what kind of birth are you planning?

[MamaFern]

i had my son at home with a midwife..

im planning another homebirth, hopefully with the same midwife. i really want a water birth this time, since last time it didnt work out.

[mommy2boys]

I wish I had the option of having a homebirth. In Florida our insurance is required to pay for a homebirth but the nearest homebirth midwife is 2 hours away and thats without traffic. So I will have another unmedicated hospital birth and hopefully I will have another midwife for the delivery. I am planning my third unmedicated birth.

[s_kristina]

I'm currently trying to get in touch with a midwife to start working towards a hosptial birth with her. My dh would be far too worried because of issues at our dd's birth to ever be comfortable with a home birth. Although I don't plan on having my blood pressure go through the roof after giving birth again it will be nice to be in a hospital just in case something happens especially as the nearest hospital is a half hour drive.

[BensMom]

I had a full-intervention filled hospital birth with DS and am planning a homebirth this time. I am so looking forward to my healing birth. DH was not onboard until we interviews a HB MW back when we started TTC. Now his only concern is the cost, since its not covered by insurance. I meet with her for the first official visit next Tuesday.

[Brenda2005]

I'm going to give birth in our local hospital. I can't afford a home birth and it's my dream to have one

[Belleweather]

We're planning a birth at the local free-standing Birth Center. I'm not nearly crunchy enough for a home birth for a bunch of reasons -- mainly, we live in rental housing, I don't want to clean up, and we don't have a bath tub, not to mention the to-die-for jaccuzi at the Birth Center.

It's expensive, especially considering that if I had a hospital birth everything would be paid forby health insurance or MA, and we'll be paying a 20% copay that we'll have to sell stock from our house/retirement fund to come up with, but it was really important to me not to give birth in the hospital, since the only one available to me is so far in the dark ages as far as obstetrics that they don't believe in Rooming In.

[brandybehr]

I am planning an unassisted homebirth.

With my 1st 2 I had (Dr attended) hospital births, fully covered by healthcare insurance (Alberta) and my third was a homebirth (midwife attended) that was out of pocket. Midwivery isn't covered by insurance in my province. This time I can't hire a midwife, there is such a shortage so we are going it alone.

[darsmama]

Peeking in from the July boards Congratulations to all you newly pregnant mommies!

We are planning a home water birth again. We will have a midwife in attendance!

Katie

[3for3hb]

Unassisted homebirth with my honey and a volumptuos earthy doula.
And this time I'm renting an aquadoula! No more messing around with blow up kiddie pools! Not after last time! :LOL

[neveryoumindthere]

we are planning a waterbirth at home.
we're in canada so everything is totally free

with dd i had a 24 hour pitocin-induced labour, ended up with an epidural..NOT what i wanted at all...so this time doing it at home

just got a hold of the midwife today so our 'spot' is already booked now..YAY!

[*Amy*]

Oooh, I am so envious of you water birth mamas! That's what I'm really dreaming of. We're going to deliver in a birthing center (I'm not quite ready to go it alone at home), but I have a wonderful midwife, and they should have a birthing pool installed by that time. I'm keeping my fingers crossed it'll all work out. I'm also thinking about hypnobirth. Have any of y'all tried that?

[mamatoady]

you know you're pregnant when you read through everyone's plans for their birth and CRY your eyes out

I had a pitocin induced hospital birth with my daughter because of pre-eclampsia and am planning another homebirth. I am this time working with my doula who has been training as a midwife and she will deliver my baby! I am SO excited because I love her so much! My chiropractor is going to be working with me nutritionally and such to make sure I don't get the high bp again (which actually was my ONLY pre-eclampsia symptom 150/110 )


Sarah

[FillingMyQuiver]

DH and I are still in the negotaiation phase, :LOL. I want a HB SO badly, but he's not totally on board yet. My last birth was a hospital birth w/ an OB and I just wasn't happy w/ it at all. My MIL has a wonderful jacuzzi tub in her master bath and I would to give birth in it and use it for pain management. : that I can work DH over before the birth.

