Free Birthing

[vespergirl]

I''m just popping in to say that my husband''s assistant just went into labor today (her husband also works for him so he called to let us know he wouldn''t be in tomorrow) and they are planning a home birth with a lay midwife. I am not surprised because they are vegan/hippie/raw food diet types, so they really wanted as natural of a birth experience as possible. Hopefully by tomorrow or the day after we''ll hear back from the husband find out how everything went. I am really hoping that everything goes OK with them, and I am alternately in awe of her bravery and worried about her choice to birth at home.

I am not at all in judgment of home birth - my cousin had a home water birth that went perfectly, and she loved the experience. Conversely, I had an over-managed hospital birth that left me traumatized, even though I was eventually able to deliver vaginally (with suction assistance).

I am now 35 weeks pregnant with my second, and will be delivering at a different hospital from where I had my awful birth experience. Still, though, I am worried about over-eager medical intervention again with this baby.

As wary as I am of the hospital experience, it is scary to think about what would happen though if there was an emergency at home. I recently watched the documentaries "The Business of Being Born" and "Pregnant in America" which both featured home births, filmed by advocates of home birth, but where the featured women ended up at the hospital for emergency care (in the Business of Being Born the filmaker needed an emergency c-section at a hospital after attempting a home birth, and in Pregnant in America the filmaker''s wife successfully delivered their baby with the cord wrapped around her neck, but then the baby wasn''t breathing properly after delivery and had to be rushed to the hospital, and spent her first week of life in the NICU after the home birth).

I found it ironic that both filmakers who set out to show how horrible the American hospital birthing system is had to rush to the same hospitals they had shunned to save their own and their babies lives. So, it seems that there is a place hospitals after all in case of complications ...

I do really wish that there was more of a middle-ground birthing option in my area (I am in the DC metro area). Even though the best hospitals say that they are accepting of a more natural midwifey approach, they are really very rigid and rush everyone along, and have very high c-section rates. It sounds to me like the way that things are done in Europe (hospitals where midwives deliver babies, that offer soaking tubs, birthing bars, etc., with OBs available for complications) would be the ideal. Unfortunately, in much of the US, you either have to go the midwife/homebirth route or totally relinquish control to the OBs and their schedules when you go to the hospital.

Oh, and I am totally against freebirthing. I really think it''s a good idea to have a midwife at your home to monitor your progress and help you through the experience.

 

[Jas12]

Megumic--i think most of the preggos on here recieved pitocin, but i am just going on memory, no scientific study or anything

. Not always, to induce, but to augment labor. And they don''t always end in c-sections obviously, but there is a slippery slope of interventions and you''d hope to be on the better side of things. I was so scared of the c-section i endured 8 hours of terrible pitocin contractions b/c i didn''t want to stall the labor any longer. It doesn''t always happen like that, but it''s common. A couple friends followed the text book pattern of pitocin, epi, stalled labor, baby in distress, c-section.
Also, i think every women gets Pitocin after the second stage to promote delivery of the placenta. I don''t think most women even know they get it then. Good ol fashioned nursing the baby achieves the same thing, but i guess that is not reliable for a hospital???
You can probably "you tube" that whole documentary. It''s really interesting and it''s not overly leftist or granola.

Vesper--i really liked the Business of Being Born, b/c i think it was a realistic view of both sides. It exposed hospital births for what they are, but the fact that the filmmaker did make the decision to transfer (although as i recall it was precautionary, not life threatening situation, no?) illustrates how we do occasionally need BOTH options. I think birth clinics with cert. middies and nurses and OB close by would be the best common ground. That would be terrific. i think it''s sad that we have to have a totally medicalized hospital birth, or nervously choose a homebirth. Those aren''t great options b/c they are 2 ends of the spectrum . We''re lucky to have highly skilled/regulated midwives here in canada. I feel very well cared for with the 2 i have, but it would be extra great if they ran birth clinics in conjunction and close to the hospital and offered that middle-ground alternative.

 

[Pandora II]

Date: 3/15/2010 2:26:31 PM
Author: Jas12
Megumic--i think most of the preggos on here recieved pitocin, but i am just going on memory, no scientific study or anything

. Not always, to induce, but to augment labor. And they don''t always end in c-sections obviously, but there is a slippery slope of interventions and you''d hope to be on the better side of things. I was so scared of the c-section i endured 8 hours of terrible pitocin contractions b/c i didn''t want to stall the labor any longer. It doesn''t always happen like that, but it''s common. A couple friends followed the text book pattern of pitocin, epi, stalled labor, baby in distress, c-section.
Also, i think every women gets Pitocin after the second stage to promote delivery of the placenta. I don''t think most women even know they get it then. Good ol fashioned nursing the baby achieves the same thing, but i guess that is not reliable for a hospital???
You can probably ''you tube'' that whole documentary. It''s really interesting and it''s not overly leftist or granola.

