[sweetpeasmom]

For those who have given birth in hospitals, have a few ?'s. Just wondering if you had a birth plan and did the hospital give you any hassles or pretty much allowed what you wanted? I had a horrible experience w/my first, just because I had so many complications. I just know this time around there are certain things that I just don't want. I will be discussing w/my ob later and if they have problems w/my request then I will look elsewhere.
I really don't have a plan just some things I just know I don't want/or want.
Basically, I just want a natural birth. I want no drugs stuck in me, I really don't want an IV. Now do they give IV's to everyone, is there a need if you don't get any drugs? I want the baby w/me at all times (all long as there's no med issues) I want one parent present w/baby at all times. I dont' want a vit K shot, any vaxs.
Thats basically all I want. Is this reasonable requests for a hospital birth? I know all hospitals are different and as far as I know the one I'll be delivering at is a fairly good hospital for birthing.

 

[tofumama]

I had 2 hospital births, one was great, one was not. 2 different midwives, 2 different hospitals. I think it really depends on the Dr./hospital and how up with the times they are. Midwives tend to be more 'natural', but I had a mw at a semi-backward hospital, and they never even read my birth plan! With my son, I was at Leominster Hospital, and they have a 'birth center', and they followed my birth plan EXACTLY (I didn't use vit.k, vax or circ and was never even questioned) I had no IV, was monitored intermitently, and it was great. So, I guess it really depends on who you pick, and where you go.

 

[normajean]

Whether you get an IV depends on the hospital...my doctor claims its one of the things he insists on. THat and no food in labor. He said other than that you can do whatever you want. However I am hearing that the nurses do not follow birth plans unless they are "in the mood to."

I plan to request a heplock instead of an IV--that way they are all set up for the IV if I need one, and can just plug it in, but if you are on an IV you are pretty much in bed for labor. They don't let you drag it around with you around here.

My Dr. says that the IV is to maintain fluids and he doesn't put anything else in there unless there is a problem. But if "time is up" they will add pitocin to speed it up, or if you need a C-section they can do general anesthesia through there. His eating/drinking rule is "in case" you need a C-section, people tend to throw up if they have a full tummy when they get anesthesia. (can't you still throw up plain old bile though?) People throw up, and since they are on their way out, they tend to aspirate the vomit and it causes complications. So his rules are based on the potential for surgery, even though his cesearean rate is very low.

SO this is what I am anticipating for this birth. And I plan to simply wait as long as possible before going to the hospital (30 seconds away) b/c the less time you are there the less they can do to you. IF I don't find a mw first.

My birth with my son was in a different town, and I didn't know *anything* I didn't even have a birth plan. Their routine was an IV w/ pitocin and antibiotics, labor in bed on your back with a fetal monitor on constantly, at least hourly cervical checks. LUckily I didn't know any better at the time or it would have been AWFUL. My nurse was rotten. She took my BP on the same arm my IV was in and when I said it hurt, she got mad and said, "Well your DH is on the other side of the bed." ****FUMING****

I asked for a new nurse, but there wasn't a different one available. They also yelled at me to hold still while I was getting my epidural--but when you are in the middleof pitocin contractions 1 minute apart and unable to recover in between, how the heck do you hold still for 3-4 minutes while they stick you with a needle?

 

[normajean]

PS-as far as the baby goes, they were VERY good about respecting my wishes. Baby roomed in and he did not leave the room without DH. They didn't give him any formula or water or sugar or anything. I was very happy with how they handled the baby.

And I didn't want an episiotomy, which I had discussed with my doctor beforehand. He did perineal massage during labor and I was able to deliver a 9 lb 9 oz baby with a slight tear and 2 stitches worth of episiotomy--doctor did that to prevent more tearing since if he let me tear I was going to lose my clitoris. (Thank YOU Dr!!!)

 

[normajean]

Durr--I keep forgetting stuff....

They did do the Vit K shot and the PKU test. I do not think they did any Vax's in the hospital, but I can't remember (we vaccintate our kids, so it wasn't an issue for us...but I am 99% sure they didn't do any at the hospital). Knowing what I know now, I will refuse vitamin K b/c Dh's sis has a blood clotting problem which is hereditary and can be anywhere in Dhs family. SHe can't even eat foods with vitamin K in them (lettuce, etc) or she could die. So, I prefer to have the baby tested for this disorder before he gets any kind of vitamin K anything.

I believe PKU you cannot refuse in some states. Its required by law. ???

They also did a hearing screen which was non invasive and supposed to be very accurate.

My doctor allowed the placenta to deliver naturally. Some don't...check with yours on that one.

 

[Colorful~Mama]

i had two hospital cesarean births that were horrible. but my vba2c last july (he's almost a year old!?!) was teriffic. My dh was too afraid of a homebirth and i was too high risk for the birthing center so we did a hospital birth.

