If something goes wrong....

[De-lovely]

Unbeknownst to me I was robbed of what was rightfully mine and it was the price I paid for being herded like a sheep in doing what everyone else thought was normal. I had 2 (count them !!!) 2 c-sections and my 2 beautiful dd's were brought into the world by way of sterile,cold, brightly lit, uncaring ways and to top it off I didn't get to hold my 2nd one for almost 4 hours!!!!!!! My question to all of you who have had maybe a close call.....my 1st dd had umbilical cord around neck and heart rate decelerated with every push.....my question is how do you keep positive energy and confidence and keep your mentals straight when instinctively you fear for your babe? I would hope with my next child I might be able to pursue a home water birth.....I am positive I could conquer childbirth I am indeed a strong woman but I would be nervous because of previous experience.

[AngelBee]

I have been wondering about this also...

[MyYogaBaby]

This is as complicated as you allow it to be...

Both of my kids had umbilical cords tightly around their necks. I had two different scenarios:

#1 was an unmedicated birth in a hospital with a midwife. They were so dang concerned with their friggin belly monitor that they were actually asking ME to move my arm DURING PUSHING to re-position it because it kept slipping. The baby's heart rate was decelerating during contractions, but recovering fine between contractions. They got themselves all worked up about it and ended up immediately cutting the cord when she came out (which is totally counter-productive, IMO, because that was her best source of O2). They whisked her over to the warmer and rubbed her down, gave her O2 and then handed her to me when she started wailing and was bright pink. This was total overkill, overreaction on their part...all because of the monitor.

#2 had the exact same issue, but it was a home water birth. I was not monitored, but I am certain that her heart rate was also decelerating. That's a lot of pressure and movement happening in there....as long as it picks back up, I think it's fine. Also, I could feel her moving, kicking, squirming the whole time. Her head was out and she was kicking me! I had been checking myself (dilation, movement of baby through birth canal) throughout labor. Dh could barely get his pinkie finger under the cord because it was tight, and they couldn't get any slack in it. I needed some counterpressure toward the back to get her out. My midwife did put an O2 mask near her face once she was out, and she was bluish when she came out, and she woke slowly (normal for water babies), but she was absolutely fine.

I think that you do have to be in touch with your emotions, with your body, and be confident with your decisions. Emotionally, you cannot go into it having fears or worry that things will go wrong. If you do, you'll interpret everything as a sign that something is wrong. You have to be able to be in your head enough to be thinking about things like, have I felt the baby move, what is the baby's position, etc.

Most things that go wrong in a birth (not all, but a lot of them) can be foreseen to some degree. Mom will have symptoms of problems (excessive swelling, spotting, low blood pressure, high blood pressure) and the baby's position can have an effect on how you approach birth (head down, breech, what type of breech).

As long as you are informed, have an informed attendant that you trust and who can observe things for you when you are in the throes of labor and have a plan for what to do should there be a problem, you'll be fine. Even with that, there are a lot of women who do unattended child birth and have no problems! Honestly, most of the "problems" that happen in hospital births are the result of the hospitals procedures, monitors, staffing, urging the birth to "hurry along," etc.

This is getting wordy....but does it help you understand where you need to be mentally to have a home birth?

I wouldn't do it any other way. It is so nice to be in the hardest parts of labor and be thinking, "I'll be resting in my own bed very soon with this baby in my arms!" That was the most comforting thought to me!