Vesper--i really liked the Business of Being Born, b/c i think it was a realistic view of both sides. It exposed hospital births for what they are, but the fact that the filmmaker did make the decision to transfer (although as i recall it was precautionary, not life threatening situation, no?) illustrates how we do occasionally need BOTH options. I think birth clinics with cert. middies and nurses and OB close by would be the best common ground. That would be terrific. i think it''s sad that we have to have a totally medicalized hospital birth, or nervously choose a homebirth. Those aren''t great options b/c they are 2 ends of the spectrum . We''re lucky to have highly skilled/regulated midwives here in canada. I feel very well cared for with the 2 i have, but it would be extra great if they ran birth clinics in conjunction and close to the hospital and offered that middle-ground alternative.

Here we get the option of a managed or a physiological 3rd Stage (delivery of the placenta).

Managed 3rd Stage has been the single most important factor in reducing the risk of PPH.

 

[plantationcatt]

I don''t have children yet so have no personal basis for opinion, but I wanted to ask if anyone on here had read Pushed: The Painful Truth About Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care? I never take any single source as gospel, but it brought to light some standard practices in the OB world that I wouldn''t have known and am so glad I now know before pregnancy. For example, lying on your back is anti-gravity for pushing, it isn''t a crisis if your water breaks and you don''t rush to the hospital...etc.

What scares me is that after seeing my SIL''s two births in the past two years, she didn''t understand what she was going through. The first time she had a "midwife" at the hospital. I have this in quotes because it was so medicalized I don''t know what the point was. The second time she had an OB, slightly better experience. She was told to go to the hospital within an hour of the water breaking. She did this last time, and within five hours she hadn''t progressed so they gave her pitocin. She had to ask what pitocin was. And they knew she didn''t want any pain medication this time. The contractions were so bad that she asked for an epi but the anisthesiologist couldn''t get there in time. She tore to a level 3, I think, but was otherwise ok. Her first child had terrible jaundice, and the second child did too. Only until they had the second child being treated did the doctor mention that it was the difference between her blood type and the child''s that was causing it. Why wouldn''t he have mentioned that the first time and prepared her for the possibility of the second? Even I knew that, because I googled it when the first one was born. What is scary even more is her dependence on the OB to know EVERYTHING. They are highly trained medical professionals, but no woman should enter pregnanacy without reading, talking to other women, etc. so they can understand what''s going on and what their options are.

I plan to have an OB/hospital birth when I have kids--I know him well, trust him, and know that he aligns with my feelings on doing some non-standard practices. I would consider a homebirth with a midwife for following children, but would never birth alone on purpose. Just personally.

 

[vespergirl]

Hey everyone, I just wanted to post an update about my husband''s assistant who went into labor this week who had planned a homebirth with her husband and lay midwife attending ...

She started having contractions Saturday night at 42 weeks pregnant, and labored at home with her husband and midwife for two days until she reached 10 centimeters. However, the baby never descended from the 0 position, and pushing was totally unsuccessful, so the midwife advised that they go to the hospital. Since my friend never saw an OB at all throughout her pregnancy, the OB on staff performed an emergency C-section, and delivered her of a 9 lb. 9 oz. baby boy!

I was afraid that she would be traumatized or disappointed her experience, since she ended up with an emergency C-section instead of the all-natural homebirth that she had really hoped for, but after 2 days of labor, I think she was more relieved to just get the baby OUT, healthy, and she sounded in really good spirits.

 

[plantationcatt]

edited: wrong thread.

 

[janinegirly]

I haven't read the whole thread, only the last page but wanted to chime in on my experience since I never received pictoin and getting the impression here that people think that's unusual?. I did receive an epi though, which I had always intended.

Anyway, I had mild contractions on my due date which I ignored (I had alot of laundry to get done). So by the evening I was in a LOT of pain-went straight to ER and was already 5cm. Water never broke. I asked for an epi (asked may be putting it nicely) and it seemed like forever but did receive it and progressed normally from that point on (delivered about 10 hrs after receiving the epi). I had no need for picotin. I was considered older for a first time mother (36) and am no big exerciser.