What type of birth are you planning?

[kykarraliv]

I thought it may be fun and get this board going with a few questions.

Fist question.......
What type of birth are you planning? Please give your reasoning...

Hospital birth with no medications?
Hospital birth with full epidural?
Homebirth?
Home water birth?
Unassisted home birth?
Birthing Center?
Other?

I am planning a home water birth. My reasons are because I have had too many inventions in the hospital setting that have harmed my baby. I have always wanted a homebirth and I am now confident enough in myself to birth at home. I am also taking the very best care of myself that I can. I have a healthy diet and moderate excercise. For me a homebirth is where I can give birth to my baby the way want and avoid interventions and I can also avoid things like Vitamin K shots, vaccinations, eye ointments at home without pressure.

[Erin Pavlina]

We're having a hospital birth. I mentioned in a previous post how much I like being waited on hand and foot and having my meals brought to me. Okay, I'm a little lazy. ;)

But I'm planning a hospital birth with no interventions unless medically necessary. My doc is already hip to my jive, so to speak. He knows I want no IV, and the baby will get none of the interventions like Vit K, eye ointment, and PKU test.

I want to labor in the shower, but we'll see.

[Sylver]

I will be having a hospital birth, probably with an epidural. I delivered my first (5 year old) like this and I was fine with it. I prefer the hospital because if anything happens I know we will get the medical attention. Our first was born with Meconium Aspiration Syndrome, and she was in the nursery for 5 days. I am looking forward to (and hoping) that I can be with this baby in my room right away. I was an emotional mess seeing my baby in the nursery. I was able to breastfeed her and hold her, and we were taught how to un-hook the heart monitors etc. but it was hard, especially the worring about her health, and being my first child, and me being very young (I was 2 months away from my 17th birthday). I know anything can happen, and having doctors nearby eases my mind.
http://health.discovery.com/diseasesandcond/encyclopedia/2062.html

[veganmama]

I am having a hospital birth. The room is very home like and hopefully the baby will never leave once born. I plan on water laboring and after the baby is out nursing right away, as my husband cuts the cord. They will give the baby a bath after we have bonded and I want the baby to remain in the room for the bath etc. I can help pull the baby out after the head is out and will probably be delivered by midwife. All of this is the "plan". It will be a VBAC should I finally get the chance to experience natural childbirth. My son was an emergency csec after I failed to dialate after 18 hours. I was induced with him due to low fluids and he was in distress with each contraction, yet I was barely 3 cm when they took me in for c sec. Hoping and praying for our plan to work this time. VM

[mum2sarah]

I'm having my first homebirth with this pregnancy. My daughter was born in a hospital with a certified nurse midwife attending. I had an extremely difficult time focussing and relaxing through my contractions with the distractions of the hospital (put this fetal monitor on, let's stick you with an IV, it's time to take your blood pressure, etc.) I believe that not working with my body prolonged my labor immensely, and I ended up having Pitocin to speed things up and an episiotomy when my daughter's shoulder was not coming out and I didn't have the energy left to push any harder. I feel that birth can be a normal process if we let it be. I feel that the most normal setting to facilitate this, at least in my case, is in the comfort of my own home with a certified professional midwife attending.

[capersmama]

We are planning our 2nd homebirth with a midwife with our 5th child. Due Feb 1, '04.

I cant' wait to order my birthing kit :-) I need to look for the online place I ordered from last time.

This time my dh wants to actually deliver the baby. We are still undecided as to if we want to try a waterbirth.

I am hoping to have like a party atmosphere for labor and birthing. I am asking a friend who is a labor delivery nurse to come and "doula" for me. I figure she knows about labor..lol..she has 13 children of her own..all single deliveries :-) I hope I can talk my mom into coming (she is really against homebirthing).Then there will still be my dh and 4 children (ages 17,12, 10, and 4)

Anyone else planning on having a "party" for the labor and delivery??

[Jenica]

Capersmama, forgive my naivete, but what is a "birthing kit?"

[capersmama]

No biggy :) Its just a box you can order that has the necessary supplies for birth; cord clamps, chux pads, betadine, gloves, baby foot printer..etc.

Its a bit less $$ if you just buy a premade box rather than buy everything seperate.

