What kind of birth are you planning?

[indiegirl]

Hey November mamas--

What kind of birth are you planning?

Hospital, birthing center or home? Do share your reasons/experiences with us.

Also, are you going with an Ob/Gyn or a midwife. How did you find your caregiver? What do you like about him or her?

:)

[mom2amelia]

I'm planning on a hospital birth. Partially for the security and partially for financial reasons. I'm totally supportive of people who choose home births, but it just isn't for me. Dh would like to have a home birth, but it is my decision. I had a totally positive basically intervention free hospital birth the first time, and I feel confident I will have what I want this time around.

I'm seeing an OB, there aren't any midwives at the office I go to, though there is a chance I could have one for the delivery. I choose her because she delivered my daughter, and did a fabulous job supporting me and my wishes for my birthing experience. Pretty cool to have adoctor come by the next day and tell you what an amazing job you did (and other nurses too)- not so many people choose drug-free deliveries at that hospital.

So I met her at the delivery of dd, but whenever I see her she seems truely interested in who I am, what I'm doing, etc. She really tries to make a connection. Too bad I don't get a say in who is at the hospital when it is time to deliver.

[FSUBecca]

We are planning our first homebirth! Very very excited! DS was born with a CNM in the hospital. Had a great experience at that hospital (DH works there) and would not hesitate to go there if needed, I just know I will be much more comfy here at home. Plus we have never been away form DS (He is only 14 months) and I can't imagine leaving him overnight. I think this will be the best way for us to bring in a new sibling, as far as his adjustment goes. I am also very relieved knowing exactly who will be here during labor- takes a load of anxiety off.

I am seeing a MW, the only one in our area doing homebirths. She is awesome! But, my husband is an OB resident, so I am always sort of under the care of an OB :p

[jecaly]

homebirth here too! it just makes the most sense to me to welcome a new person into our family at home. we also really believe that it's safer. we're seeing a midwife who will attend, unless we don't call her for some reason :) .

[Annabel]

I'm planning to have my baby in the same birthing centre as I had my first. I was very happy with my first labour experience there. This time though I might go home immediately instead of staying in the post natal ward for three days (which is expected) I hated that part and have no intention of doing it again.

[jane-t-mommy]

I am planning on a hospital birth. There is a wonderful birthcenter in the hospital, and I'll have the same midwife that ended up delivering dd after a 38 hour labor (15 hours at home, 13 hours at the freestanding birth center and 10 hours at the hospital). I really didn't like transfering to the hospital last time, and since my beloved first midwife (@ birthcenter) is no longer in this area, I am planning on going with the talent that helped me to birth my first child. Plus, I know that this sounds so silly and far fetched, because when it comes right down to it I'll probably want to rush home ASAP post delivery but part of me is fantasizing about sleeping all day and having meals delivered to me (I can't believe I"m admitting to a fantasy about hospital food:LOL ) Maybe it's my way of consoling myself about not being in a position to afford a homebirth, or maybe I REALLY need a vacation:LOL Happy April Fools Day Mamas
Janet

[Attached_Mom_to_7]

I put down haven't decided yet. Only because I'm waiting for my first OB visit(the 9th) to see if I would be able to have a birthcenter delivery or not due to my high b/p (I'm also mediacated)



~Rachel

[indiegirl]

I'm going with a birth center this time after having two homebirths. We will be moving to a fairly remote location and historically, my kids are slow-to-start breathers. I would feel more confident if we did not have to battle traffic, which is a very strong possibility because we will be living across a bridge from the hospital.


I am actually excited by doing something so different. And I've never had to pack a bag for the delivery. That's new. That's exciting!

Jesse

[Megamama]

Ideally, I'd like to do a homebirth, but it's not legal here, so I'll have to get concurrent medical care probably. I wrote to a local lay midwife...homebirths do happen in GA..I have to try because I do not want to go to the baby factory hospital that seems to be my only option with my insurance. If I end up with not being able to afford a home birth, we'll end up at the hospital and I'll be trying to get out of there ASAP. So..I put undecided because I just don't know what's going to happen yet. I miss California already..sigh..

[AmandasMom]

Hosiptal birth. Partly because our insurance covers 100% of it, also because I feel (and my dr feels) that I'm high risk and I would be more comfortable with high tech stuff around should I need it.