Quote:

wondering if you had a birth plan and did the hospital give you any hassles or pretty much allowed what you wanted?

I did have a birth plan and they were extremely respectful . actually they were great - i was yelling 'screw natural childbirth i want the epidural.get me an anethesiologist in here. and they stalled till it was too late

Quote:

Now do they give IV's to everyone, is there a need if you don't get any drugs?

No, you can say you don't want an iv and they must respect that. I had a hep saline lock (i think its called?) when i was yelling for the epidural. lol. i think they did it just to make me think i was getting one

Quote:

I want the baby w/me at all times (all long as there's no med issues) I want one parent present w/baby at all times.

this was not a problem. They never took him out of the room, respecting our wishes. They didn't take him from me till i was ready to give him up to be wiped down, weighed and measured - and they did that all within our view with dh holding his little hand most of the time. We roomed in the entire time. other then taking him to weigh and diaper/wrap he didn't leave immediate families arms.

Quote:

I dont' want a vit K shot, any vaxs.

put it in writing in a birth plan, make sure you say 'i have a birth plan, please read it' and then remind them. They were extremely respectful. We didn't have eye ointment and the cord was not to be cut till done pulsing and cut by dd. all that happened. We did choose the vit k shot since we knew we'd be having a bris, but we waited till right before discharge the next morning and i held him and nursed while he was given the injection. we declined the pku testing till the peds office the next week. There were no troubles at all.

Quote:

Is this reasonable requests for a hospital birth?

absolutely. You're paying them. Its your birth.

the only thing that bugged me the whole birth was one nurse was being a jerk. I asked her to please turn off the warmer cuz it was beeping and annoying the crud out of me and she said she couldn't cuz we'd need the warmer to be warm for the baby after his bath. I told her we'd not be bathing him at the hospital and I wanted that da*( thing turned off and she finally got it and said ok.

i got to the hospital at 11pm, birthed my son at 12:54am and was discharged at noon the following day. My boy coslept with me the first night and no one said a word. They were really awesome and checked on me, brought me food (i was suddenly ravenous at 4am when everyone had left). Oh, and i was never even officially admitted till 2 or 3 am cuz i was in active labor when we got to the hospital so there was no time. I think they did a great job for me.

biggest advice? stay home till you just can't stay home anymore. Don't go to the hospital too early or you're just begging for intervention you don't want/need.

good luck

 

[CarrieMF]

All my girls were born in the same hospital. I had a different dr with Tirza than I did with Asha and Nadia.

The dr with Tirza made me have an iv. At the time I didn't know any better but in retrospect it was a good idea for AFTER(although I know they could have given it after too). I ran a fever and was dehydrated so they kept it in longer so I wouldn't get worse.

The dr I had with Asha and Nadia only puts a hep lock in. They took it out immediately after Asha was born, before I left the case room. With Nadia they didn't put it in until they started the pitocin and antibiotics and they took it out immediately after she was born, before I left the case room.

As for the Vit K & no vax's you are going to have that written up, have the ob & nurses know that or they will automatically do it.

Everything at my hospital was left up to you. You could do what you wanted and eat what you want provided there were no complications. With Nadia I was only allowed a liquid diet and was restricted to the bed AFTER the pitocin was started. I could have stood, sat in a chair/birthball or walked as far as the wires & tubes(I had an internal monitor) would let me but her heartrate would drop dangerously low if I wasn't on my left side.

When I had my kids it was an option to room in, now it is required unless the baby is being watched.

There is no medical intervention that the hospital can do if you do not let them. They cannot force you to take drugs, sit in bed, not eat, etc. If they tell you it's their policy that you can't eat I wonder what they'd say if you mentioned they are taking away civil rights.

There are always some circumstances where medical interventions are needed but always get the info on WHY they want to do it and IF there are other things you can try first even if it's only for an hour or so.

 

[sweetpeasmom]

Thank you ladies for your experiences. It helps out a lot. I'll definitely ask for the hepblock thing instead. I never would thought of trying to labor it out mostly at home but now that you've mentioned it, sounds perfect to me. I don't want to be stuck up on a bed unable to move while laboring, like what happened last time.
Last time they had given me magnesium for ptl for the 2nd time at 34 weeks even though I kept insisting I wasn't in labor. They had me stuck on it for 5 days! I kept telling them I wanted it out but they didn't listen. I was so mad that I basically told them to let me go. I was lucky to find a doc on duty that listened to me and did let me go. Gee I knew I wasn't in labor but they didn't listen, still irks me to death. Thats why I want things to go differently this time. I really wish I could have a homebirth sometimes.

 

[kimberlylibby]

I had a birth plan, and they were very respectful of it, to the extent possible.

What I mean by that is....

