pain just to find out where the baby is. Paulette barely even touched me, found the baby and literally as soon as she put the doppler on she picked up the babies heart beat at 10 weeks. Just a side note, we also believe in the Bradly method and I've used it for all of my births, it's amazing and the low moaning sounds were incredible at helping to open things up. I hope that you have such an amazing birth experience regardless of where you birth at. I'm kinda in the same boat as far as the credential thing but my doula who was at my first birth was still in school and was so amazing. Paulette, I think, is approaching 500 births. At some point, like with any other profession, you reach a point where your experience is equal to if not greater than any person who has the "proper" paper credentials to complete a job well. It sounds like you're close to Minot and if you'd like to get together at some point to have a more "in depth" conversation, I'd be up to it, just message me.

[Pkaaahboo]

metamorphesis - I really appreciate your responses...and the detail in them.  I did contact Trinity hospital yesterday and spoke with midwife department.  I was actually given to the midwife I was interested in working with, Shawn Brooking.  She interested me since she worked in Labor & Delivery in California, which is where we are from, and their system is very hands on in a frustrating way so I was hoping she might understand what we've been through.  I will say she was very nice on the phone and the hospital now (maybe there have been some changes?) seems very accommodating to the natural process.  I asked many questions and the responses it seemed were good.  She said I could eat and drink during labor, no IV, intermittent monitoring (if I wanted it), I could wear my own clothes, etc...the list of good went on.  HOWEVER, there were two things that switched me to a home birth rather quickly.  1) When I informed her that my first son was a cesarean but that I have had a successful VBAC afterwards she said that would usually not allow for me to see the midwives but would put me directly with an OB...that sounds like another cesarean in the making to me.  She said that they may be able to make an exception for me since I had a successful VBAC, but clearly this is not something they see and deal with often which speaks for itself.  2) When I asked what the rate of cesarean just within the midwives practice was she said they haven't actually kept track of that but the midwives have personally started keeping track as of January.  Without giving me any numbers or percentages she said she thinks it is pretty low.  She then stated that she hadn't had a patient receive a cesarean in almost over 2 months now.  2 months???  Really?  Time for a home birth.  I know if I walk into that hospital I'm walking out with a new scar and possibly my last opportunity for ever having a VBAC again. 

I do plan on receiving prenatal care for them.  I have my reasons for this.  IF there is an emergency and I do need to have a surgical procedure, I want to know the doctors.  I also don't want to let on that I'm planning for a home birth since we're going through Tricare, and not that it's not allowed, but I don't need the extra stress during this process.  I'll decide on who I would like to see my baby after having them home since I've read a few things (one on this forum) where the hospital is more irritated that you didn't have them in a hospital than concerned about the child's well-being.  So, we may be finding a private pediatrician for that. 

I will admit I am still nervous about having a home birth but not as nervous as I am to deliver at that hospital.  When are you due if you don't mind me asking?  It would be great to follow you throughout your pregnancy and hear about your home birth experience.  Are you having a doula also attend the birth?  I have been trying to get in touch with Sara Brentrup but so far have been unsuccessful.  I meant to ask Paulette if she had a doula that she likes or recommends to attend births with her.  Also, she mentioned that she takes "donations", what is a normal donation for her.  Since I have no idea what I'm doing I don't know where to start with that.  I sent Paulette a rather lengthy e-mail last night explaining why I want a home birth and giving her a history of my previous births.  I hope she is interested with meeting with me.  That's amazing to hear that she is almost at 500 births, and so so comforting.  I instantly trust her more than any CNM who has a few years out of school.  It makes me think of Ina May.  Anyways, sorry for the lengthy response.  Also, we are not in Minot yet.  We are military coming from Germany and arriving in Minot February, so I will be 7 months, due at the beginning of May and this is why I'm trying to get so much information via the internet.  I wish I could meet and talk with all these people face to face but I just have to do my best from where we're at.  I'm just glad I'll have the 3 months once we get there.  That being said, when I arrive, if you are up for it (whether you're still pregnant or have a new baby) I would love to get together and chat.  :)
 

[Metamorphesis]

Pkaaahboo - I haven't heard of Shawn Brooking and maybe some things have changed. I would hope so! 2 months with no c-section for a midwife I think is crazy! I'm due May 6th. I've tried to contact Sarah but haven't heard anything back and tried Chauntell Jannazo, who is military (what I gather from her FB page CJ doula) but neither have contacted me back. I haven't talked to Paulette yet about using a doula that she may know of. I'm not sure of what Paulette's charged other people so I won't be exact but I will say that her prenatal appointment costs are extremely affordable. I don't know what her normal donations are but she told me that whatever the family is able to share with her she will accept because she doesn't want that to be a deterrent for people to have a home birth. My brother is stationed in Germany with the AF, two other brothers are AF as well & my husband was Army. Sounds like you're on the right track with getting things set up here. Minot AFB Garage Sale on FB is a great place to start for odd & end stuff or resources when you land. I have a friend from church who lives on base I could hook you up with her for some "insider info" lol. Also, Crunchy Families of North Dakota on FB has been a great resource for me too. Looking forward to meeting you in 7 months or so. : )
 

[BriasMommy]

Love that people are still using this thread to find people in ND! I have become certified since listing here, and we have also added a third doula in Williston, Kimberly Spitzer.