However, in my dreams I would give birth under the full moon alone deep in the woods somewhere where I could scream and yell and chant and do whatever I wanted to do. Just me and mother nature and the babe coming out :wild

[scheelimama]

I will be giving birth at the same birthcenter that we delivered dd, hopefully with the same midwife. She's on-call about 70% of the time, then there's another midwife and a doctor that is occassionally on-call. We went with the birth center originally b/c we didn't feel that we could afford the hospital. The birth center was about 1/3 of the cost. Insurance was going to cover 70% of either. Then we fell in love with the birth center and birthing naturally. So, we will be going back. At our birth center they only keep you for 4 hours or so after the birth unless you need more time, so we won't have to be away from dd very long. I will probably wait as long as possible to go in anyway, and then after the birth I will have someone bring her up to the center so that she can help me give her new sibling its first bath in the jacuzzi. Unless it's the middle of the night, of course. :)

[Attached_Mom_to_7]

I had to go in today, I feared my b/p was really high when it actually was perfect!!! Anyways, I talked to my MW in the doc's practice about the birthing center I wanted to goto she told me by all means to go check it out if I want to but, to be prepared that they probably won't take me on account I'm not considered a "low risk" This stinks.................. :(

~Rachel

[heatherevond]

I'm planning a VBAC in the hospital. FSUBecca gave me a great review of a local hospital if this one doesn't support my wish for a natural VBAC.

Yaa! I get think about my birthing plan now!!

:bouncy

[momsgotmilk4two]

I'm planning a hospital birth with a midwife. I met her for the first time yesterday and she is fabulous. Totally non interventive, just like I wanted:love

[G-love]

I'm planning a hospital birth, at the same place I had Frano. I'll have a midwife, hopefully the same one as last time. I was able to do it unmedicated last time, with NO pressure or even offers of drugs. This time I want a doula, aromatherapy, and hypnosis, to make it Great instead of something I survived!!!
Jane-t-Mommy, I had to laugh, since I too am already looking forward to just lying in bed at the hospital with my baby, people doing everything for me, bringing me that "great" food... Really pitiful!!! :)
Genevieve

[Seeking Refuge]

I am planning our first homebirth and I am pretty excited about it. Our midwife is a super cool hippie mama. She calls her cabin the house of many hands.

I hate hospitals and strange doctors (I have never once had the doctor I knew deliver my babies, it was always one of the ones in the group practice I didn't know or had only seen twice) who offer drugs even when you've asked them not too and nurses leave in the middle of your labor because they have never seen a natural birth and couldn't handle it. I live in the middle of rural Iowa and the closest birth center is three hours away.

[fourlittlebirds]

Planned homebirth. It just doesn't make sense to me to go to a hospital for any reason except serious illness or injury. Also, I know that for me my body would not react well to the hospital environment. I want my body to function as normally as possible in birth (for safety reasons) so I want to do everything in my power to facilitate that. Which is also why I'm planning an unassisted birth -- I know that being monitored and observed and guided would inhibit me and interfere with my body behaving in an instinctive, spontaneous way.

[gonnabeamom]

Homebirth. It's just what feels natural to me.


Also water birth, I've always gravitated towards water and have had few discomforts in my life that water didn't help.

[canadiyank]

I'm going with a midwife at a free-standing birth center. I almost had myself (and dh!) talked into a homebirth, but I can't find a midwife in my area who will do one and I'm not up for UC yet. :) I'm excited b/c my last birth was induced and VERY medicalized - this one will be very different.

[pinky]

I am having a hospital birth with a family practice group--family practice docs and a midwife. I am planning a VBAC, so our birth center isn't an option for me (they won't take VBACs). I found this practice after dd was born and having difficulty nursing...the lactation consultant there also coordinates their perinatal clinic. I had my first appointment with the midwife today, and she was great. They are completely oriented towards low-intervention, natural birthing.

I will deliver at the same hospital I had dd, where I mostly had a good experience..I'm just glad that I will have the family practice docs there to run interference for me if I end up needing to deal with the OB's!

[BoobyJuice]

I am have had one delivery at a birthcenter with a cnm and one at home where the lay midwife didn't arrive in time - unplanned unassisted, I guess. Not sure about this time. We've moved to a different state. I'm currently seeing a family practitioner, never had a dr before but there aren't any midwives around and at least he isn't an ob/gyn.

We're probably moving in the next few months and then I'll have to decide all over again. I'd do the homebirth route again but we had some problems and I didn't like having to be alone. I have very fast labors so I worry about unassisted again. No matter what, I can't imagine a hospital.

