Hi everyone... I'm preparing to have a natural childbirth and birthing in a hospital is my only option. After my hospital tour I was left with a very strong impression that the nurses I met, as well as the hospital in general, are not pro-natural birth. I'm 37 weeks along but even if I had toured the hospital earlier, there just is no other option for me because of insurance issues and my location.

I told the nurse who gave me my tour that other than having no medication or interventions, I only have a few strong preferences to how things go, and asked how I should make them known--can I submit a birth plan? Her response was that it's a running joke in this hospital that any mother who submits a birth plan gets an automatic c-section. Ha ha ha.

So as an example, I said I didn't want the baby getting any formula or artificial nipples, and she mentioned that sometimes they give certain medications on a pacifier, "Unless you're one of those no-pacifier people," and there was some definite snideness there.

When I asked about their hot tub, they said it wasn't a resort and that I could use it for 15 minutes only... They were also storing a commode in there--gross. The nurse took forever to find the key to even show me the room.

The nurse made sure to tell me 30% of mothers end up in the c-section room, that she had three of them and they were no big deal. Sorry, but to me, c-sections are a HUGE DEAL. She also told me a natural childbirth is any birth where the child is born vaginally and that she "hates" when people think otherwise.

She said after the baby is born they do their routine cleaning/tests/etc, plus I will need to deliver the placenta, and after that they like to get me nursing ASAP... that some mothers can be nursing within ten minutes, and that the very longest I could expect to wait to nurse is an hour. I realize that she was trying to manage my expectations, but AN HOUR? I would like to nurse to stimulate contractions to deliver the placenta--how is this not a standard practice?

I don't want to go in there with plans to fight with the nursing staff but I can already see that I will not have the support I need unless I am lucky enough to get a nurse who thinks the way I do (and I will be requesting one). I know it would be a good idea to have another advocate present but my husband feels strongly that it just be him and me present for the birth. I don't have the money for a doula and my husband can be very passive and I am feeling really defeated and worried. I may just call my mother once I get to the hospital and tell my husband to shove it. My mom mostly thinks like I do and would be a great advocate IF she agrees with me--but if she doesn't, she'll just be one more person to fight with.

I keep reading and reading and listening to my hypnobirthing/babies MP3s to prepare, but I am afraid I'm going to have to raise holy hell to get what I want, which is not conducive to the natural birth I am hoping for. I don't want any negativity, I just want people to understand me, work with me, and to let me do my thing.

Just wondering if anyone can point me to birth stories that turned out well even with an unsupportive staff, or tips for dealing with this type of thing? Or even good articles I can read or just any other information I can have under my belt? I checked the tags but I didn't see any posts that had the information I'm looking for.

Today I happened to read reviews for Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth on Goodreads, and I was struck by how the negative reviews seemed to be from women who were offended by the notion that natural childbirth is healthier than medicated childbirth. They felt that it somehow denigrated their experience giving birth, or that of their mothers, who were medicated. This idea is really strange to me... it's the same thing with breastfeeding. People get really offended by articles that talk about the benefits of breastfeeding or natural childbirth. Just look at the comments on any NY Times article on these subjects.

This thought occurred to me: being offended by an article or book that discusses the health benefits of natural childbirth (or breastfeeding) because you didn't have a natural childbirth or breastfeed would be like me being offended by a book that discusses healthy eating habits because I don't have healthy eating habits. It would be like me getting offended by Michael Pollon's In Defense of Food, because I don't eat an ideal diet. But of course I don't take offense, I try to eat as best as I can, and when I don't I fess up and admit that my diet ain't so great. Why can't the epidural and formula crowd be the same way? Why do they throw a fit when anyone talks about how they could be healthier?

Any ideas as to why people are so darned touchy? They want us to say that every way is equally good, but it's really not. We know that. There's lots of evidence supporting that. Yes, you have the right to birth how you wish, but please don't pretend that what you're doing is equally healthy. It's not. And I won't pretend that my little lean cuisine for lunch habit is actually not that bad for me. I know it's chock full of sodium, not to mention BPA.

