[Jillian79]

I'm 11 weeks pregnant with my first

, and trying to decide ultimately where I want to have my prenatal appointments done, as well as where to give birth. I've been doing a lot of reading on natural birth, research on how pain medication can interfere with your natural hormones during birth, etc, and decided that I wanted to try to do this as completely naturally as possible.

Beth Israel is right down the street from us so that's where I set up my first appointment, which is this Thursday. I had to see a nurse for bloodwork/etc last week and I decided to ask her some questions, but wasn't happy with some of the answers I got. I realize that she is not an OBGYN or a midwife, but when I told her I wouldn't want to be strapped down to a bed with an IV or EFM she said, 'why?!'... So, naturally I'm hesitant despite the fact that Beth Israel has midwives. It is still a hospital, with every medical intervention invented.

The other place I am seriously looking at (it's relatively close by and I've heard good things about it from a few women around here) is Clementine Midwifery. I haven't even called them yet to talk about my feelings on birth and such, but just the fact that they talk so much about natural birth and are one floor above the OBGYNs makes it sound like what I'm looking for.

So, the real question - have any of you given birth at either of these places? Did you have a hard time getting them to agree to anything on your birth plan, was it a comfortable environment? I'd love to hear your experiences with either place, good or bad. I want to be fully informed, I feel like this is one of the biggest decisions I've ever made!

(I'm even considering a home birth with a midwife, but I think that'll be the option if neither of these places works out.)

Thanks so much in advance!

 

[yamilee21]

I do not have experience with Beth Israel, but since you mention wanting to be informed, this link has information on the rates of various interventions at that hospital, if it helps:
http://www.choicesinchildbirth.org/n...2002/n1107.htm

 

[nabigus]

Many congrats! I'm now 34 weeks pregnant with my first, and did oodles of research not so very long ago.

Here are a couple places to try for info here:

These threads are from the NY/NJ/PA forum under "Finding Your Tribe":
thread on LICH, St. Vincents
thread on Beth Israel
thread on NYC birthing centers
thread on (mostly) Brooklyn options

For a couple reasons (which actually seem less valid now) we decided against a homebirth. I'll be using the Birthing Center at St. Lukes/Roosevelt at 59th and 10th; my midwives are Barbara Sellers and Elizabeth Boyce, CBS Midwifery, on 5th ave. @ 18th St.

I'd be happy to share any of the info I found; if you're interested, you can send me a private message (PM) by clicking on my user name.

best of luck,
Nancy

 

[Jillian79]

Wow, thank you both for the links!! After reading them and checking out the statistics (those epidural and episiotomy rates are scary), I think I'll call Clementine Midwifery later this week and at least ask some questions.

CBS Midwifery is actually very close to where we live (14th and C) but my experiences with St Luke's/Roosevelt earlier this year with even trying to get them on the phone made me hesitate to go with them.

I think I'll see how this appointment Thursday goes, and decide after that. Thank you both so much for the info

Oh, one last question - if/when I do decide to change who I see for this stuff, is there any sort of etiquette I need to follow? Should I actually tell them that I've decided to go elsewhere?

 

[nyveronica]

We don't live in NYC now but did when we had a homebirth with our first babe. Our CNM was incredible (used her again for dh #2). She has Dr. back-up in Manhattan and Westchester county if necessary and she's a dream when helping you deal with insurance.

All that said, she's a tough cookie! Totally non-intervention with strict homeopathic leanings on care and because of this, she's really direct and particular about the care and advice she gives. There isn't a lot of fluff with her. You can PM me if you want her name and/or more information! Good luck!

 

[BinahYeteirah]

I also have a recommendation for a homebirth midwife, if you decide to go that route. She was great at my dd's birth in 2002. I'm sure she would be comfortable providing you with care on your terms (at home).

ETA: Pm me if you'd like her name, etc.

 

[Jillian79]

Had my visit at Beth Israel today, which went pretty well, so I'm feeling more positive about it than I was before. The midwife I saw (after they told me I didn't need to see an OBGYN unless I wanted to) even gave me her personal recommendations for homebirth midwives in case I decided to go that route. She even pointed out that homebirths are safer than hospital births because of risk of infection, things like that (which I didn't like to hear, but I'm glad she made a point of mentioning it!)

I asked her a ton of questions and honestly liked most of the answers I got (really wish I'd written them all down, now, but it wasn't possible). A lot were open ended, but not all, and she really seemed to be honest with me.

Now, the only bad part, is that my blood pressure is a bit high. 136/60. 10 days ago it was 110/70.

Back around when I got pregnant and when I found out I was pregnant it was way too high (149/96 the day I found out I was pregnant, I still like to think my anxiety had something to do with it) but I cut down on my salt and such, and by mid-May it was down to 110/70. I'm not sure why it would jump back up like that, but my midwife told me that if it hasn't come back down to normal by my next visit in 4 weeks they'll have to do some tests. Crossing my fingers, big time.

In the meantime, I am still going to call around to a few other places and speak with them, and hopefully get to take some tours of the birth centers. Gotta keep in mind that one good visit doesn't mean everything is peachy!

Thanks again everyone for your advice, if it does look like I can go the homebirth route (and it sounds like my husband is more open to the idea than when I first mentioned it), then I think I will send pm's to nyveronica and BinahYeteirah about your midwives. Thanks so much, ladies!

 

[MamaMaria309]

If you still want to call a few places, I have some that either my clients useor the midwife I use. I reccomend SLR only because you can give birth in the birthing center, which is a lot better than giving birth in just a normal hospital setting.