What are your birthing plans? - Page 2

[MrsHenderson]

thanks everyone for your input - def. has me thinking

[Maxine45]

I'll be a first time mama. Don't really know yet what I'll do.
I've read the book Misconceptions by Toni Wolfe, gave me a lot to think about.
I have toured a local community hospital.
I have discovered my insurance won't cover midwives or doulas or non-hospital births.
I'm interested in having a fulfilling and natural birth. . . I don't really want to be tethered or lying in a hospital bed.
There's a local birthing center about 15 miles from my home, it looks pretty nice.

I'm trying to figure out which alternatives our insurance will cover first and foremost.

[lotus.blossom]

First time mama here but have been doing reasearch for years.
Dh and I have decided to compromise and have our baby at a birth center which is located at a local hospital. I am nervous about a homebirth because of a bad experience my cousin had with homebirthing her first. If dh was on board with a homebirth I would be shooting for one but since he is very nervous about it I would rather we compromise. I will be having a doula since I don't have any family here and none of my friends have had babies so I'm in need of some strong positive natural birthing support. I'm only 4 weeks but am so ready for making plans and getting into the groove of pregnancy!

[paisley]

This is #2 for us. We had a fabulous birth experience with ds at our local birth center with a midwife. This time I am really looking forward to a homebirth though, perhaps a home water birth if we decide our floorboards can handle it! This will be our last child so I feel like I really want to go all out and experience everything that I would like to while I have the opportunity.

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

Well, let's see....
1999 - natural birth 10 pounder ds#1
2001- natural birth 10 pounder ds#2
2004- emergency c-section 3 pounds dd#1 (died 6 hours later)
Current Birth....shooting for a homebirth...at this point in the game a LIVING, healthy baby is good with me!!!

[fenwickmama]

not sure yet. have first appt w/ob friday morning (early since i had concerns about my hormone levels but blood work has since shown they are ok, still keeping appt)-hope to remember to ask her some questions about intervention and skipping the quad test etc and make a decision based on how she is about that. there is a birth center an hour away with a midwife that my friend is using-may give them a call after she has her babe. the closer option would make it a lot easier for dh to go to appts etc but we'll see...

[PrettyBird]

I am a first time mama! I have not completely decided my birth plans. I have military health insurance, which although it is free it isn't very flexible. I am going to switch to the US Family Health plan (it is a form of military health ins through Johns Hopkins I can switch to) if they will let me give birth at a local birthing center here (Special Beginnings in Arnold, MD).

I have thought about homebirth, but DH and I live in a small apartment, and on top of that we are going to have to move a few weeks before my due date. :

My other (free) option is giving birth at the Naval Hospital, which surprisingly has gotten a couple of good reviews from a few mamas here.

If I do go the hospital route, I am compiling a list of what I DO not want:
No forceps
No Drugs (I hate medicine anyway)
No epistotomy (sp?)
No C Sec unless absolutely necessary
NO FORMULA FED TO MY BABY
NO CIRC!!!

[beautyful]

I'm choosing the homebirth/midwife route because I feel it's my best option for a VBAC. I was also really unhappy with a lot of things that happened in the hospital postpartum (fighting nurses over breastfeeding, being forgotten by other nurses, etc.) I don't want to be separated from my daughter for too long either. (I'm planning on having my mom here JUST for her, so DH and I can focus on the labour/delivery part. I've had several friends higly recommend having her here, so I feel confident she'll be okay. )

[birthdancedoula]

This'll be my 4th HB. Right now we're tossing around the idea of birthing at the Farm. I met Ina May last month and visted the Farm this summer so the idea is really growing on me. I really love the mw we used last time too, though. There are a lot of options to think about but fortunately I have a while to figure everything out.

[Mama2ABCD]

homebirth

my first 2 were in the hospital (no pain meds; but still iv's, monitors, pitocin, no eating, hard to walk around, just sitting there waiting while labor progressed plus i didn't use the nursery or the plastic crib)
my 3rd was a homebirth and i won't go back to hospital (unless transferred).

[Still_Snarky]

We're planning a homebirth with a midwife after a very disappointing hospital birth last time around!

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

Originally Posted by beautyful

I'm choosing the homebirth/midwife route because I feel it's my best option for a VBAC.