Hi all!
I just found this article on Huffington post that I full plan to "use" to help calm relatives about my choice to deliver at home.  If anyone else feels that they will or already are in a situation where some cajoling or outright ignoring of a family member about home or natural birth I thought it might be of assistance.

Way cool

http://www.huffingtonpost.com/christiane-northrup/c-section-or-natural-birt_b_323422.html

the 411 on me, since I've not done any introduction as yet is: I am 28, married for 5 years, we plan to start trying next October (going off the pill then anyway).  I'm really enthusiastic about all things natural birth, parenting, living and am a planner at heart, hence the super duper early studying and such for our someday-growing-family.  :)

Two or three months ago, I think, someone posted in this community a very detailed cost comparison of using disposable vs. cloth diapers. I was wondering if anyone happened to bookmark that post and can provide me with the link.
Thanks!

So I'm interested in becoming a doula, my husband is on board with the plan as well. I've started doing some research into different classes that are available, certifications, etc and I've found a great program in Michigan that supports DONA certification.

What made me interested in this, is that when my husband and I started looking in our area for a doula there was only one woman who had literally no experience and just called herself a doula. She had three hospital births, all of which she had epidurals and a slew of other interventions, and she's a nurse at a local hospital. When I met with her she gave me the typical scare tactic speech of complications that occur, instead of being encouraging, etc. So I want to offer that to women in our area. I've already talked with my midwife and her apprentice and another midwife that services our area, and both are very encouraging. Because there are a lot of women that need support but may not want a homebirth with a midwife, so I'd like to fill that gap.

So....I'm currently working casually (about 4 hours per week), finishing my Masters degree in Clinical Social Work....I know that becoming a Doula will be an adventure, and one that I want to take my time becoming. I want to offer the very best support.

(Just to make this clear, I don't think you have to go to training/be certified to be an awesome labor support, but I think some women don't have the natural supports available to them)

My husband and I are interviewing a pair of doulas this afternoon and I am trying to come up with a good list of questions to ask them. We're hoping for a drug/intervention-free hospital birth, and we're both science-minded so want to avoid anything too 'hippy dippy' (i.e., no crystal amulets, please). I'm just over 17w so my focus may change as I get closer to the birth, but right now my main reasons for wanting a doula are to have someone help me decide when it's time to go to the hospital, help with pain management techniques, and help me avoid unwanted interventions (both by helping me be confident that I don't need them and by facilitating communication with the attending doctors/nurses).

I think I have a pretty good sense of the scope of their services through their website and am just trying to think of other questions to ask. ( Here's what I have so far... )

Hello, My name is Emma. I'm about 5 weeks preggo. I wanted to do an introduction post to say how wonderful this community is, supportive and natural! Actually reading these posts are a relief to the c-section happy stories everywhere else, "why not get a c-section AND a tummy tuck and work it around your schedule?"

I am a yoga teacher and practicing Christian and but 24 years old. And am excited to labour, to feel connected to the millions of women who have gone before me, to be fully present with my baby as my baby makes an appearance in the world. To hoof and haw and breathe.

I feel like this baby has been waiting for me for a while.


Question-- How many of you (this specifically applies to people who know we were created for a purpose) felt instinctively what gender your baby was going to be?


Also if you want to add me, please do! 
 

So while this isn't birthing related.....I thought you ladies would have some great info for me or resources!

My daughter is 3 months old and hasn't had any immunizations/shots. My pediatrician isn't pressuring me in any way, but does recommend getting some shots, but suggested I do more research to make up my own mind. He said most of his resources are through medical journals and is working on a list for me to pick up next week. I read the Dr. Sears book but would like some additional reasources. I'm lucky to have a pedi who is very supportive of delayed shots and feels that it should be the parent's decision as to if any shots are administered.

He says I need to take into account that I am breastfeeding and that I am a stay at home mother as well.