[Friendlymama]

Good question, and one I don't have the answer to yet!

I am totally dreaming of a homebirth, but I don't know that it will happen. I met with a midwife, and while I like her, she can't handle my thyroid stuff (i am hypo and my TSH has been a little wacky so far). Also, my insurance only covers her 60/40, since she doesn't have a physician overseeing her. And if a hospital transfer were needed and the on-call OB wasn't with my insurance, we could possibly wind up paying for a c-sec out-of-pocket. Yikes!

I have also found an OB who specializes in low-intervention birth. She'll even deliver breeches vaginally and has an episiotomy rate of less than 2 percent, and a c-sec rate of 9 percent. And she said the only reason it's as high as 9 percent is b/c she gets a lot of women coming to her who want VBACs.

She is also handling my thyroid w/out hesitation. So I feel like she's not a bad option as far as OBs go.

However, I REALLY want to give birth at home! I love the idea of laboring in my tub, moving around my house as I please, and having the baby in our nice, comfy, big bed. And not having a bunch of nurses coming around every 2 hrs afterward checking my blood pressure and not letting me rest!

So, I just haven't made up my mind yet. I think I'll continue concurrent care with both the midwife and the OB and then make up my mind where to have the baby as the pregnancy progresses.

[KittyMommy]

More than likely we'll be doing a hospital birth with an OB. The hospital that DH's insurance covers doesn't have CNMs, which is what I would prefer, given the choice...

We may be moving in Aug or Sept, since DH finishes his MS in July and is job hunting. So who knows what kind of birth we will actually end up with...nothing quite like starting with a new care provider in the third trimester!

[MonkeyPrincess]

Although I very much wanted to birth at home with this baby (after 3 OB attended hospital births), I just can't afford it. Plus I live in Pennsylvania, and there is some legal stuff going on with Homebirth Midwives at this time that makes me a little uneasy.

So, I switched to a midwife practice that delivers in birthing center style suites within the hospital close to my home. I have to admit, I am disappointed about not being able to deliver at home, but there are a few things I am looking forward to about the hospital stay, so I'm okay with it.

[FowlMommy]

I am going to birth in my bed, unassisted. Just me and my partner and maybe our 4.5 year old, if he wants. I can't wait!

"due" 11/26/04

[stanya]

We're gonna do it at home! This is my first, and I always thought I'd want to go to a birth center, a sort of neutral place that's not a hospital. But then we found these two CNM's who we really like a lot, and they only do homebirths. So, we thought about it and talked about it and decided to go for it and just be at home. Now I'm really excited, feel like it makes a lot of sense, will help me see it less medicall and more organically. I hope it will all work out and I won't have to go to the hospital. We can't even really afford these midwives, but we're doing it anyway because it seems like a pretty important priority. Plus I don't like the hospital, don't have a lot of faith in Western Medicine and generally avoid it for most things. We trust our CNM's to decide if we need to go the hospital or not and will definately go if there's a danger.
Very excited about the whole thing. Plus they'll being a big birthing tub in case I want to do it in the water.
Stanya

[MonikitaUT]

I'm planning to birth at home in my big tub, with a Midwife. I don't like hospitals and have had some bad experiences with Gyno's. ( A year ago they tried to tell me there was something wrong with my uterus, and after all these tests and hundreds of co-pay dollars out of pocket, nothing was wrong with me. They also messed up my labwork and tried to tell me I had an STD. I made them re-test, and of course, I was clean.)

It also turns out that it will be cheaper for us to have the baby at home than in a hospital. I have insurance that will pay 80%, but when you add up all the co-pays for all the visits and the 20%, it is more than the midwife charged.

I've always had the belief that this is what our bodies were designed to do, and that they are completely capable of doing it. Birth is a natural thing, and I don't want it to be a medical thing unless absolutely necessary. I know I'll be more comfy and able to relax at home, and that will help!

_______________
Monica
1st baby due 11-8-04

[HypnoBirthingMom]

Megamama - I just met a mom in your area who had her first child at home with a midwife and is planning her second birth at home as well. If you need support for how to make a homebirth work for you, I will be happy to put you in contact with her and others who can be of assistance to you.

[momsmyjob]

I'm not 100% sure yet but it may be in a hospital with a midwife/doctors. A water birth would be my first choice. I love water and it looks so wonderful.