UC Thread #10 - October 2004! - Page 7

[cottonwood]

Amy, what about keeping your midwife on (for the rhogam etc.) but just not calling her for the birth? Or, could a general practitioner get it for you (and make up some story, like, your lay midwife can't get if or something.)

Shit, it pisses me off so much that to get the care we want and need we have to make compromises to accept involvement we don't want/need. Wouldn't it be nice if medical people could be consultants and employees rather than powerful authority figures? But, who wants to give up that power? And even if an individual is okay with that, they are restricted by their employers or the state. It's just so screwed up that they feel the need to act as an authority, and that so many people demand that they act as an authority, which means of course litigation and fear, coming back around to the need to be more controlling. What an incredibly sick bunch of animals we are, that we can't just allow people to make their own decisions regarding their bodies and lives, and that so many people are only too happy to give up their power to do so.

ETA: oops! Didn't read down far enough before posting. That's what comes of trying to get something down as fast as I can before I am called back to duty. :LOL I am so happy for you Amy! And I know that feeling of relief.

[nikirj]

Great news Amy!!!! Can't she bill it as if you switched providers? That happens all the time, right? And the initial practitioner still gets paid for whatever prenatal care they performed?

[majazama]

congrats Amy!! Hope everything goes as you want it from now on

[sprinkle pocket]

yeah amy!! you're a star!! sounds like there's just some unraveling of the connection to figure out--which is nothing compared to getting to this point. that's so rad that you spoke your truth. i love that feeling!

ok, you 34 weekers...i'm only, well, i think 16 weeks from conception, so 18 according to a mw/ob, but i'm facing some of the same fears. but i, for some reason, have more fears about the baby's health/abilities than my body's health/abilities. i worked for years as a pediatric therapist with kids with congenital conditions, neurological problems, and developmental delays. i wondered at the time if it would affect my mindset during my future pregnancy, and here i am wondering about cp, down's, cleft palette, anacephaly, etc, etc. i keep telling myself that most of them are no biggie for home birth, and we're only 6 miles from the hosp. i'm glad it's happening before il's find out we're pregnant, so i can deal with it uninterrupted by their possible fears.

did anyone watch wifeswap last night? i know, i know. but, there was a meditating, peaceful, whole foods, veg mama on it and she said one thing that really stuck with me that i want to add to my birth (and life) affirmations. it was that whatever was going to happen, will happen "with ease and grace". i now feel lucky to have that as my mantra--'it will happen with ease and grace, it will happen with ease and grace'. that's my new attitude for telling the il's about the pregnancy, too. i pray that they'll have the wisdom to see that creating and sharing fears and worries will help noone. i pray that i'll respond to the situation with ease and grace.

so news on my front (no pun intended)~~one of the other pregnant women in town told me she's going to try and get one of the 2 mw in town to do a birthing class geared towards homebirth and asked if we'd be interested. i told her we were, but would want to know what the class would cover before deciding for sure. so...

~~~as a uc-er (to be or already), what kinds of topics would you think would be important/interesting to have covered if we were to take the class? what would you not want covered? how would you respond to the question of who your care provider/mw is, what are your birthing plans, during the class. (since this is such a small town, i would expect the class would be small and this would come up, so suggestions are welcomed!)

[Ame]

Yeah AmyD ! I'm so glad to hear you are feeling good

For a class I think it would be important to talk about the fact that many "complications" are a result of hospital interventions and that many "conditions/complications" can be handled after baby is born and are not immediate emergency rush the baby to the nicu situations. I think most peoples fear of homebirth is the whatif's and if they knew that the majority of situations could be handled at home or in time after babies birth it would be reassuring. Then there is the obvious issue of pain management...discussing what causes pain ( being tied to a bed and poked and prodded every 30 minutes) and how pain is managed at home.

[Kundalini-Mama]

Thanks mamas!

I am still feeling great too--I love this feeling. I wish I would have been feeling this way throughout pregnancy

Anyway, I got a great e-mail from her the other night thanking me for speaking my truth and respecting me. It was really sweet. She is also now thinking about what kind of midwife she wants to be and how our experience together has really put things into perspective for her. She is also so frustrated that being licensed has caused her to deviate from her ideal.

But yes, she is going to call billing and try to see if she can get paid for the last 34w of work. I called her after I got off the phone w/her to discuss the issue of me "changing providers" and how it should be similar. She thinks so too, so maybe I won't owe too much $.

And Linda, I agree w/you 100% (as I'm sure many of us here do), and it is incredibly frustrating that to get the care I need or desire, I have to consent to all this other bullshit.

Thanks again mamas,
Amy