[Queen of Cups]

I'll be delivering at the same hospital I had DS at, with the same midwives. They were so excited to see us today when I went in for bloodwork! I love the midwives I'm with, they're both CNMs and were sooo wonderful at my last birth. I used hypnobabies (self-hypnosis program for pain management) with DS, and it worked wonderfully so I'm planning to do that again. I had a totally drug-free birth with no interventions until a last-minute episiotimy. I'm hoping to avoid that this time by doing perenial massage with DH starting several weeks before our due date (we didn't do it at all last time - obviously). I had a wonderful birth experience last time and can't wait to do it again! I was in labor for only 7 hours, and the only unpleasentness was the last hour of pushing (yep, I pushed for 2.5 hours)! The hospital staff was wonderful - very supportive of breastfeeding, rooming in was expected, and I was released about 30 hours after I gave birth.

[maybemom05]

I will be doing a hospital birth with an OB (please don't kick me off the board!!)

I have some orthopaedic issues with my hip that in all likelyhood will not be an issue, but it keeps me out of midwife contention.

I am fortunate to live in an extremely liberal area with a progressive hospital, so I'm cautiously optimistic

[Queen of Cups]

Originally Posted by maybemom05

I will be doing a hospital birth with an OB (please don't kick me off the board!!)

I have some orthopaedic issues with my hip that in all likelyhood will not be an issue, but it keeps me out of midwife contention.

I am fortunate to live in an extremely liberal area with a progressive hospital, so I'm cautiously optimistic

After hearing all the scary hospital stories out there I was worried about delivering in a hospital last time... but it was a great experience! No IV, no internal monitoring, I was allowed to labor in whatever position I wanted, DH and my sister and my in-laws were all there, no one had to wear scrubs (DH and my sister were barefoot the whole time! and I was naked!), DS did have to be takent to NICU for three hours observation (meconium in water, cord around his neck, labored breathing, etc) - but the nurses brought him over for me to hold first and then DH stayed with him the whole time and he was brought to me promptly after the 3 hours and we started breastfeeding, the LCs called me every few days for the first 2 weeks after he was born... It was a lovely experience.

Make sure your OB is on-board with your birth plan NOW. When you go to the hospital to deliver, bring a big basket full of cookies and candies, a thank you note to the nurses, and your birth plan. I did that, and every single nurse I saw while at the hospital would enter the room, introduce herself, thank me for the basket, and tell me she read my birth plan. It was great!

[Baby Hopes]

We have no idea what we are going to do this time around. DD was induced (because of other complications) and I ended up with an epidural. Not in my original plans, but ended being exactly what I needed at the time. (The epidural, not the induction. lol.) We are slotted to head back stateside on the 18th of November, and with this little one due on the 27th of November... something is going to have to give. Either I'll head stateside before the birth, or we'll extend. Either way birth plans are up in the air.

Idealy? I wouldn't mind going to a birthing center in town. They offer the waterbirths and other more natural options.

[HeartsOpenWide]

Home birth all the way, natural natural natural. The only way I will deliver in the hospital is if there is somthing validly wrong before the birth or if a real complication happens durning my labor and I have to be transfered. Lucky for me my MIL's best friend is a midwife so I can use her and know she will give me a good deal or let my husband do some trade work. (contractor)
I would like to get one of those little kiddie pools to put in the kitchen for a water birth. Any suggestions...how well do those things support your weight when you are leaning up against them? What brand? Should I push it up against a wall and then lean on it or just get in the bathtub instead until pushing?

[MamaFern]

its great to see you U/C mommas! im thinking about this as well.. i guess my only fear about it is that i bled a LOT after my son was born, but i know that there are herbs and remedies for that.. and i also would have a midwife if i needed to call her if i Felt like soemthing was going to go wrong.. it is something im totally thinking about. maybe we should do a U/C su[pport group on here>?

[hypatia]

Originally Posted by Queen of Cups

I used hypnobabies (self-hypnosis program for pain management) with DS, and it worked wonderfully so I'm planning to do that again.

I'm glad to hear that your Hypnobabies experience worked well for you. Last time, I did Hypnobirthing with mixed success, and I decided that this time around I would try Hypnobabies, because it seems to be a better program. But I don't know how to find the time to squeeze in the tapes now that I have a child!

My last birth was in a hospital, which was ok, I guess. Not scarring, anyway. For this one, I am debating between a zero-deductible birth center birth, or paying out of pocket for a homebirth. No matter how many stories I read by women saying how wonderful it is to have a baby at home, I have guilt about justifying spending that much money.