I need some opinions on membrane stripping before I head to my appointment this evening. I'm two days shy of 40 weeks and have been having prodromal labor for the last three weeks. The head is far down into my pelvis and has been for weeks. I'm content to just let nature take it's course except for the following BUT... my blood pressure.
At the moment it is still within the range allowed for homebirth, but is creeping up on the 140/90 mark. At which point I will have to transfer to a hospital. This is my second child. With my dd, I had PIH with some signs of possible pre-eclampsia (minor protein in urine, severe swelling). Anyway, when I went into labor with her, my bp was 160/110 and I was restricted to the bed on my left side or back. With a posterior baby. It was a less than ideal experience.
Anyway, last week my midwife offered to strip my membranes. I declined but told her that I would think about it. So what do I do? Go for it, hoping that it works and my bp stays within the allowable range for delivery at home? Or decline and hope that labor starts on it's own when my bp is still in the allowable range?
Any thoughts or experiences are welcome!
At the moment it is still within the range allowed for homebirth, but is creeping up on the 140/90 mark. At which point I will have to transfer to a hospital. This is my second child. With my dd, I had PIH with some signs of possible pre-eclampsia (minor protein in urine, severe swelling). Anyway, when I went into labor with her, my bp was 160/110 and I was restricted to the bed on my left side or back. With a posterior baby. It was a less than ideal experience.
Anyway, last week my midwife offered to strip my membranes. I declined but told her that I would think about it. So what do I do? Go for it, hoping that it works and my bp stays within the allowable range for delivery at home? Or decline and hope that labor starts on it's own when my bp is still in the allowable range?
Any thoughts or experiences are welcome!
