What are your birthing plans?

[midwestmom]

Have any yet? Looks like there are not any first time mamas yet (hopefully there will be soon ). Looks like we have all done this before. Doing anything different this time?

[beautyful]

I'm planning a homebirth with a midwife this time around. With DD I had an OB and a hospital birth that turned into a Cesarean. If I cannot get a midwife to come to me, I will have a hospital VBAC with midwives, but I really would prefer to do it at home.

So I guess I'm hoping for a completely different birthing experience this time!

[MrsHenderson]

Same as last time would be nice. My son cam on his due date and there were no complications and not too much pain. I breathed A LOT.

[desireeb]

I'm planning another homebirth with our beloved midwife, Joy. I ended up in the hospital last time because I stopped dilating, but am planning on delivering at home this time. I am now under the care of a very good homeopath and am a student of homeopathy myself, so I know it will be different this time around!

[PancakeGoddess]

Another homebirth

[Jade2561]

We are planning a home water birth with a lay midwife. It is important for me that dd be there or close by when I give birth and that I am not away from her. I hope we all get the births we dream about!

[luckymama]

i think i want a home waterbirth.

i don't think i'm prepared for the battle against family and spouse to be able to have this with their support. right now, i've switched from my OB from my son's birth ... she irked me and there wasn't a doctor at my birth anyway since no one at the hospital thought i was going to have a baby anytime soon, and then he popped out while i was in the hospital bath tub ... but that's a story for another day. anyway, now i have a midwife in a hospital setting, and i'm thinking that may be the way to go. if i go with her, i will not have a doula this time around.

um ... sorry ... i think i don't know the answer to this question yet. can ya tell?

[midwestmom]

I am in the same situation as luckymama (minus the accidental waterbirth ). I am currently dumping my old OB group and getting ready to 'hire' a midwife. I LOVED the OB that delivered my first, but she moved when I was 37 weeks preg with my 2nd and I think the OB that delivered me was a bit intervention happy. I would love a home/birthingcenter birth, but I am pretty high risk (pre-term labor and PIH) and so far both of my babies have needed bililights for 2 days in hospital for ABO incompatability (not just newborn jaundice). I am planning for this birth to be much more natural (water would be great) than the first two provided my BP doesn't get too crazy this time.

[PancakeGoddess]

If you're planning a homebirth, be sure to add yourself here:
http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=361995

[Roots]

I am planning a VBAC with a midwife. In my area there is a huge demand for midwives so I really hope I will get in. I think my chances of actually ending with a VBAC are much greater with one.

I envy you ladies your homebirth experiences. I wish I was smarter the first time around, but I went with OB and hospital birth.

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

we are also planning a homebirth with a lay midwife. had my first in a hospital with a CNM and it was fine, but the postpartum and nursery care was awful. i'm looking forward to snuggling up with my family and being left ALONE to bond and rest together afterwards w/o having to fight to stay together. i also don't want to be seperated from DD for days and want her to be around to welcome her new sibling right away.

kate

[PancakeGoddess]

Originally Posted by 1stTimeMummytoLore

i'm looking forward to snuggling up with my family and being left ALONE to bond and rest together afterwards

this is the best!

[~pi]

Hi, I'm new and I recently found out I'm expecting dc#1 next July. We've been TTC for a couple of months and I'm thrilled to be pregnant!

I'd love to have a homebirth. It's my idea of an ideal birth. Sadly, I'm high risk (type 1 diabetes.) I don't have the same issues as women with type 2 or GD, but for reasons not yet understood, babes of type 1 women have quite an elevated risk of lung problems, so it's off to the hospital for me.

I'm really quite sad that I won't have a HB experience, but considering that when I was diagnosed 23 years ago, my parents were told I would probably never have kids, I'm thankful to be planning a birth at all.

