Quote:
Originally Posted by
MeepyCat
Anablis, it's also really important to counter myths about hospitals - loads of women give birth in hospitals every day without any of the things you mention here. Others chose some of these things. I know women who have had an epidural on admission and pitocin to get things moving (yes, some people do that voluntarily), and women who have given birth without a needle or a shred of tape ever coming into play, in hospitals. Many hospitals recognize the power of the obstetrics department in marketing, and do everything they can to make maternity patients happy.
Obviously, your mileage may vary. There are good hospitals and bad hospitals, and within those, there are good OBs, bad OBs, good OBs who have bad days, bad OBs who have good days, and that whole entire range again in nursing staff. It's unwise to make assumptions about your care options without investigating what they are and what they're like.
I agree. Not all hospital births are horror stories. Unfortunately, where I live it is very hard to find a medical facility that would allow me to choose procedures. Every clinic and hospital have their own protocols and it's hard to skip them. I discussed this with my mother many times (she supports my choice but is a little scared). I have the right to choose the way I give birth (by law) but since almost nobody acknowledges that law, I would have to go to the hospital and start fighting from the beginning, wich is something I don't want to do while in labor. I interviewed a couple of OBs, to try and find a "natural labor" friendly OB, with no luck. One of them actually told me that the "physiological position" to deliver is laying on my back. He used those words. I was raging inside.
One of my friends had a hospital birth a few months ago, and she had what you can call a somewhat gentle birth. She showed up with 5 cm dilated, so she had no pitocin. But she agreed to the epidural, wich lead to electronic monitoring, laying flat on the back to deliver, an episiotomy that needed readjustment some days later, and a purple face (not to mention the hedious "push! push! push!"). I want none of that.
I shadow care with an OB, wich I have in case I need a c/s (he is a very good surgeon). He works in a very good private clinic (covered by my health insurance) that is between 30 min and 1 hour away from home (depending on traffic). I also have another private clinic, covered by HI, that is about 5 min from home, wich is good, altough not as good as the other one. I will use that one for a real emergency.
Anyway, I believe that the MW I chose is the best personalised care for me. While I see the OB once in a while, and I have to wait for him for an hour in every appointment, and he wouldn't remember me if I stopped going, my MW comes to my house, calls me on the phone, emails me, knows a lot about me, and more importantly, I have the chance to discuss with her every possibility, every procedure, every stage of labor, well, anything at all. Every appointment with her lasts for around 3 hours. My OB wouldn't spend on me more than 30 minutes.
I would still transfer without blinking twice, if something in my labor rings a bell. I just want to give my body the opportunity to do what it's supposed to do, wich is deliver a baby. I don't see I could accomplish that in a clinic. They have other priorities in mind (at least the clinics I could use).
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sillysapling
In my state, you have to be a CNM to be a midwife. The MW at my labor had worked with a hospital long before she became a homebirth midwife and still has hospital privilege.
Her actions were basically everything that I wanted to avoid from a hospital birth (telling me not to trust my body, not offering me actual support during labor or birth, clearly being annoyed when my labor was negatively impacting her time table, not helping me to hold the baby or giving me the opportunity to breastfeed, taking my baby (and so partner) from the room and leaving me alone without telling me what was going on, not respecting my concerns about the stitches, etc) without any of the advantages of hospital birth. She did a lot of irresponsible things that I'd certainly hope wouldn't happen in a hospital as well, despite her hospital training and experience.
Yes, I am very much aware of that. I even know that those type of MW are called "medwives".
Since it is my first time with this MW in particular (and my first time ever), I will not know if I judged her character and skills properly until the very day I give birth. So far every answer she gave me to every question has been the right one. I interviewed a few other MWs, and she is the one that, after closing the door, made me say "this is it". Am I wrong? Will she meet my expectations? I don't know. She has the knowdlege, the meds, the equipment, and the philosophy of a HB MW. I feel comfortable with someone like that, instead of a more "natural" MW. I, for example, have read a case where the mother tested positive for GBS, and she followed the MW advice and put on garlic in her vagina. When she gave birth, the baby contracted the disease and died. I can look up the link to paste it here. While many women gave birth to healthy babies with a positive GBS, IMO it only takes one case against it to make me go to the safest option: the IV (which could have its own complications, but at least not a dead baby). I know many mothers would disagree with me. But to me, it's a matter of choice. You choose what suits you best, what your logic tells you, what you conclude from research.
Quote:
Originally Posted by
sillysapling
I don't mean to discourage you- but be aware that a college graduate with years of hospital experience isn't any less prone to these problems. I can't remember offhand how many posts specifically mentioned the level of training the midwife had, but I don't believe that all of them said that the midwives weren't college or hospital trained. IIRC, most just said 'midwife' and didn't specify a level of training.
I, on the other hand, have read many catastrophic stories of negligence with the mother concluding "... and then I discovered the MW had her license revoked/she was a direct entry mw with no formal education/she had no experience with a complicated birth/she had plenty of cases of malpractice and dead babies".
There is a thread, I think in MDC, that actually discusses the difference between midwifery in US and Europe. I actually read many HB stories that took place in the UK, and I have not found as many cases of malpractice as in this forum and in different US pages. Not even close. But as I said, that is my conclusion from my research.
A college education doesn't automatically guarantee competent practice of medicine, I agree. There wouldn't be so many cases of mother/baby death in hospitals if that were the case. But when it comes to birthing at home, I feel safer with someone who is able to observe and be hands free, but who knows exactly what to do in case of an emergency, someone who can read red flags inmediately after they happen and act in consequence. Someone not as alarmist and interventionist as an OB, and also someone not as relaxed and "no interventions at all" as some MW.