My husband and I had originally planned on doing the delayed shot plan that is in the Dr. Sears book, but my pedi suggested not getting certain shots. I believe he only feels that polio and tetnus should be done (but I will have to double check as I wrote it down but have been doing a bunch of searching today!).

Any thoughts?

Ok...I need advice once again!  I trust you women so much...I have to get your input!

Here is the situation:

I have a friend that switched care providers at 35ish weeks to a midwife/hospital practice.  Her due date is Friday, Dec. 25th/Christmas.

She was not happy with her OB care b/c her OB (only 1 in the practice) wanted to schedule an induction at 39 weeks b/c she was going on vacation.  This did not sit well with my friend b/c her first daughter was induced at 42w and wasn't born until 42w2d (*and only a 7 lb'er).  She wanted to wait until the baby was ready to come on her own (yay!).  (There were also other reasons for the switch...personality conflicts with nurses, etc.)

SO...

she switched to a midwife practice and ended up getting a 37week ultrasound since she switched care providers.  The ultrasound revealed that the baby's cord was wrapped around the baby's neck 3 times.  They apparently said it 'wasn't a big deal' (at first) but that they wanted her to go in 2x/week for NST's/ultrasounds/etc to 'keep an eye on it'. 

Now they say they don't want to 'let her' go past her due date and want to INDUCE HER.  Reason? They don't want the baby to get too big b/c they are worried about cord compression.

They also told her to BE PREPARED FOR A C-SECTION.

She is NOT happy and does NOT want a c-section!!

*****

I do not know a whole lot about nuchal cords but this is what I told her:

Get online and do some research, and get a 2nd opinion!

The cord wrapped around the neck is not that uncommon.  (i told her about 1/3 of babies have the cord around their neck at least once if not more)

In the case of a long cord, it can actually be a good thing that the baby is 'wrapped up' in the cord b/c it prevents cord prolapse.

If worse comes to worse, and the cord is too short for the baby to be delivered all the way, they can clamp/cut the umbilical cord after the head is delivered so the rest of the baby can be delivered.  (she wants to delay cord clamping/cutting if possible though)

The cord is not 'strangling' the baby b/c the baby doesn't breath through it's mouth and completely on its own until after its born and the cord has been cut.  (unless it IS being compressed somehow or if there is a knot in the cord, etc).

*****

I'm not against 'keeping an eye on things'...but i feel like this has caused a lot of undue stress/fear/inconvenience for something that is kind of common (AND THEN TO TELL HER "BE PREPARED FOR A C-SECTION"???).

If she had stayed with the other practice she wouldn't have even gotten another ultrasound until she was 'post-dates' so she would not know about the cord being wrapped 3 times.  Is that a blessing or a curse?  She kindof had the mentality of "thank God I switched when I did and found out about this"...
 
BUT...is it really an issue that 1.) she needs to be induced, and 2.) needs to prepare for a c-section ???

My gut instinct says NO...but maybe i'm wrong and don't know what I'm talking about (very possible, lol!).  Which is fine if i am...i don't mind being wrong one bit!  If this is something serious that it really is a blessing/good thing she switched and ended up finding out about this then GREAT! 

But I would HATE for her to end up being induced (which puts her at a greater chance of a c-section ANYWAY), and the baby be born before she's ready.  I told her, "your 1st was born at 42w2d and 7 lbs...which means you probably are one of the women that have a longer gestation....and this baby might need to go to 42w too!  I know that's not something women want to hear!  (believe me, i know...since my 3rd was born at 42w6d!), but it's just sad that she switched care providers late in the game to have a better birth experience, and ended up with all this worry/push for induction/possible c-section!  And with MIDWIVES!!

Any info I can give her directly related to nuchal cord???  Anyone who had babies with the cord wrapped around several times?  Did you know about it before-hand and was it an issue? 

