Edmonton Mommas experiences

[parisferris]

I'm 6 weeks pregnant with my first bean of joy, and I'm so happy to have found this forum.

I'm wondering if any Edmonton and area moms or moms-to-be can share experiences with the St. Albert Natural Childbirth Clinic or the Stony Plain Shared Care program. I'm also interested to know if anyone has worked with an OBGYN open to (and capable of executing) a mother-directed pregnancy/birth. (I'd love to work with a midwife, but DH and I need to save our pennies for the year (and hopefully more) away from work for me.)

I have my first appointment with my GP on Monday and I'd like to be armed with information about what I want, so I don't end up just falling into the system like so many of my friends.

Any thoughts?

[JERENAUD]

I'm about 4 1/2 hours north of you, so don't have any real experiences to relate - I wasn't sure how you were definining 'Edmonton area'; sometimes it includes me! I have, however, heard good things about the Stony Plain midwives, though I have nothing specific to share. I do believe that there's an Alberta UC yahoo group, should you be interested in that route.

Sorry to not be of more help, and I hope that you get the birth that you want!

Erica

Originally Posted by parisferris

I'm 6 weeks pregnant with my first bean of joy, and I'm so happy to have found this forum.

I'm wondering if any Edmonton and area moms or moms-to-be can share experiences with the St. Albert Natural Childbirth Clinic or the Stony Plain Shared Care program. I'm also interested to know if anyone has worked with an OBGYN open to (and capable of executing) a mother-directed pregnancy/birth. (I'd love to work with a midwife, but DH and I need to save our pennies for the year (and hopefully more) away from work for me.)

I have my first appointment with my GP on Monday and I'd like to be armed with information about what I want, so I don't end up just falling into the system like so many of my friends.

Any thoughts?

[summerstorm]

south of edmonton

hi Im a mother of 3yr old girl. thought I could help :
your choice of Dr. should respect your birthing plan. have a plan before you go or for your next visit. this way you will probably get a little more insight on what your Dr. thinking? on a visit to my Dr. she actually told me if I was in labour too long she would intervene. She is still my and my daughters Dr. but I choose to go with midwives and I visited with a doula as well. If you dont have the $$ for midwives ( in Alberta we still have to pay for this, how sad) try a doula.
hope you have a wonderful pregnancy:

[bright_eyes]

My friend gave birth to her first baby at the St. Albert Natural Childbirth Clinic with Dr. Lidkea in July. She had a wonderful birthing experience and she absolutely loved Dr. Lidkea. She laboured for 30 some hours, and pushed for 4 1/2 hours, trying every birth position possible. If she had been with another doctor, she likely would have had a c-section, as most dr's won't let you push for more than 2 hours. But she was doing fine and so was the baby. Dr. Lidkea has a ton of standing orders that the nurses must follow, orders that are not typical in a hospital birth. For example, the nurses are not allowed to ask the mother if she wants anything for pain, the mother needs to ask herself (most nurses won't leave you alone, asking if you want drugs and such).

And the Shared Care program in Stony Plain is another great option. I have heard tons of great things about it, too.

I would check out both and see which one you feel will work best for you. You won't go wrong with either choice.

And I just have to add a few book recommendations for you. The first is Birthing Without Fear and the second one is Hypnobirthing. Those two books allowed my friend (the one I mentioned above, to have a drug free birth, with very minimal pain). I've also heard great things about the book Birthing From Within.

Good luck, I hope you have an amazing birth experience! Oh, and if you want me to get you in touch with my friend, I can get you her e-mail address. She would be more than happy to answer any questions you have. (I had my son in Edmonton, but not at either place, and it wasn't the best experience, so I can't be much more help to you than this).

[bright_eyes]

Oh, I wanted to add that my friend wanted to have a home birth so badly but couldn't afford the expense either. She couldn't get into the stony plain shared care program because they were all booked up. Luckily the st. albert one opened up during her pregnanct and she was able to switch to Dr. Lidkea, which gave her just the birthing experience she wanted (minus the being at home part, of course!)

[veronicalynne]

:

[syd'smom]

A bit of an old thread (I was searching for something else in Edmonton), but when are you due? As of April 1, 2009 - midwives are COVERED in Alberta! wooo-hoooo - and about time!

[DoulaFallon]

Doula

Have you looked into using a doula? I would love to help you in your natural child birth journey.