We have also added lots of other services to the list:

Sacred Pregnancy classes

Childbirth Education

Belly Casting

Placenta Encapsulation

...and so much more! Excited to serve mamas in Western North Dakota and Eastern Montana!

[Kary Moltzan]

A lot of good reading on this thread! :)  I live north of Ray, ND - which, from our farm is about an hour to Williston. I'm pregnant with my 3rd baby, and really wanting to explore my options for something other than hospital birth. My story is long, so I apologize! 

I had less than desirable experiences with my first two, delivering them at Mercy in Williston (this was 8 and 9 years ago). My first baby, I was young, and had no idea what I was getting into or that there even WERE options. I knew I did NOT want an epidural, however. But, I was having super intense back labor, which laying flat on my back sure as heck didn't help, and finally the nurses wore me down into agreeing to an epidural. Mistake. Getting the epidural is the worst pain I have ever endured in my life. I've been told it shouldn't have been that painful, so I don't know if the anesthesiologist didn't know what they were doing, or what. After that, I still felt every single contraction, I was not numb as promised, I got no rest. Then they gave me stadol, something to just help me rest since my labor was so difficult and had been extremely intense and painful for over 6 hours already... Yeah. That gave me weird, hallucinogenic dreams, and then as soon as a contraction hit, boom, wide awake, extreme pain. For what seemed like 2 hours I heard, "One more hard push, we can see her head"... And yet, no one figured out my poor baby was facing up towards the ceiling instead of down, causing her to get stuck, and suck back in after every push. My doctor (whom I loved and would have never let this happen, and retired shortly after she was born) just happened to be out of town. I was given the on call doctor who'd been on call for far too long, as he was sitting in a corner, pretty much sleeping. Finally, he decided to use the vacuum, which slipped off the first time, scraping the skin off my daughter's head and bruising it badly (it was so awful looking, I cried and cried for what I thought I'd done to her...). The second time he put it on, he actually braced his foot up on the end of the bed and pulled. Can you imagine the trauma my poor little girl went through? She was more than just a cone head from being in the birth canal (which, totally  normal, I get that)... her nose was flat and crooked, her eyes were crooked, one being higher than the other from being squished, her head dark purple from bruising with a huge patch of skin missing from the vacuum. 

My second birth went better, however I still was very frustrated. I went in, knowing I was in labor. Of course, they laid me down and put the monitors on me, which made my contractions lessen. Their answer was that I was not really in labor. I told them if I  stood up, I would be, let me walk around a bit and get the show on the road. Nope. Once I was in, I was hooked up and confined to  my back. While playing cards with my sister, I felt the tell tale "pop" (my first birth, my water broke BIG time, luckily as I stood up from peeing, so it all went in the toilet, whew!), I recognized it immediately, and knew it was my water breaking, but felt only a trickle. My sister had had two membranes with one of her babies, so I figured that was what it was. I called the nurse, she told me I peed myself. I argued and said, no, I know the difference, I'm pregnant, not stupid. But she wouldn't believe me. This was 2 hours after being admitted and my doctor hadn't seen me yet, because it was during office hours, she would come in 'on break'...Break time came and went. I asked when the doctor was coming. Then I was told after office hours. It was just down the hall way, but she couldn't come check on someone in labor. 5pm came and went, where's the doctor. She'll come in after she does her dictation... Are you kidding me? I got up and started taking off monitors (luckily no IV had been put in yet), and getting dressed. The nurse came in as soon as the monitor appeared to be not working and asked what I was doing. I told them I was going to either Sidney or Minot where hopefully someone would actually give a crap about the fact that I was in labor. Well, that finally got the doctor in. She told me from everything the nurse had said I wasn't really in labor. I said, fine, I'm going home then. Then she told me, OH, NO... You're a week early. If you are in beginning stages of labor we're going to keep you here and put you on magnesium to get you through the week. Um. What? No. 39 weeks is not too early to have a baby, I'm not going to sit on a magnesium drip for a week so I can't be home with my other baby, can't read or see TV since it messes up your vision, and all for what... Money. And I told her as much. She said let me at least check  you, if you don't want to stay I can't make you. Um, yes, that's the first correct thing I'd heard all day. She checked me, and OH what do you know. I was fully dialated, ready to go, my water had broke, but just the FIRST membrane. They got me into a delivery room, broke my water and I had told the doctor my last baby was upside down, I want to check for that again. She argued with me for 5 minutes - what's the harm in checking?? Finally she checked, yep, she was upside down, and was able to turn her before I started pushing. I pushed for about 10 minutes, no pain meds (luckily the doctors had missed the opportunity to try to convince me to get one this time), was easy, smooth sailing. I vowed to never have another epidural ever again. A drug free delivery was 10000x better.