(My own experience is only this:  My 2nd was born with the cord wrapped around his neck twice and didn't know it until delivery and it was never an issue...and he was 'big' weighing in at 9 lbs. 3 ozs.)

She is starting to look into it, but doesn't have access to a wonderful natural birth community like I do, so i am posting this here and will pass on any info to her)


Thank you in advance!

it's frustrating to watch documentaries and read books and have lots of conversations that convince you that you know what is best for yourself and your baby, then be told you can't have it.
it looks like homebirth is not going to happen for us. there are two local homebirth midwives in our budget. one kind of (really) freaks me out, and the other told me i'm too high risk for her on account of having insulin resistance (coincidentally, i've spoken to several other midwives and none of them think insulin resistance risks me out of homebirth, AND the woman who gave me her number used her for her own homebirth while she was insulin resistant, so i really think there's another issue at hand, but i have no idea what).
the nearest birth center is an hour and a half away and out of our budget. the next closest one is two and a half hours and although they take our insurance, the midwife doesn't want me to birth there because she likes to be able to do home visits and doesn't want to drive to where i live.
because i am so unhappy with the care i'm currently getting, i will be transferring to a different practice. unfortunately, unless i want to go to an OB (no thanks, i'm not going to hire a surgeon for a natural childbirth), this amounts to switching from one hospital-based midwife to another hospital-based midwife, so i'm not feeling too optimistic that there will be a huge difference in the type of bureaucracy that i will encounter.
honestly, i wouldn't be at all upset if our baby was "accidentally" born at home. i'm definitely going to feel things out with this new midwife and keep unassisted birth in the back of my head depending on how things go over the next few months (though not tell her as much, of course).

in addition to that, i got a letter today stating that medicare is refusing to pay for the pregnancy test that my doctor gave me. i tried calling to find out why, but was told i have to call back monday if i want to speak to someone who actually knows what's going on. so i'm definitely in a "*#@% the establishment" mood tonight.

I had my 36 week appointment with my midwife today.

Everything is going great. My blood pressure remains awesome (at my OB it was always at the border of being too high), baby's heartbeat is great, everything is perfect.

We also found out that apparently I am carrying a giant baby. Our baby is about 22 inches long at this point. His head is down in my pelvis, and his feet are up in my ribs. His butt remains right under my ribs. My midwife's reaction? "How are you carrying all this baby?" Somehow I have the feeling that I'd be getting scare tactics about having an OMGHuge baby and needing a c-section from my old OB. My midwife? Is not concerned about his size. She says he's definitely a tall one, but she seems utterly unconcerned about this. Which is very reassuring to me.

She did share some bad news with me, though. Her father has been diagnosed with terminal cancer, the doctors have given him 4-7 months to live. As such, she is traveling to Portland from Dec 26th until January 7th. I am "due" on January 13th. She thinks it's possible, but not likely, I could go in to labor while she is gone, but her apprentice (who I have met many times and adore) will be here and she has a backup midwife from another practice who will cover for her in case I do.

I'm unconcerned about her being gone and obviously my heart aches for what she is dealing with. I wonder if I should get her a sympathy card and/or gift to give her when she returns? I am unsure... because her father isn't dead. She is going home for her last visit, as it were. I don't know how to best handle this. My husband and I gave her our heartfelt sympathies at our visit today. We assured her that we were not upset in any way, shape or form about her needing to leave, and we shared with her that obviously family comes first, that's why we switched to midwife care! I'm just not sure if I should do "more". Thoughts?

Me again. I posted yesterday about getting some acupuncture today to turn a breech baby. I wasn't sure what position the baby was in and wanted to confirm the baby was still breech before going ahead with the treatment. I called my midwife and she suggested I come in and have someone feel my belly today as I couldn't tell myself what position the baby was in.

A midwife felt the baby today, said it was in a really weird position and she couldn't really tell but she thought it was still breech. This made me feel better about having no idea what position the baby was in myself. I wanted to be sure though so she did a quick scan and low and behold there was a head where it should be - DOWN! I was very relieved. Being breech would risk me out of the Birth Centre and I would be really disappointed to have to deliver in the hospital.