I agree with you. I have attended LOTS of homebirth VBAC's....and the only thing different in how we treat the mama and birth is that we look at it as a first time birth. Watch things very closely.

[MacKinnon]

We are currently planning a hospital birth with the CNM we saw for DD. We have talked about homebirth and will contine to discuss it as we progress with this (surprise) pregnancy. We thought we had some more time to talk about this! We had a really good experience from the first visit to L&D with Avery. I just wish they did waterbirth... Another factor in our decision is that we are currently working on our house- gutting bathroom, flooring, etc. It's not really a "restful" place and I can't imagine birthing here, with the house under construction, so we'll see where we are in July, KWIM?

[broodymama]

With DS I had a natural birth in a hospital with a CNM. This time around I am planning a homebirth though for the first few months I will get concurrent care with an OB or CNM. (Military insurance - they won't cover the homebirth but at least this way they will cover any ultrasounds or labwork I choose & just in case I go into preterm labor again.

[otter]

I am a first timer and just had my offiicial word for the doctor that I am indeed pregnant. Varying tests had me a little confused and unsure but I was told-before I was sitting down- that I was in fact pregnant. I am excited but now comes all the decisions.
My SIL just had their first baby and she really wanted a doula and told me she wishes they would have saved up and gotten one for the birth. Turns out, they just went to the hospital at the last possible second and she had no drugs and after a painful labor, had her sweet Emma.
I am anxious to go visit to see my niece first of all and also to get advice, info and possibly some maternity clothes from my SIL.

[HaveWool~Will Felt]

homebirth...after today (mw appt)....I feel more confident that we will birth at home!!! YAH!!!!

[Quagmire]

Old thread, but since we've had some changes of plans since the beginning and some of us ladies haven't posted our plans I thought I'd give it a little

We're planning a birth center birth with a midwife. The birth center is 5 minutes away or I might have done a homebirth... just didn't seem worth the hassle to rent a tub when I can go there and be home in under 4 hours! Plus, MIL is going to be watching the toddler and I don't want her at the birth

Anyone else? Any plans changed?

[momsmyjob]

I am nervous about a homebirth because of a bad experience my cousin had with homebirthing her first.

Not starting anything, but that's a statement I don't get.. A lot more problems arise in a hospital than a homebirth.

That being said..you couldn't pay me to birth in a hospital! I am planning another home waterbirth This time I may go unassisted..it depends on how things go during labor. My last HB was a breeze.

[JulyBellyButton]

We are planning a birth at a birthing center ran by OBs because I am high risk with PIH and severe asthma, and possibly placenta previa (find out for sure June 5). If it weren't for the placenta previa-I would definitely be doing a home birth with a MW. I'm hoping to do a homebirth next time around, crossing fingers that there is no placenta previa next time. I'm honestly not comfortable with a hospital birth just because I'm very afraid I'm going to have to fight for what I want-although I have NO problem voicing my opinion and kicking and screaming until I get what I want as far as this birth LOL I just wish I had a peace of mind knowing that I would be able to get through this without having to fight and have a comfortable birth. Granted I cannot foresee how things will go or what complications might arise, but I hope to keep it as natural as possible with:

-no episiotomy
-little or no intervention-and only after my approval
-do not want to be offered drugs and want to go as long as I can drug-free
-no forceps
-definitely no induction-my body and my baby will work together when it is time
-free movement
-no enema
-definitely don't want to be strapped down by monitors or IVs

I've also created a C-Section birth plan just in case I have to have one due to the placenta blocking the baby's way out.

[TanyaS]

We were originally planning a hospital VBAC, but about 25 weeks switched to an HBAC with a midwife (DEM). I am so excited about this birth and it is likely to be dramatically different from my first two. The first I was so uneducated about birth and all it got me was a c/s. The second, I was much more empowered, enlightened and educated, but not grown enough in my walk to have a homebirth. I planned an unmedicated hospital VBAC, and I got it. This baby was a surprise, and we had also moved, and here I was all stressed out about planning a repeat of last time. I asked myself why I wasn't planning a homebirth free of all the c/section looming over my head anxiety. Less than 10 weeks to go!