homebirth MW's a ?

[dimibella]

I had DD in 05 at home and had a wonderful homebirth, but with some complications. DD had a slight shoulder dystocia, all went well but she did require a little bit of oxygen at birth and I mean like 2 puffs and she was fine and going on her own, she wasn't purple or discolored in anyway that I remember. Also I always have really low hemoglobin and hemocrit counts when pg, my MW put me on an awesome supplement regimen and my counts were waaay higher than my first pregnancy, but still only at 10.3 ( I think ). I had a lot of clots in my uterus and my MW gave me a shot of pit, extracated the clots ( not fun ) and then I was still bleeding so she gave me another. I felt okay but she suggested that we transfer to be on the safe side because I had hemmorraged pretty heavily in her opinion. We transfered, I had stopped bleeding, doc was impressed that MW removed all clots, but I passed out shortly after the doc saw me and scared the heck out of my family and doc suggested that we could wait and see if my #'s went up or go ahead and transfuse because they were really pretty low, so mostly to appease my family I went ahead with the transfusion.
So, we just found out we are pg with #3 and DH is a little concerned about another HB and I know my family will not be happy at all if I decided to HB again, but honestly as a MW how concerned would you be?

[JunipersMom]

Knowing your history - I would be fine with accepting your care, but would push a blood building diet along with herbal and other builders in later pregnancy.
Personally - I would much rather birth at home and then transfer if necessary than have my whole birth in the hospital. That way I would know that at least my babe wouldnt be messed with.

[nashvillemidwife]

There's no reason to expect a repeat hemorrhage though I would be sure to be ready with the pitocin and IV if they were needed. Did you hemorrhage with your first also?

[AmieV]

Are your babies big? My friend had big babies and a hemmorhage with one of her births and a shoulder dystocia with another. She had to interview a few m/ws to find someone who would take her with a history of hemmorhage, anemia, big babies, but she did find someone. Obviously this is completely anecdotal, but it sounds like you had similar issues as her, and she managed to find someone who was comfortable with it so I'm sure you probably will be able to!

[mwherbs]

if you don't have thalassemia trait as a cause of the anemia - then there are some other things to rule out most common is gluten intolerance- there is also low thyroid- probably a good idea to know what you might be working with
you should be fine though even if you have thalassemia trait- it is that apparent anemia will never go away--
I would probably say exericise -maybe yoga something with some stretch- also practice flat footed squatting-- just to have the endurance and ability to get into all sorts of positions during labor and birth --

[MidwifeMB]

As a homebirth midwife, I too would feel okay accepting your care. But, I think you are a great candidate for "active management" after birth. Basically, it means giving you a shot of pitocin just after the birth of the baby. It clamps down the uterus, spits out the placenta, and prevents clots from forming. Nips it in the bud, so to speak. Now, this may sound too medical to some of you, but I work in rural areas with the grandest of multips (women having their 6th-16th babies!) and this works really well for us, when needed. Very high parity (ie, more than 8-9 prior births) or a history of hemorrhage (like you) are the main indications. I would recommend you to take Floridex and alfalfa tablets (or liquid chlorophyll) the last 6 weeks, if not before. Many blessings!