I'm planning for no drugs, partly for the babe's sake and partly because I have never reacted well to anesthetics or narcotics and I hate needles (funny, I know.) I want to avoid anything that might affect the babe but there's also the added incentive that I don't want it to affect my blood sugars. We're budgeting for a doula but otherwise I'm not sure yet what sort of birthing technique I would like to use; suggestions/comparisons are welcome!

[SoCalGirl]

This is my first time to be pregnant! It's all brand-new to me. I am planning to give birth at a birth center with a midwife.

[MrsHenderson]

Since a lot of you are doing home births and/or with mid wives - can you tell me what you think the advantages are? I like the idea of being home with my son, but I don't think he'd want to hear mommy in pain. And, I really don't know the advantages of having a mid-wife. I hope these are not dumb questions... looking forward to your replies

[desireeb]

We have chosen a homebirth because my home is where I feel the most comfortable. Although I did not get to deliver at home last time as I ended up in the hospital, my own bedroom would be my preferred place to spend the first hours and days with my new baby. I also feel that the environment that your baby has developed in, your home, your smells, your pets is the best place for them to come into the world.
I also liked the idea of being at home because it was calm. There wasn't a nurse coming to check on me every half hour. Our MW was there when we needed her but kept to herself when we didn't.
I also wanted no intervention (vit K, antibiotics, episiotomy), all of which I got when I ended up in the hospital. Had I delivered at home, I feel that my recovery time would have been much shorter.
This second birth is the first in which we will have to worry about a sibling, but our midwife has done many births and I'm sure she will have some suggestions. I know that we will ask someone to be a caregiver for our DD should we need it during the labor. Prior to that, we will watch videos and talk about what's going to happen in order to prepare her.
Hope that helps!

[1stTimeMummytoLore]

i am sleep deprived from a birth i was a doula for last night, so i went to respond to what the advantages of homebirth and midwives are and accidentally hit new thread instead of post reply to this thread, so my response is on the new thread entitled "totally ranting about birth options"

http://www.mothering.com/discussions...d.php?t=362826

here is the link to it if anyone is interested. it's just my 2 cents so take it or leave it

kate

[PancakeGoddess]

For me, hospital births just have too many unknowns:
nurses you will get
whether they will be supportive or defensive that you know your options and are knowledgeable
whether you get control over what happens to your baby
whether monitoring will make it hard to get comfortable and progress
whether they will let you eat and drink
whether labor will be much slower because of the unfamiliar environment
whether the baby will be given a pacifier or bottle without my knowledge
whether baby will be given shots or circumcision without consent (it does happen)
whether I'm discharged in a timely fashion

etc etc

[Jade2561]

For me the advantages of homebirth are:
- that birth is treated as a normal and natural process, rather than a medical problem that needs to be managed and fixed
- That during labor I have freedom of movement, able to eat and drink, no EFMs, allowed to progress naturally without augmentation
- being able to have the people I love surrounding me
- being comfortable to labor in a place that I am familiar with, can relax, and feel uninhibited
- I don't want to be away from dd for 3 days in a hosiptal
- no seperation of mom and baby after birth
- I don't want to be pressured into using pain medication, Hep B and Vitamin K shots, antibotics, circ. for my newborn
- I want a birth that is family centered and that is MINE

[SoCalGirl]

My choice to use a birth center and a midwife is based on two things. One, a little over a year ago I switched to seeing a midwife for well-woman care, instead of an OB/GYN, and I found the difference in approach amazing.

And I have heard the birth stories of lots of my friends who have given birth in hospitals and birth centers, and without even hearing all the statistics about how many unnecessary interventions happen in hospitals, I knew that the experiences of my friends in birth centers were the ones that sounded the most pleasant to me. My friends who gave birth in hospitals, for the most part, were happy with it and that was what they wanted, but their stories just sounded way too "wrong" to me--babies being "taken away" right after birth, having to fight with the nurses to get them NOT to give the baby formula, being required to stay in the hospital for a certain number of days, etc. etc.

Some people are more comfortable in a hospital, but a hospital is not a place I'd like to spend any time if I can help it.