My question now is what should I be doing to keep the baby down facing? The midwife said there was still lots of room for the baby to move and suggested wearing a belly belt so the babe is held nice and tight in that position. I will continue to sit correctly etc but I am thinking I should stop doing the inversion exercise. I have also been sleeping tummy down (on a mattress with a hole cut for the bump), do you think I should continue sleeping like that? Any other suggestions? I'd very much like the baby to stay where it is!

I know I saw this story in the community a few months back. So here's an update on the mom in Arizona who wasn't going to be allowed to have a VBAC at her hospital: http://www.cnn.com/2009/HEALTH/12/17/birth.plan.tips/index.html

I'm very happy that everything worked out for her. But all I can think is that pretty soon no one in this country is going to know what a Natural Birth is.

I'm just feeling really sad today. It shouldn't be NEWS that she was able to have a vaginal delivery. She shouldn't have had to move 350 miles to do so. This is not the way that BIRTH is supposed to be.

I learned last weekend that not only did my great-grandmother deliver 9 children in her home, including a set of twins, but that she was also a midwife who assisted in the deliveries of dozens of babies on the cotton farms in Mississippi. A mere 80-90 years ago! And it wasn't "special" then. It was how things were done.

I don't understand how so much can change in 80-90 years. I keep thinking about my great-grandma and how I wish I could have met her. Every story I hear about her makes me feel like she was an amazing woman. Fun fact: I'm white. My grandmother was born in 1933 in Mississippi, one of the aforementioned 9 babies my great-grandmother had. My grandmother is named after another midwife. The African-American midwife who assisted in her birth. So... my great-grandmother was not only a strong woman who helped other women deliver their babies, she was also pretty damn radical in her feelings about racial matters.

Somehow, I feel like my great-grandmother is going to help with our birth. She is my inspiration. She will be what I focus on when things get rough. She was amazing. And so am I.

Just found out today that there's been at least one confirmed case of H1N1 at my workplace.

Also, I am a kitty lover, and while on Thanksgiving vacation, I met a cute little stray kitty that lived near my grandma's house and I was constantly holding her and petting her. I always washed my hands afterwards, but now I'm wondering if I have toxoplasmosis and OMG MY CHILD WILL BE BRAIN-DAMAGED.

So I called my OB/GYN (the one I'm going to fire come 2010, when my insurance switches over) to see if I can get the H1N1 vaccine and get re-tested for toxoplasmosis. But then I did some quick googling and found out that invasive fetal testing (should I end up popping positive) might be MORE dangerous than the disease itself. And then I started thinking HOLY SHIT I'M SCREWED EITHER WAY.

Then I thought, let me ask my friends in naturalbirth what they think, because surely someone can calm me the hell down and offer some helpful information. I don't really trust my OB/GYN for helpful information, I just kinda want to use them for their vaccine and lab facilities until I kick them to the curb. HAHAHA.

So tell me: How worried would you be about toxoplasmosis? And would you get a flu shot? What about an H1N1 shot?

I'm 13w1d, by the way - so right at the end of my first trimester. TIA!

I have an appointment for some moxibustion and acupuncture to turn our baby tomorrow.

I am only 34 weeks but the babe was breech at my 33, 31 and 29 week appointments so my midwives want me to try everything to get little one to turn.

My husband is concerned though that if the baby has naturally turned itself between the last appointment and tomorrow that having the treatment would cause it to flip back to breech, is that possible? I don't really understand how the treatment actually works.

I really can't tell what position the baby is in at the moment, but it does feel different as I haven't been able to locate a head as I previously had. I think it *may* have turned itself but I could be totally off.

Hello natural birthers!

just a quick Q...

a while back someone posted intructions for placenta encapsulation. i don't have the link to the specific post, but it was a great post with pictures, and detailed instructions. I forwarded the instructions to a friend that should be having her baby any day now....and she's wondering if the lemon, ginger and cayenne serve a specific purpose or if they can be removed from the process?

step 2 was as follows....

