[maxwill129]

My friend has been trying to get pregnant for a while. She has had 5 miscarriages and 1 successful preg. that ended with a healthy baby girl (Amy is now almost 2). A few months ago she had another miscarriage but just found out 8 weeks ago she is preg. All of her miscarriages have happened at 5 weeks, so the dr.'s are confident she'll carry this babe (plus all her hormone levels are where they should be and they never were with the preg.'s that she miscarried with).

My friend has been bleeding a little (she did with her dd's preg. too) so they had her come in for an ultrasound to find out why. My friend is severly allergic to latex. They did a vaginal ultrasound and the tech wore LATEX gloves!!! She didn't realize it right away, but as she was driving home (with her dd in the car) she felt dizzy and sick and had a sore throat. She called her husband when she got home and while she was talking to him she collapsed on the floor wheezing. Her dh found her unconscious on the floor (but breathing) and gave her her medication. Her poor dd saw the whole thing!!!

Obviously she wants a homebirth now. She is so freaked out about this happening again and maybe her baby dying because of it. She was thinking of a homebirth before but now NEEDS one. The problem is her dh- he says NO WAY.

What I need, mamas is help! Any and every link that talks about homebirths, midwives, facts, statistics, etc. Please, for my friends sake, help her gather all the info so she can be prepared to face her dh and know what she's talking about!

Thanks so much!

S.

Oh, and any Twin Cities, MN mamas who have any suggestions on midwives, that would be great too!

 

[maxwill129]

Yes! And when she started going she went to every staff person (it's a small clinic) and told them about her allergies in person plus it's written in big bold letters on her chart!

alegna- thanks for the links! I will probably be getting a pm to you soon!

S.

 

[maxwill129]

love_homebirthing, thanks so much! The more the better! My friend will really appreciate this. I'm so proud of her for doing this. I know that she would be so much happier with a homebirth.

S.

 

[maxwill129]

My friend wanted to me to post a thank you to everyone for their resources and their encouragement. She's being very insistent on the homebirth and her dh is starting to realize that that might be a good option. Her dh is a good guy and I know he's just super nervous about something going wrong with the birth.

I'm not sure where this whole latex thing happened (I keep forgetting to ask). I don't know if anyone saw in my first post that she didn't call 911, but she figured she'd be passed out by the time 911 arrived and she figured they'd be wearing latex gloves anyway! I just can't believe that latex is even allowed anywhere (hospitals, ambulances, etc) with all the latex allergies around. Oh, well.

I'm praying they make the right decision and I think with all your resources I think they will!!!

S.

 

[maxwill129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by AJP Some of the hospitals in my area (N. CA) are completely latex-free. They won't even allow latex balloons to be brought in, there are signs at the entrances.

Shouldn't all hospitals be latex free?! I just talked to my friend about this. She made the point that although latex allergies aren't super common, they aren't uncommon. Did that make sense? I just can't understand the reasoning to use latex at all anymore.

And AJP, I agree with your advice on just expecting the staff to be idiots.

If she ends up having a hospital birth she has an option of driving an hour (ick) to where I live. The hospital here is latex free and the nurses/doctors suprisingly good about your choices in birthing. I'd like my next birth to be a homebirth, but my previous two were hospital births. The second birth, my dd, was at the hospital near my house and I was pleasantly suprised that they didn't hook me up to IV's, do an episiotomy, bother me at all during the labor (I called them in the room when I wanted to start pushing), etc.

I'm still hoping that they'll decide for the homebirth, though...

S.

 

[maxwill129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by Pandora114 Also, tell her to get a Medic Alert bracelet/necklace.

What a great idea! I wonder why she doesn't have one?

Shannon

 

[maxwill129]

Quote:

Originally Posted by tinyshoes A doula at any birth is a required luxury...in fact, if I were having a latex-free hospital birth, I'd engage an extra doula to stand by the door of the room, pointing to that No Latex sign!

My friend has asked me to be her doula...I'm not certified, but I figured I could do something for her...maybe I can guard the door to her room if she ends up in the hospital! :LOL

Seriously, though, thanks for the mention of the name Rachel McGraw. Someone else had mentioned her so I'll let my friend know that she should really check into that MW.

Shannon

 

[maxwill129]

I haven't heard from my friend in a week and now she just emailed me saying that her and her husband are going to possibly split up. I guess they've been fighting a lot lately and I know that part of the fighting is over this whole homebirth thing. She doesn't want to talk to anyone right now, but I feel like I should do something for her. I'm so scared that she's going to end up raising kids alone, going to a hospital to give birth when she shouldn't, ...

What do I do?! I know this has really nothing to do with my original post, but I really need help and so does she!!!

Thanks, mamas. I'm just so upset over this. She is my best friend and it just kills me to hear this news.