I birthed my first at Evergreen 8 years ago. It was "ok", but there is a reason I had homebirths after that. I just felt like my wishes were not respected and I wasn't treated as an individual.
With my first, my water broke. Being a naive first time mom, I went straight to the hospital (NEVER do this, stay at home until you go into labor!). Since I wasn't in active labor on my own after 8 hours or so they played the "dead baby card" and told me I'd be an automatic c/s if I didn't give birth by 24 hours after my water broke. No consideration of if it is necessary. Repeated pelvic exams (which are a big no no since the biggest issue with ruptured membranes is the risk of infection which internal exams can cause by introducing bacteria). Anyways, I was pressured into accepting pitocin. Prior to that, things were great. I had a wonderful nurse, who did (after I was induced) continue to stay with me, past the time her shift was over. She was the best part of the experience. I honestly don't think anyone read my birth plan. I was asked over and over if I wanted things I specifically said I didn't want to be asked about (epidural, drugs, etc).
I wasn't allowed in the tub since my water had broken. Once on pitocin I was not allowed to eat or drink anything. I finally gave in and got an epidural, I was so exhausted and the pit contractions were just awful.
After the birth I did not appreciate that my baby was treated basically without asking what I wanted (bathed while they stitched me up, etc). I also really did not like being woken up every few hours to have my temp taken, be poked and prodded, etc. Oh, and they gave me a drug I'm allergic to in my epidural, so I had the fun allergic reaction to that to contend with after my son's birth too. It was right in my chart, in red, I was allergic. They just didn't bother to check!
My 2nd birth was a great homebirth, but for comparison I want to share my 3rd birth because it was similar. With my 3rd I planned on a MW assisted homebirth.
My water broke at 6pm Monday. I called my midwife. She went over with me things to be watching for (signs of infection, signs of cord prolapse, making sure baby was still active, etc). Then she suggested I eat and get some sleep and call her when labor started. Woke up in the am, ate breakfast, still not much by the way of contractions (one every half hour or so). She wanted to see me since my waters had been broken for over 12 hours so dh and I went to her office at 11 am. We talked about how I was doing, she gave me options if I wanted to try to get things going, we talked, and I ended up going home with some herbal tinctures to try around 4pm if labor hadn't kicked into gear by then. My appointment lasted around 45 minutes, no internal exams do to risk of infection (she said she would do one only if I really wanted it, and I didn't). On the way home my labor started (yes, I was rushing home to have the baby!) and she was born around 1pm. Super easy birth. Afterwards I got to sleep as I could (when baby was sleeping) with no one waking me up to poke and prod. I was in charge of taking my temperature every so often to screen for infection and was given instructions on post partum care and what to watch for (and told to call my midwife or 911 if any of them happened). It was nice and relaxing at home and I got more sleep, with 3 kids in the house, then I did at the hospital with my first birth!
Had I been at the hospital, I would have been started on pitocin in the early am and not had a chance to deliver on my own. They don't treat you as an individual and make sure things are going well and decide from there. Rather, they have protocol to follow, and since risk of infection goes up by 24 hours after membranes have ruptured, they automatically assume every woman who is not going to deliver shortly after needs a c/s.
A nice compromise would be Puget Sound Birth Center up by Evergreen. Great midwives, nice facility, super close to the hospital just in case you need emergency help. Or, find a hospital and provider who is natural birth friendly, and pray they are on call when you go into labor.
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