2. Steaming the placenta over LOW heat, with lemon, ginger, and cayenne. Rinse excess blood before steaming. Can also be steamed with jalapeno instead of cayenne. Steam for 15 minutes, turn and steam other side until no juice comes out.

anyone know why lemon, ginger and cayenne are suggested?

thanks in advance!

My GBS came back positive. I am doing some research on natural remedies to correct it and so far only garlic therapy came up. I am comfortable with doing the garlic therapy but I would also consider other forms of treatment.
Has anyone ever had a positive GBS and successfully used natural remedies to treat it? And if so what did you do?


Thanks in advance..

The more research I do, I can't help but come to the conclusion that it's more dangerous to be diagnosed with gestational diabetes than it is to actually have gestational diabetes.

I'm writing to find out whether you guys know of good books/articles or other resources to teach Dad's about birth and their role in it.

My husband and I are in a commuting relationship at the moment so we won't be able to do any childbirth classes together, but he will be present for the birth.

Unfortunately, I'm high risk (large fibroids, one of which is near the cervix and may prevent vaginal birth) so, I'll be in a hospital, but I'd still like him to know as much about the natural birthing process as possible so that he can aid my doula in keeping the number of interventions down, and if I get lucky, preventing any at all.

TIA!

This seems like the best place to ask this question, so here goes.

Now that I'm weeks away from our birth, I'm turning my mind more towards after the baby has arrived. And I'm wondering what some good books to read about attachment parenting and taking care of a newborn and such might be. Neither my husband nor I have been around babies, so this is a totally new experience for us both.

Mainstream books on the subject seem... so not what we're looking for. Yes, knowing what milestones to look for and stuff are nice, but I'm more interested in making sure that we are providing the best environment possible for our child.

Anyone have any recommendations?

(P.S - Thank you ladies for the wonderful advice a couple days ago. It does look like baby's dropped a little bit, so I think that my weird issues are just related to my body getting geared up to do its thing in the next couple weeks.)

I was at Costco yesterday and I picked up You Having a Baby. My litmus test is, what does the book (any pregnancy book) say about homebirth? So I looked it up, and guess what? Good things! They had good things to say! Basically that homebirth isn't for everyone, but the statistics show that it's safe for low-risk women. They even have a section on how to interview a midwife (as opposed to an OB-GYN). They do call CPMs a category of "lay" midwives because they're not nurses, but honestly, for a mainstream book, I was quite impressed!

I don't know about the rest of the book, whether its other advice is good, but I would be curious to read it next time I'm pregnant (not for a looong time, though, thanks :p).

Hi ladies! I'm 35w2d with my first. The last couple days I've had some weird stuff going on and I'm not entirely sure if it's my baby getting ready to "drop" or just random weird stuff. I would call my midwife, but she's doing appointments today and I don't feel that any of this is important enough to bug her during that time.

My stomach has been very tender to the touch for the last two days. I know I'm getting bigger by the second, but it's more than that. It's really a matter of my stomach not being able to handle any sort of pressure on it right now.

The baby is moving a TON. He is super active and his movements are very forceful. I wonder if this is actually why my stomach is tender... he literally shakes my whole stomach on a fairly consistent basis and at times he seems to shove his back/butt out about 1/2 inch. I get this first-sized bump poking out of my stomach.

The weirdest part is that for the last day or two, I've had to poop a LOT. This entire pregnancy I've been going every other day or so. In the past 24 hours I've pooped at least 5 times. It's not diarrhea, it's just normal.

This morning my husband commented that my stomach looked very different to him. He thinks it's much lower and rounder than it has been. I'm not entirely sure, but I'll have him take a picture when he gets home so I can compare.

I guess, basically, I just wonder if these are just random weird things that happen late in pregnancy or if I do have anything that I should check with my midwife about.

Thank you!