Homebirth Tribe? - Page 4 « Back to Group Discussions

[SpicyTunaRoll78]

Me too! I'm glad to see this thread!

[jaxxy]

Originally Posted by pokeyAC 

Thanks for clarifying everyone.  I forgot it is also used as a single shot for bleeding.  I was thinking of induction/making contractions stronger, etc.  Perhaps Jaxxy was thinking of the former rather than the latter.  I will have to go back and check.  I am from Ohio, and when I lived there midwives were neither legal nor illegal.  It makes me happy to see that their status seems to be more secure now.  California licenses midwives, but I am not sure of all they are able to do.  I plan on asking at my consultation. 

Yes, I'm hoping they have it just in case of emergency- PPH or a stubborn placenta that's allowing you to continue bleeding. I had this issue with my first birth (in hospital). 

If you are from Ohio you might remember this case. It was awhile back, a midwife here in ohio tended to a lot of amish  and mennonite families administered pit (I think it was the shot) for pph. The woman needed emergency medical attention and the people who tended after transfer made a big deal about an "unqualified" person having pit. She was arrested for practicing medicine without a license and jailed for contempt of court because she refused to state her source for the pit. She sited in court that she was of some religious order that didn't allow her to cause harm to another person and she felt stating her source would bring them harm. I don't remember whatever happened with the case so I'm a little nervous other MW don't want to be put in the same situation. It's really silly, EMTs with minimal (and very focused) education administered life saving drugs based on standing orders all the time. I don't understand why MWs can't enjoy the same privilege. It's not like Pit has a high abuse potential!

Anyway I finally scheduled an appointment with one of the 2 midwives in the area... I'm excited and I'll know for sure soon!

[Sol Adventurer]

We definitely plan on a home water birth.   Very excited to bring our little one into the world naturally.

[amlikam]

 and to this thread Sol Adventurer!!

jaxxy, I remember that faintly though I do not recall the outcome. I am curious what the legislation is in Mass? I know midwives in Mass use Pit for pph and that is really all they use it for. My midwives said they would try herbs, abdominal massage (one of them is certified in mayan abdomninal massage) before using Pit. However they said given the bicournuate uterus they will have a syringe prepped with pit "just in case" but since I don't recall a need with it for my first one they don't know that I would need it.

is anyone else here doing concurrent care with an OB?

[MommyThea]

I'm not doing concurrent care, but I will see my midwife's backup ob before I get close to my due date. Mainly for him to write me a prescription to combat hemorrhaging, so that my midwife can give it to me and not get in trouble. I've had heavy bleeding in 3 of my 4. They think it's because my placenta attaches low so my uterus doesn't quickly contract down on where it separates. 

[littlegreenlady]

I've been thinking about concurrent care, but with the midwives at our local hospital. Not really sure why. I didn't' do this the first time. I did end up getting transferred so maybe I'm just thinking this way I'll be more familiar with the staff. I'm a bit nervous bout them pushing procedures or discouraging a home birth though.

[Sassicaia]

I am sadly leaving you all; I found out my c/s incision was stitched in a single layer, and that apparently auto-risks me out of a midwife attended HBAC. :(

I hope you all have wonderful, beautiful, easy homebirths!
 

[MommyThea]

Originally Posted by Sassicaia 

I am sadly leaving you all; I found out my c/s incision was stitched in a single layer, and that apparently auto-risks me out of a midwife attended HBAC. :(

I hope you all have wonderful, beautiful, easy homebirths!
 

I am so sorry.  Hoping you have a wonderful natural, peaceful birth no matter where you birth you little one. 

[shanna-cat]

i am kinda late joining here but thout i would jump in. i had my last two babes at home and am excited ro be planning another home birth vor this one. i am in oregon, so we have loads of midwives around and i am staying with the same cnm who attended both me and my sisters last births. i actually birth at my moms house which is about 15 blocks from me, and am super nervous about going into labor because my last labor was SO fast - 29 minutes from first contraction to baby in my arms. yikes!! so i am hoping for a longer labor this time. 

i love being surrounded by friends and family at my labors and cant wait for my  next little baby to be born. 

[sky_and_lavender]

Originally Posted by amlikam .

is anyone else here doing concurrent care with an OB?

