Can I / How do I travel for an HB?

[nudnik]

I'm stuck in IL : : so no DEMs (besides the no coverage) and I can't rationalize paying thousands to have a medwife (CNM) at home......... I'm having crazy daydreams about flying across the US sometime to the east coast to be by my mother and find a DEM there but is that possible?? : When would I do it? What week? Or am I just crazy? There's 1 place that does waterbirth (hospital) here but I know I'll still have to fight.

[joyousmama]

i would do it. I do stuff like that all the time. But you would have to stay for a while, how long can you stay with your mom? At what age can newborns fly? I think they can actually fly pretty young.. If the details are all thought of and you can deal with them, then hell yeah, go for it!

[kerikadi]

The first thing I would do is find out exactly how much a CNM would cost in your area and find out if you could get any insurance to pay out of network.

I have a few friends that have birthed with a local DEM and she is almost $4,000 so going with a DEM doesn't mean she will be cheap. You would have to find one now, find out her fee, add the plane ticket and your inconvenience of being at your Mother's for what could be weeks and then you have to worry about flying past 36 weeks.

I know of a local CNM here that has a fee of $2800 including lab fees which would likely be cheaper than a DEM+plane ticket and other travel expenses.

Start shopping your area now and once you have all that information you can start looking for MWs in your Moms area so you know what you are looking at.

Keri

[valeria_vi]

Originally Posted by nudnik

I'm stuck in IL : : so no DEMs (besides the no coverage) and I can't rationalize paying thousands to have a medwife (CNM) at home......... I'm having crazy daydreams about flying across the US sometime to the east coast to be by my mother and find a DEM there but is that possible?? : When would I do it? What week? Or am I just crazy? There's 1 place that does waterbirth (hospital) here but I know I'll still have to fight.

I am in IL and I had a HB with a DEM. I had to pay out of pocket, of course.
The CNMs that do HBs are covered by insurance (don't know what insurance you have) or they offer big disocunts for those who self-pay. I did nto choose a CNM for my HB, but I don't think that they are all bad at all. The ones I would not use would be Homefirst and Dr Elvove. With Homefirst I am never sure who will come to my birth and I took my newborn to Elvove and really did not like him and his nurse at all. PM me if you want more info about the midwives. Where in IL do you live?

[MamaTaraX]

You know, there are probably midwives around that attend homebirths (CPMs, DEMs, etc), you just have to ask the right people If youa sked around here (I'm in Indaiana) Average Joe would say "there are no midwives" If you ask the right people, they can rattle off seven without thinking about it *points at self* Check out your Finding Your Tribe board and ask around there. OF course, you will probably have to pay out of pocket. So you could look at it like: pay out of pocket for homebirth at your house or pay out of pocket to travel to your mom's and birth there and then have to come back home. (if your mom can help care for you and babe after the birth, that might be a really cool option!)

Namaste, Tara

[nudnik]

I'm in the Niles area. The reason I dont want a CNM is because the ones i've met so far are so medicalized to be practically doctors. : To go into debt and pay out of pocket to have my birth my way is one thing, but if its not going to be enjoyable and I'll have to fight the whole time regardless because of protocol : (CNMs have high insurance here too) well then its either the hospital waterbirth or being a nut and switching to mom's house.

[valeria_vi]

Please send me an email via my profile and tell me who you've met already. There might be somebody you still don't know about.

[sogriffin]

I'm flying (with a 2 year old!) from Florida (where I live) to Alaska (my home) next month at 34 weeks in order to get the birth experience I want.
If I can do it, ayone can.

[kerikadi]

Just posting again to say not all CNMs are created equal
My CNM MW is very hands off, laid back. I didn't have any testing in my pregnancies, refused doppler, U/S, GBS, GTT etc. She didn't touch me in either of my labors and didn't catch either of my babies - I caught the first, DH caught the other. For my births it was just she and my DH, I couldn't have been happier with my pregnancies or my births. I am the type of woman who would want a DEM because I obviously don't like tests or being messed with in general.
The only time she came near me in labor was to check the heartbeat once in each labor.

You never know until you interview them, I interviewed 9.

Keri

[nudnik]

: I'm feeling pretty bummed about this whole thing... I found a DEM finally but my DH is not too happy about doing somethig illegal. The CNM I liked most whenI spoke to said I should go with a DEM when she heard what kind of birth I visualized! So I'm still in limbo : and I hate it. I'm starting to wonder if it's all worth it..... or should I just find a doula who's willing to fight : and go t o the (free) hospital.... oh and maybe just skip prenatal care.... Sometimes I hate Illinois.

[sebarnes]

You could always contact The Farm...

[saratchka]

Another vote for not all CNMW's are overly medical in their attitudes. I'm working with a CNM/DEM team and they're both very willing to go with my instincts about nearly everything. They'll give me whatever tests I want, but they haven't pushed anything and have told me that they consider a few to be sownright silly. Make sure you've exhausted all your local options before planning a trip - that just sounds arduous and would only be worth it if your options at home were unacceptable. IMO, of course!

[valeria_vi]

Originally Posted by nudnik

: I'm feeling pretty bummed about this whole thing... I found a DEM finally but my DH is not too happy about doing somethig illegal. The CNM I liked most whenI spoke to said I should go with a DEM when she heard what kind of birth I visualized! So I'm still in limbo : and I hate it. I'm starting to wonder if it's all worth it..... or should I just find a doula who's willing to fight : and go t o the (free) hospital.... oh and maybe just skip prenatal care.... Sometimes I hate Illinois.

Please send me a PM and tell me what you're looking for and who you have already met.