Birthing in the middle of nowhere

[vermontgirl]

I am not pregnant and I dont plan to be until next summer when Harvest is at least 2. When I had Harvest I did a hospital birth because we live in Burlington about 5 minutes from a GREAT hospital with midwives and a birthing center with a birthing tub. We have it great in Vermont.
However, we are now moving 2 hours North and buying a home in the middle of nowhere. I have decided that I would like a homebirth next time for many reasons including the fact that the one hospital up there is really backwards and scary. It worries me a little thinking about birthing in the middle of nowhere. Reassure me please!

[jessitron]

If there were complications, would you transfer to the scary hospital?

If I were you I'd want to drive 2 hours to the great birthing center, with a better hospital nearby in case of problems.

[mom3b1?]

Last birth I lived about 5 minutes (or less, maybe 5 minutes walking) away from the best hospital in Michigan for giving birth, but chose to have my baby at home Unassisted. It was wonderful. My first two births had been at a hospital that wasn't so great if you want a natural birth, so I wanted nothing to do with a hospital.

I liked being able to make choices based on fact and research. I was able to birth in water, wait to cut the cord so my baby got all his wonderful cord blood, my baby had no bottles (in the hospital they were mandatory!). It sounds like you could have had all that in your hospital, WOW.

I also liked not having strangers hanging about during my birth. The privacy and intimacy were important to me. It was wonderful for my children who felt it was a normal natural event instead of a scary medical event. I had the food I wanted, how I wanted it. Being able to focus on my body, and tune into my baby, instead of being distracted by machines and monitors. It was a totally different experience, and I'd never go back.

Hugs!

Kiley

[AngieB]

I homebirthed in the middle of nowhere and would do it again in a second. I'm about 40 minutes from the nearest hospital. My MW was at another birth so her back up MW came to the birth and she had never been there before. When she got to our house at 3:00 in the morning she said it was like driving into a primordial forest. That thought stayed with me through the birth and gave me this amazing feeling, sort of Mother Goddess giving birth in the primordial forest.

Find a great MW and talk to her about your concerns and I bet she will put your mind at ease.

[momonthebeach]

I home birthed in a small town where the hospital does not have an OB. The nearest hospital that could deal with labor issues is 1.5 hours away. I felt 100% comfortable with it and am planning to do it again soon! Definately talk over any issues with your midwives. After having a baby at home, I would never do it any other way!
Katie

[cathicog]

I know a mw in Eastern NY state, up by VT, if you need a referral. I would homebirth, transport only if necessary.... you will do fine, I am sure...

[mwherbs]

well it is something for you to consider over all- the lifestyle of living remote means that you are always further away from emergency services and less choices.
for a homebirth in this situation I would want a midwife who normally practices in remote areas- your timing and the things you carry are different, a remote mw may carry an IV setup, bigger O2 tank, may leave for a hosptial sooner, than someone who only lives 15 minutes away from services.
something I really like about living rurally is when I have gone in to the doc or the hosptial for medical care any of the things I have done myself are more respected and actually expected by the doc-- where here in the city the expectation is that we should have gotten in to see a doc -ASAP
------
women who live in the area give birth all the time and are fine, the majority of women and babies are fine during birth -- you can probably find out what kind of services they do have and if they have some sort of emergency transport system to get you and your baby to a bigger multi-center hospital- here they have some specialized perinatal/neonatal teams that will come to transfer via heliocopter or ground transport and they do this from nearest landing areas or regional small hospitals.
take care

[Sri Radha]

I am not pregnant yet but I plan to be homebirthing in the middle of nowhere when I do get pregnant! The closest hospital is 25-30 minutes away and I haven't heard good things about it, either!

As long as there aren't any pre-complications, I think you will be fine. If I am high risk, I will go to a hospital...(hopefully not the closest one!)

[mtn.mama]

We live beyond rural. The closest you can get a truck is a mile away. There is a scary hospital an hour out- once you get to the highway, but if we have to transport it will be a 2 hour trip to someplace with specialists. I totally trust my body, my lifestyle and my midwives. Within the next three weeks, our child will be born under the wide Alaska sky. If you feel good about it, then do it! But I don't think its worth going into labor scared about circumstance. Its best to find the calmest spot for you.

[Peony]

When Dd2 was born we lived 20+ minutes from a tiny, tiny hospital that i would not go to unless I was passed out and had no say in the matter, very scary there. The real hospital was still small but a good 45-50 minutes away in great weather. I never worried about it, I was not concerned that time would be an issue if I had to transfer.