I asked my mw about it. In my state, CPMs can administer emergency medication like pitocin without a prescription. In my last birth, I hemorrhaged pretty badly--the midwife said she was about to call the ambulance and administer pit when other measures resolved it. Then she had to do a urinary catheter. So I wondered if I would benefit from having OB backup. She said that while she was open to me having concurrent care, it wouldn't have made a difference last time if I'd had to transfer, since it was an emergency and I'd be dealing with whatever doctor was there, but then my doctor would be called for followup. That didn't seem important or worthwhile for me, especially since my copay for ob visits is $45 and I find dealing with the whole medical complex stressful. She also said that it was pretty unlikely I'd have something like failure to progress since I already had one successful homebirth labor behind me. (In FTP, there would be time to call a specific OB.)

Edited to add: Also, I'm lucky that the OB/GYN I see for routine testing is a midwife-friendly OB who I'm already established with, should I have some kind of need to get OB care in a non-emergency situation.

Edited by sky_and_lavender - 12/23/12 at 8:30pm

[womenswisdom]

I am doing concurrent care with an OB because if I do need to transfer care in pregnancy or a non-emergent in-labor/postpartum scenario, I don't want to take the luck of the draw. We've had clients transfer care for pre-e, placenta previa, preterm labor, high BP, retained placenta, severe tear, non-reassuring heart tones - all things no one expected. I would want to know that the OB I was seeing has the same general philosophy about birth as I do so I can trust his recommendations if a medical issue were to arise and not have to hesitate to get further diagnostics done if they were indicated for fear of the reception I would get from an on-call OB I had never met before. Non-emergent transfers are far more common tham true emergencies.

[amlikam]

Interesting, my concurrent care was part of the midwives taking me on board for a HB! They felt with my previous pregnancies and the bicornuate uterus that they may want me to have a number of u/s and NST to ensure all will be progressing with the most holistic care model. They keep reminding me however that I didn't know about it last time and so they don't want to focus on it this time, only they want me to have a relationship with an OB should we need u/s or NST ordered. Fortunately for me pregnancy care falls under prevenative care so I only pay for the midwives (and on the small chance I have a hospital birth- I pay for my stay there.) I am surprised with new federal regulations on prevenative care, that anyone has to pay for office co-pays during pregnancy. :-/  

I am wanting to focus more on my home experience and leave the OB as a backup.

I wrote this to a friend the other day:
"I sometimes wonder if we (our culture) spend too much time thinking about who our care provider is and what our birth will be, that we forget/don't have time to connect with ourself and the little one inside. I really think the more time you have to connect with you, what you bring to the process (besides the baby) and develop the trust with you as your first care provider and the midwife/ob as the secondary provider the better."

And since sending it off I have reall ybe reflecting on it internally for myself. Looking for the places I have the ability to be in charge of. This seems like a place for me to meditate more and now that I am moving into my 5th month, I feel a renewed responsibility to start making that time to create the foundation I need to have the most incredible experience for me. I know now that no matter where I birth or what it looks like, I will have the support I need to navigate the process.

That being said I am seeing me in home, surrounded by people I love- including my daughter (who will be close to 5 at the time) and really in a space for myself. I am planning on making a birth board and altar to have a place to sit with and connect.

Can you believe how quickly this is going?

[FarmerMomma]

Well said. I love the altar idea.

[LorienIslay]

I'm in the homebirth tribe! I had a section with my first (failed induction) and thought I'd be risked out for a home VBAC due to my age (39 at delivery) and hypothyroid, higher BMI etc. However, I've met with a great group of midwives that came highly recommended and they seem quite positive about my homebirth chances :)  They even said that due to my long cycles, I shouldn't expect the baby before July (which feels great to know they don't have a clock in mind for me). 

I'm so grateful to live in a province where midwife care is readily available and forms part of the public healthcare system. We don't do concurrent care though apparently I do 'have to' meet with an OB who will go over the reasons for my csection and will expound wisely on what he thinks my chances are of a successful VBAC :P  I'm hoping I can decline this.
 

[amlikam]

Originally Posted by LorienIslay 

I'm in the homebirth tribe! I had a section with my first (failed induction) and thought I'd be risked out for a home VBAC due to my age (39 at delivery) and hypothyroid, higher BMI etc. However, I've met with a great group of midwives that came highly recommended and they seem quite positive about my homebirth chances :)  They even said that due to my long cycles, I shouldn't expect the baby before July (which feels great to know they don't have a clock in mind for me). 

