My family is moving very last minute to a small island town in Alaska and I will be 36 weeks when we get there. The move is due to a job for my dh.
I have been getting all of my midwifery care from a licensed midwife here and had a homebirth planned. It will be my fourth homebirth.
However, in this little town the birth options are not great.
In my new town I can either have a hospital birth or I have found a very nice lay midwife with lots of experience (300 births) who hasn't done a birth in a few years, but is willing to do mine.
This birth will most likely be considered an unassisted birth (although I know it isn't truly UC) by the medical community there. I would like to go and get a PKU type test and newborn exam and will possibly need a tongue tie cut for the baby after the birth. The only option in town is the one medical office, which is part of the hospital I believe.
I know I am assuming a lot, but I'm afraid of the reaction by the doctors when we have a homebirth (unassisted they may consider) and then go in for the baby's visit. Maybe they will just be so nice and I am worried for nothing
My husband thinks it will be fine and I've even spoken to a nurse at the medical facility who thinks there may be gossip but not much more than that. I'm afraid of trouble and CPS being called etc.
My only other option is to stay back here and give birth while staying at my parents house. Then dh won't be able to be there and we will be seperated from him for almost 2 months. He will miss the newborn cuddles too and his other 3 children.
I would think that the hospital wouldn't make a big deal about it. Can you research pediatricians beforehand? Your midwife should be able to do a newborn assessment to get by until you can get to a pediatrician at day 3 or so. When I had my homebirth with DS, I did just that, and then when he was born I called to schedule an appointment. Not a biggie.
Yes, that's my plan. I will just call a day or so after the birth for an appt. I guess I'm sort of nervous that this is a lay-midwife and not a certified nurse midwife or something. She is technically just my"friend" at the birth. However, since it is a small town the doctors at the hospital all know who she is and that she used to do this sort of thing all the time (could be good or bad?)
I just think they look down upon this sort of thing and I'm nervous they would act on it.
If I was you, I would go with the midwife. Although when you go in for your baby check up sometime during the first week, just tell the hospital that you JUST moved here. You don't have to say dates...but it is practically like you did! So maybe they will just assume that your baby was born where ever you moved from. Although, they may ask more questions and want records. I don't know much about all of that, as I don't have much experience with drs. I know here (relatively small town), I had my first UC and then took my baby in to be checked out within the first week.....the office freaked and turned me into the child services. Thankfully child services sided with me and said that homebirth wasn't illegal, but it was still a stressful time. Honestly since that time, I haven't had my babies checked after birth. Typically if there is an issue, it can be seen......especially if the midwife has done over 300 births, she should be great and telling if a baby has issues. I may be incorrect, but I was thinking that there was at home pku tests that can be done.
If the midwife has done so many births in the same area, I would assume that she would be good....or her rep would proceed her and she wouldn't have had so many clients. So I would assume that the hospital and her have a good relationship.
How do you know that you will have to deal with tongue tie? Also one nice thing about tongue tie, is that it doesn't have to be done right after birth (providing it doesn't cause eating issues). My friend didn't have her daughter clipped until she was several months old. Also, some times, it can correct itself because the skin can stretch.
Can you talk to the midwife about what her other clients have done? And see if she has a particular practice or practitioner she refers people to for postnatal care.
Also, maybe she could put you in touch with some of her former clients and they could tell you how they have fared.
If your baby is healthy then let them gossip! Who cares? In the end you didn't subject your family to the ignorance of a hospital birth and that's what is important in the end. The people who really matter are supportive.
The original poster said she was a lay midwife....so she might not have ever been licensed...which is not uncommon. I know of a few midwives that used be licensed but stopped, their license because they didn't want to be under the guidelines. Unfortunately licensed midwives have a lot of the same annoying protocols as drs. And some midwives (lay or licensed) , just decide to take time off from births (especially if they are raising their own children). I know one of our local midwives (only one that is still licensed), has 11 children. When I interviewed her for one of my births, she talked about how she planned to get out of it temporarily because she was pregnant herself and needed to focus on her own family for a while. But I do agree, that it would be good to find out as much info as possible, as well as how it went with other families.
I can speak a bit to the culture I experienced in Alaska which might shed some light for you...
I lived in Alaska for a bit, in the interior, and found the culture there to be exceedingly live and let live.
The pioneering spirit of the west is taken to another level there. For example anyone can perform a wedding in Alaska, you don't need to be licensed to do so. There is also a really strong 'do-it-yourself' attitude that is hard to describe. Living in 60 below with an outhouse and no indoor plumbing isn't seen as crazy.
People have strong opinions, but are perfectly accepting and happy for others to completely disagree and live their lives totally differently. You all depend on each other in a very real way in the winters.
Given my experience up there culturally I wouldn't worry too much about people meddling, and I wouldn't be surprised if the hospital doesn't even blink an eye about a UC (even though that isn't quite what you're having).
As to CPS I found state services in Alaska to be a bit calmer than the lower 48 down here, for better or worse. 911 hang ups are responded to with a call back, not cops at your door, that sort of thing.
Best of luck to you and enjoy it up there!
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