I requested no iv's, just a heplock. They were fine with that, UNTIL they saw that my blood pressure was through the roof and I had hellp syndrome (liver junk). So, they had to start an iv for the mag sulfate.

They were fine with letting me move during labor.... until my bp responded to even just sitting up 10 degrees.... so it was flat on my left side or right side, rotating every hour.

Had I not been in a medically scary situation with the eclampsia/hellp, I think they would have been VERY supportive of a natural birth... but the situation didn't allow for that.

One of my nurses was so inspired that even with pitocin I didn't get an epi. Alas, after 36 hours of induction, I did get an epi... and I don't regret it....

Kimberly

 

[stafl]

I had the most horrific experience you could possibly imagine in the hospital with my first DD... the story is linked in my siggie, but be warned, it ain't pretty.

No, I did not have a written birth plan, but I had educated myself, read all the right books, and discussed with my doctor all of my wishes ahead of time. Problem is, my doc wasn't on call when my water broke...

I did not hire a doula, and I had not educated my DH about interventions and my feelings about them, and I think that was my second biggest mistake. My first biggest mistake was going to the hospital in the first place after my water broke, when I wasn't in hard labor yet.

Quote:

I really wish I could have a homebirth sometimes.

So do it! You only get one chance to give birth to this baby - make sure it's exactly what *YOU* want! At the least, I'd highly recommend you talk to some midwives before ruling it out completely.

 

[azpagan_mama]

I know that every hospital is different, but my experience was very positive... my doctor was a very open-minded woman who encouraged me to try any of the "alternative" things that I was interested during my pregnancy (meditation, massage, yoga, etc.) and was very supportive in creating a birth plan. The hospital honored all of my requests (no shots, baby in the room, etc.) and in fact far exceeded all of my expectations (pull-out sofa bed for dad in my private room, crib in the room at all times unless I otherwise requested, lactation nurses available for help, if needed).

All I can recommend is that you a.) tour the hospital prior, and b.) ask LOTS of questions, and c.) do your homework (like get that birth plan together). I had great luck finding "fill in the blank" birth plans on the internet, which gave me a great place to start.

Good luck!

Pam

 

[wombat]

I had a birthplan, a doula and had researched a lot. The problem was the shift changes and certain staff members who don't give a ?**&()*&#? about birthplans. For example when I first arrived, I refused an IV and wanted a hep lock. I had to have something because I needed IV antibiotics for GBStrep. I was already 5 and having strong contractions and this horrible nurse tried to put an IV in after I told her not to. I took my arm away and told her to go away - she's not putting anything at all in cause I don't trust her - then she got real snotty, threatening but put the hep lock in. She was the worst person I dealt with.
another issue I had was the external monitoring - I HAD to move during contractions and another nurse was getting really pissed at me because I was messing up her monitoring. I knew I only had to be monitored for 20 mins per hour (their policy) but she kept saying "you moved so I have to start over". I think they had trouble monitoring because my placenta was at the front.

The OBs were patient about my lack of progress with dilation. I only dilated 1 cm (from 5 to 6) in 24 hours. They didn't mention "cesarian" for a long time - I remember, I kept waiting for them to push it but they didn't. But the problem here was the OBs had no expertise in moving an OP baby. This hospital had midwives on staff but unfortunately I went into labor on the weekend and they don't work weekends.

They didn't bother me about the Hep B vax. But my hospital doesn't do them at birth anyway unless the mother is Hep B +. We did the Vit K shot.

I had checked my birthplan out with the OB clinic prior to labor and they'd ok'd all of it. But that doesn't stop manipulative staff with their own agendas ignoring it when the time comes. I knew my rights but I still had to fight for them.

My advice is if you have to use a hospital to go in as prepared as possible and prepare your doula and/or dh to advocate with the staff where necessary. Maybe get your doula/dh to inform new staff coming on shift of your wishes.

 

[Electra375]

After my first birth, I found that it doesn't matter what the doc says about your birth plan. Hospital protocol and procedures take over the minute you step in the doors.
Call you hospital and talk to L&D and ask specific questions like are IV required for all patients... Sometimes a doc can over ride this, but if you go in to the hospital after business hours, good luck.
My best advice is to go into the hospital pushing, then they don't have time to stick you for blood or IVs.
But I've had two terrible hospital experiences and one excellent homebirth, so I'm a bit biased toward home away from medically unneccessary procedures and protocols "just in case we need them".
Best to you

 

[Peony]

With dd's birth, I had a CNM. I did not write up a birth plan because I knew the hospital staff did not look at them, well other then to make fun of them.