SOO. Anyway. Sorry this is so long. I'm 16 weeks, doctoring in Williston, with the same doctor, because I don't know what choice I really have. I do not want a hospital birth, quite frankly, despite people telling me, oh it's so  much better now, the rooms are so nice... Um. I don't care if the building is new with a fake fireplace in every room. That doesn't make a bit of difference to me, it's pushy doctors, nurses who question my intelligence about my own body, being confined to a bed, etc. I would LOVE to do a water birth, but I just don't see that I can here. A) I live on a farm, well water, and the water is NASTY. We do not drink it, cook with it, etc. I don't even like showering in it, but have to... Like the worst, rusty/iron water you can imagine. We have a softener, doesn't do a bit of good. We need an industrial softener/filter system, and are saving up for it... So, anyway, water HERE anyway, is out. I don't let the kids bathe in it period, so I'm not going to sit in it to give birth (the whole tub would be brown/orange and you can't see through it). B)Home birth here doesn't seem safe because I would like to be closer to a hospital for those JUST in case 'ifs' that my arise. I want to do it at home, but I'm not going to be an hour from a hospital if an emergency comes up and we need to get to there. C) The closest midwife is over 3 hours away in Bismarck/Dickinson area. 

Going somewhere else kind of defeats the purpose of a 'home' birth... I am actually hoping to be in MN at my in laws when I go into labor, so I can go to a nearby hospital with a birthing center that at least has birthing tubs and more options - being able to do it 'my' way, yet the comfort of the hospital right there if there's an emergency. I love my in laws dearly, but can't imagine doing it at their house with my father in law there! lol. He and i would both be SUPER uncomfortable with that even if we were in completely separate parts of the house. Anyway the only problem is trying to be there when I go into labor. If I could go down there the minute school got out for summer (I'm due July 8th) or even the middle of June and stay there, I would in a heart beat. But this is baby is with my second husband, and my other kids have to go to their father's here every other week, and the week he has them, i have them most of the time anyway because I stay at home and he works (and, it's not been a good situation, restraining orders in the past, abuse, terrorizing, etc...) Even though things are better now, I would not leave without them and miss out on having them each day and forcing them to be with him longer than they have to.

So... Does anyone have ANY other helpful suggestions?! Lol. I'm pretty much certain I'm stuck between a rock and hard place here, but if anyone has any ideas that I have not thought of yet, I am ALL for it. I was able to do a natural birth in the hospital, and the labor itself was so, non-stressful once we got to that point, so I know I can do it on my own, and I relish the thought of being in a tub, being able to move around. I seriously look forward to it instead of letting labor scare me when I think of how peaceful and relaxing it could be. I know it would still have pain, but if I can do it flat on my back after arguing with nurses and doctors all day, I'm sure I can handle the pain in a calmer setting. I'm just worried I will be stuck at home and have no choice but to go in to the hospital in Williston. :S Thank you in advance for any help or advice anyone might have to offer!

[MommyKlein]

Im in the Minot area and had a homebirth with Paulette back in February of 2011.  Our daughter was baby #508 for Paulette.  She is one amazing midwife and I wouldn't even call the ladies that work at Trinity midwives.  They act just like OB's to me.  I had seen them for few visits in my past pregnancy and the care was no different and after they found out I had a homebirth they were not friendly at all.  Shawn Brooking hung up on me when I told her I already had my baby at home and that I wasn't planning on a hospital birth.   I'm expecting again and will be having another baby at home with Paulette.  :)  If you have any questions Im here to help as well.

[jinbear]

I am interested in getting in touch with you.  I am due at the end of July i believe.  This is my 3rd.  I have had one hospital birth and one unassisted home birth.  I would like someone to do my prenatal care that supports or is at least okay with home birth.  My e-mail address is [e-mail].  thanks  Laure Williamson

[runmeg22]

I would love info for midwives and doulas that practice in the Dickinson area. 

Thanks. 

Megan.