Where is everyone from?

[sunnymw]

Yeah, not to sound stalky, but I'm just wondering who's close to whom!! And are homebirths/etc legal in your state?

I'm in Southwest GA (Albany area), the epitome of OB-worship, and the town with the highest obesity rate and per capita crime... yeah, we're moving next year! It's crazy hot here for 10 months out of the year, and wet-cold-miserable the other two. It sucks. But enough complaining...

Homebirthin's illegal but I hear rumors of several good midwives around if DH goes paranoid on me halfway thru the pg, we might have to find one (we're planning on UCing).

So, where are you from, and what's it like?

[DandeCobb]

I'm in Central Kentucky, home of the propped bottle. before you ask, seriously i see it all the time, whenever i am forced into the house of Wal (aka walmart) it is not AP at all, though i have met a few MDC mamas. i am known as a freak for still nursing my 17 month old. actually most people thought i was a freak when i passed the 9 month mark. as much bad as i could say about this place, i love it here. people are so nice and willing to help, i remember from my last pregnancy people letting me cut in line and of course holding doors, all kinds of everyday nice things that people seem to have forgotten.

[pazerific]

i'm in the metro detroit area (i don't have one of those ambiguous locations ) in MI. i like it ok here. i'm somewhat concerned about the schools here, but our dd is only 20.5mos, so it will be a while before we have to figure that one out.

we lived in raleigh NC for about 5yrs before we lived here, and DH and i both miss it there. it was so green and beautiful there! we really hope that life leads us back there in the years to come.

[yamilee21]

New York City here, though I'm on the edge of one of the outer boroughs, so it barely counts as the city.

There is a homebirth community, small and quiet and hard to find information about (the midwives I have spoken to so far drilled me on how I found out about them). Midwife assisted homebirth is legal, just rare. A lot of people are coerced into "elective" c-sections with OBs - your best chance for a vaginal delivery in the hospital is if you go to one of the public hospitals and have no or inadequate insurance.

[prothyraia]

Vermont here.

The issue I'm facing is trying to get a short list of midwives to interview about homebirth, there's lots around here and I can't talk to them ALL

[Linzie2]

Originally Posted by prothyraia

Vermont here.

The issue I'm facing is trying to get a short list of midwives to interview about homebirth, there's lots around here and I can't talk to them ALL

That must be wonderful!!!!!

We live in Western NY....beautiful here. People are very mainstream here, esp. my friends with kids DD's age. Makes it tough.

As far as birthing, I want to have a homebirth. No, I need to have a HB. I do know some people who know some people....but we are keeping this pg a secret for a few months. So I may go see a family practice doc that I work with and respect and be honest with her...I'll be switching to HB once I find a MW I like. :

Nice to meet everyone!

[Ahimsa]

I live in Pittsburgh. I have lived here off and on for 13 years, but this city is finally growing on me. I've always wanted to move out west to Seattle or Portland (I lived in Seattle for 2 years and loved it.) Homebirth is not technically legal or illegal, but medical lobbyist are powerful here and many midwives are getting ceast and desist orders. Some are being prosecuted (even Amish midwives.) There is one lay midwife in my area that does homebirths. I have known her since I was ten, and she was there for my homebirth with my son. I will most probably use her again. Their is a FSBC (run by nurse midwives,) and I have been there for well women care. I like those midwives, but there is still not as much freedom as a homebirth.

[HippieMamaBE]

I'm also from PA, a little town about two hours from Pittsburgh. We're planning a homebirth with a CPM who does all the local Amish/Mennonite births, so she's a busy lady! Midwives in our area are hard to come by, and from everyone I've talked to, she's the best. Everyone around here is mainstream, most of my co-workers think I'm crazy, but they deal with it. My chiropractor and the families we buy our organic from are the only ones I know who live our lifestyle....