I used to work at that hospital so I knew that. Anyway, I labored at home all day with DH, I finally called my CNM after 12 hours, before the office closed just to let her know I was in labor. She wanted me to go to the hospital for a check, I didn't want to, I just wanted to stay at home, finally I agreed. I went in, I was at 6cm, she knew I didn't want to be at the hospital any more then neccesary, we lived 35 miles away, she didn't want me to go back home, so she send us out to dinner, and told us to come back when my contractions were 4 minutes apart. We went out, although I couldn't eat, came back a couple hours later, I still ended up laboring for another 3.5 hours before dd was born. So stay home as long as possible. Be prepared to be firm, my hospital did not have a heplock/ IV policy, but my nurse still wanted me to have one. Good luck

 

[sweetpeasmom]

Thank you ladies so much for sharing your experiences. It's helping me out a lot!

 

[kofduke]

Quote:

Originally Posted by kimberlylibby Had I not been in a medically scary situation with the eclampsia/hellp, I think they would have been VERY supportive of a natural birth... but the situation didn't allow for that. Kimberly

I had a similar situation. I can't say 100% that the interventions were necessary - but I've spoken to a m/w and she told me I probably would've been transferred had my b/p been as high as it was combined with the leaking proteins, so I've totally made my peace with it.

My water broke, and no contrax. I went to the hospital, and they did b/p and a urine test, and were very nervous with the results. Before the tests came back, though, they were super great - they kept asking me if everything was okay (i.e., I know you have a birth plan, is it okay to have a hep lock so that if we need to give you fluids we don't have to find a vein during labor? I had previously decided that was okay...) I had mag. sulfate, so I did have to stay laying down. The staff was great about staying out of my room. They let me (I know, this is a bad term, but I don't know what else to use) try and start contrax. on my own for an hour or two - but laying on your back, it's not going to happen. My labor nurse was so clearly upset for me - she mentioned that she felt terrible for people that had researched birth, and wanted no interventions, and then had something serious medically happen, when all she usually saw were women wanting epidurals. I had pit for 12 hrs., no epi with the support of my doula and DH, but was not really dilating. I decided on the epidural to try and relax, hoping that would complete dilation so that I wouldn't end up with a c-section. It worked. My epidural was really light, so I could feel when to push with contrax. I didn't have an episiotomy.

The biggest problem was that I had to stay on the mag sulfate for 24 hours and couldn't get out of bed. DH didn't want to sleep on the recliner chair since he had do go to work (he took his 3 days off when I came home), so the hospital kept DS in the nursery the first night. They brought him to me any time he peeped.

 

[willowsmama]

I had a great hospital birth with my 3rd. My first sucked but I was 15 and knew nothing. I was induced ( w/o good reason. argh!) with my 2nd. i had wised up and researched alot with my 3rd. I inatially wanted a HB but my mw flaked on me and I couldn't trust her.

I did have a birth plan, a copy was in my chart and we had copies with us. I stayed home as long as possible. I had discussed leaving early with my dr. He wasn't for it but I told him barring any medical needs I would be leaving. He asked I stay for 4 hours( I think he was hoping I'd fall asleep.lol) so I gave him that. My dh doesn't like to 'cause trouble', he thinks anything the nurses/drs. want *must* be necesary. SO I got a doula. SHe was great and my dh felt more at ease too so he was more supportive then w/ #2.

I had issues with 1 nurse. I gave birth right at shift change so she was a cranky woman. i put my foot down about some things and just dealt with others.

 

[mamapixie]

With my second birth, I had a birth plan. Unfortunately, with being a military hospital, it didn't all go according to the plan.

I did have a hep-lock, IV wasn't attached until after birth, and it was just to get me re-hydrated. I did stay in bed on the monitor, but I was only in labor at the hospital for 3 hours, and I got there at 7cm, so not a big issue. I was NOT allowed to push in any position I wanted too(I want to stay on my side and push). DS was not given to me immediately to nurse(in fact, he didn't nurse until he was around 5 hours old, the hospital had this archaic rule that newborns must stay in the nursery for 4 hours for observation) I'm also fairly certain he was given a bottle while he was in the nursery, because I had the worst time getting him to latch while I was in the hospital(he did fine once we were home though).

Next birth, I'm having the baby at the new birth center in town.

 

[Electra375]

Sweetpeas Mom why can't you have a homebirth? You said in you last post I wish I could have a homebirth.
I just had a homebirth after my first two were hospital c-sections. I had to pay out of pocket the same amount I would have had to pay for a co-pay since lay/ direct entry midwives are not covered on my insurance. It was well worth ever cent.
Just wondering, you don't have to answer by any means. I know that home is not for everyone.

 

[sweetpeasmom]

Well basically, money. Insurance won't cover and if we paid for the homebirth then there goes all our money, don't have much to begin with. Our insurance covers everything 100%, so we dont have to pay a dime for a hospital birth. If there was a copay, then I'm sure a homebirth would definitely have been an option. Also if I develop the same complications as last time, then homebirth wouldn't be possible anyways.