I'm so grateful to live in a province where midwife care is readily available and forms part of the public healthcare system. We don't do concurrent care though apparently I do 'have to' meet with an OB who will go over the reasons for my csection and will expound wisely on what he thinks my chances are of a successful VBAC :P  I'm hoping I can decline this.
 

Welcome to Mothering Lorienslay! I am hoping you can decline the OB apt as well and if not that it goes easily in your favor!!! I love how the midwives are so not clock minded. BB of my history with preterm labor we unfortunately are "on the clock" though I would LOVE to be postdate with with baby!!!!! I have a high BMI and hypothyroidism too,  I love how midwives just see it as a variation and not an automatic eliminator!

[jaxxy]

I planned to hold off on seeing the OB practice until closer to 20 weeks but I really wanted to hear another fetal heartbeat so I went in today. Hoping I start to feel some fetal movement soon so that worried feeling doesn't creep back up on me! They are referring me to a high risk OB for a consult for the 20 week US. Not sure how I feel about that. I suppose it won't hurt to see a specialist. I'm just afraid that if I create this record of having a risky history I'm going to get myself stuck somewhere I don't want to be and I realize they tend to "find" things when they go looking for them. OTOH I don't want to miss something that truly needs attention . In any event I'm seeing the HB midwife the week after next and that can't come soon enough!! Perhaps I will gain some insight from that visit.

[zjande]

Originally Posted by shanna-cat 

i am kinda late joining here but thout i would jump in. i had my last two babes at home and am excited ro be planning another home birth vor this one. i am in oregon, so we have loads of midwives around and i am staying with the same cnm who attended both me and my sisters last births. i actually birth at my moms house which is about 15 blocks from me, and am super nervous about going into labor because my last labor was SO fast - 29 minutes from first contraction to baby in my arms. yikes!! so i am hoping for a longer labor this time. 

i love being surrounded by friends and family at my labors and cant wait for my  next little baby to be born. 

I had one of my babies with the midwives from Vivante in Portland when we were living there. :) And wow, 29 minutes! I'd be nervous, too!! My last one came in 44 minutes from 1st contraction, you have me beat. :P I wonder how quick your labor will be this time!

[shanna-cat]

Originally Posted by zjande 

I had one of my babies with the midwives from Vivante in Portland when we were living there. :) And wow, 29 minutes! I'd be nervous, too!! My last one came in 44 minutes from 1st contraction, you have me beat. :P I wonder how quick your labor will be this time!

We are in Portland, my first LO we used Linda Glen CNM and she was wonderful (very hands off- which I liked) and then my sister had her son right after me and went with A Gentle Beginning and I was totally impressed by them that for my second LO we went with them and are agian this time around. My mom is a labor and delivery nurse at OHSU and my sister is a mother baby nurse at OHSU so they are very specific with me about using a CNM and who i choose for care. unfortunetly they see first hand all the lay midwife mistakes and oops's and i hear horror stories that are just devestating that COULD have been prevented. But i really love my midwives and they use my insurance (even if it is out of n network), they even take state insurance which we had to use last time around.

They have a wonderful payment plan option, i think my sister paid $50 a month for many years because they were SO broke but she did eventually pay them off. :-)

I am hoping this baby wont be in that perfect position to be born so quickly!! i actually want to experience labor, since this is our last baby. my first was 12 hours with about 2.5 hours active labor so i have quick labors in general.

[OSUvet]

Originally Posted by Sassicaia 

I am sadly leaving you all; I found out my c/s incision was stitched in a single layer, and that apparently auto-risks me out of a midwife attended HBAC. :(

I hope you all have wonderful, beautiful, easy homebirths!
 

So sorry! Best wishes for your birth!

[OSUvet]

Originally Posted by amlikam 

Can you believe how quickly this is going?

I can't! I am 17 weeks and I THINK I have finally settled on my midwife for this birth but my situation is starting to make me nervous as this pregnancy DOES feel like it's going very quickly! I am currently in OH and have a wonderful midwife here who I had for my son's birth but we are planning to move to MI as soon as my husband can find a job. I have met with 2 wonderful homebirth midwives in the area we will be moving to, and am so happy to have the choice between two wonderful and very experienced caregivers. I am glad to be moving to that area but the feeling of nothing being settled and not even knowing WHEN we will be moving is definitely starting to make me a bit anxious!