[red_trillium]

another from pa here! we live up in the north east, in wilkes barre. it's very mainstream here as well.

i'm feeling super paranoid about all the hospitals around here, i have no idea where to go for care/birth. i've heard bad stories about most of them. they are very mainstream. if it were up to me i'd do a home birth and little to no prenatal care, but i have to take dh in to consideration. i'm going to try my hardest to convince him that a homebirth will be safe. he's one of those nervous types who was raised to rely on the dr for *everything*.

there really aren't any midwives close by. i think there may be one who will come up here, but she is about an hour away. there are no birth centers or anything like that around here either.

i did have a great natural birth with my dd in the hospital(i still begged my dh while in labor to just stay home!! lol), but i was with one of their midwives who was pretty hands off and let me get away with a lot! i hope that if i have to go to the hospital i can turn it into a good expierence. there are no midwives who work in hospitals around here though. just crossing my fingers that it'll all work out.

[DawnaRose]

we are in colorado, pretty close to boulder

Lots of hb midwives here,i just need to narrow my choices down so i don't have to call many, i have a weird aversion to calling people on the phone so i don't wanna call a lot,: lol.

[Ahimsa]

Originally Posted by DawnaRose

i have a weird aversion to calling people on the phone

Me too.

[Mom2Lex&Cay]

Hey sunnymw!

Across the state from ya in southeast GA. (Savannah area) Not thrilled with the options here either, but I guess at least we have a birth center here.

[quarteralien]

Upstate NY area here (Albany area) Homebirth midwives are underground here. No doctor will back them up. : But as fellow New Yorkers have mentioned, it is technically legal in the state, just not here. I really really want a UC anyway, so I might just see one of these underground midwives for a few prenatals and that's it. I still haven't decided.
We moved here from Oregon, and didn't appreciate at the time how NFL friendly it was, because we've gotten a lot more natural since then. So we miss it a bit. We've also lived in Utah, and DH and I were both born and raised in California, so we've been around a bit.

[KelliHope]

Originally Posted by prothyraia

Vermont here.

The issue I'm facing is trying to get a short list of midwives to interview about homebirth, there's lots around here and I can't talk to them ALL

Vermont here too! I'm wondering Prothyraia. . .are you in southern VT? I'm way up north 8 miles from canada, and have only found 4 to interview, and 2 work at the same place.

We are not considering home birth - though we had thought about it. Reason for dismissing it is that we are 20 miles from a really shitty hospital that I would hate to have to be brought to, and about 40 minutes from the good hospital. So if we had a home birth and something went wrong they would probably rush me to the local crappy hospital and I would prefer to just plan to do it at the birthing center

[mama to 2 girls]

Originally Posted by DawnaRose

we are in colorado, pretty close to boulder

Lots of hb midwives here,i just need to narrow my choices down so i don't have to call many, i have a weird aversion to calling people on the phone so i don't wanna call a lot,: lol.

I LOVE Colorado!! My brother lives there he has lived all over there...including boulder. I've only been there once to visit but it is BEAUTIFUL! Wish I was there!

I live in central FL area on the west coast.

[quarteralien]

Originally Posted by KelliHope

We are not considering home birth - though we had thought about it. Reason for dismissing it is that we are 20 miles from a really shitty hospital that I would hate to have to be brought to, and about 40 minutes from the good hospital. So if we had a home birth and something went wrong they would probably rush me to the local crappy hospital and I would prefer to just plan to do it at the birthing center

So where would you transfer if you need to from the birthing center?

[AnnaGA]

I'm from GA! Henry County...about 30-45 minutes south of Atlanta. We moved here about 18 months ago and I like it. Nice to see other Georgians here!

[prothyraia]

Originally Posted by KelliHope

Vermont here too! I'm wondering Prothyraia. . .are you in southern VT? I'm way up north 8 miles from canada, and have only found 4 to interview, and 2 work at the same place.

I'm near Montpelier, so not quite southern vermont but central enough that I'm within an hour to an hour and half of almost all the state, which means I get to choose from pretty much anyone.

There's a birthing center up there? Where?

[mrs rockstar]

Originally Posted by quarteralien

Upstate NY area here (Albany area) Homebirth midwives are underground here. No doctor will back them up. : But as fellow New Yorkers have mentioned, it is technically legal in the state, just not here.

I'm from this area also (about an hour from Albany) and yeah, not legal in this area. I've yet to do any snooping but I'm pretty sure my only option is UC or a birth center about 1/2 an hour away.

[AnneCordelia]

I'm from the Toronto, Canada area.

Homebirthing is not only legal here, but midwives and homebirth is covered by our provincial health insurance.

My last birth was a wonderful homebirth and I'm hoping for the same this time around.