[sophie]

Oh, that brings back happy memories! We had fun getting all the stuff together for our kit, most of it was so low-tech (old towels, straws, clothes for baby, toilet paper etc), and me and the kids decorated a big cardboard box with pictures and drawings and glitter. Me and Al ( my partner) also had great fun making my birth mat (out of newspapers, an old sheet and some waterproof plastic). I love homebirth so much.:)

[xconformist]

I am going to have a hospital birth with all the drugs available to me.

I know-it's pathedic, but this is my first child and i'm TERRIFIED of the pain i'll be expiriencing. I'm actually even terrified of the pain medication because i hate needles. I'm not due until April 7, 2004...but already, every day, i think about and dread giving birth.

It's not like i don't want to be a mother, but i'm just a wimp. I know i'll be okay after delivery...

[Erin Pavlina]

xconformist... I hear ya! I went into each of my 2 births thinking I would go drug free. I had every intention. But the pain was overwhelming. I got to the point where I would rather have been dead than experience what I was experiencing.

The thing I wanted to say is to go for the epidural instead of the narcotics. I've heard, though I can't say from personal experience, that the narcotics just sort of dumb you up but don't actually get rid of the pain. It would suck to be in pain but be so loopy that you couldn't say anything or get anyone's attention.

The epidural just takes away the pain but leaves you clear headed. I asked Dr. Klaper once which was better, the epi or the drugs and he said definitely get the epi if you have to get anything at all.

Don't dread the birth. Pain can be managed. And once you're pain free you may actually enjoy the process. :)

[Christa]

I had hospital births w/ certified nurse midwives with both of my girls. The first experience was awful & I did wind up having an epidural after 3 days on pitocin & having my cervix manually forced open. I had wanted to go with no meds, so I was very disappointing. I think that that was the main issue for me. If you go into it wanting the birth to go one way & it turns out totally opposite, that is where the dissatisfaction with the experience arises.

With my second daughter, we still used a CNM, but a different one & I was much more informed. It did hurt a whole lot, but I didn't have any meds & afterwards, it has been such a wonderful memory. I would say that, despite the pain, it was tremendously empowering to go pain med-free, but probably mostly because that was what I really wanted to do in the first place.

If we were going to have more (we're not), I would strongly consider a home birth. The main pushing point for not doing that with my 2 deliveries was that our insurance wouldn't cover the cost of the prenatal care with a home birth midwife.

[annie7]

I truly believe the key to less pain during birth is to remain VERY active right up until.... I checked in the hospital at 7:30 am and had my daughter (an April baby, too!) at 11:40 am. The nurses had this velcro belt around my belly to moniter heartbeats, and contractions and had to tell me when I was contracting. That was after being induced AND having my water broken by them. I only really felt it for the last 30-45 minutes or so. And even then it was just like super cramps, nothing like the scary TV scenes and horror stories from friends. They gave me a regular Tylenol after my daughter was born, because they had to stitch a little where she ripped through, but that wasn't even as bad as it sounds. Not meaning to be graphic, it felt kind of like a sharp poop. The doctors and nurses all said it happened like that for me because I worked right up until the day before I had her, at a job when I was constantly walking, bending, squatting and using 2 flights of stairs all day. SO, Put on you're sneakers every day, get going, and don't worry about it!:D P.S. She was 8 pounds 4 ounces and 21 1/2 inches long.

[VOW]

When I was pregnant with my daughter, I also dreaded the thought of labor. I thought your whole belly contracted, and my poor belly was so HUGE I figured I'd be mad with pain.

(and fooey on the Lamaze instructors who call it "discomfort"!!!)

First of all, NOBODY bothered telling me that labor isn't in your entire uterus. At least it wasn't for me. I hurt waaaaaaayyyy down low in my groin, almost where my legs joined to my body. And labor feels like nasty menstrual cramps. Think of all the painful periods you have probably had in the past, and you never got a REWARD for that!

The Lamaze "effleurage" of lightly stroking your entire belly is baloney, too, LOL. What felt best for me was to rub really HARD where I felt the cramps.

Your body knows what to do. The most important thing for you to remember is to RELAX and let your body do it!



~VOW

[5xblessed]

I am planning a non-medicated hospital birth. Dh is just more comfortable with the hospital. Unfortunately baby flipped breech last week. It's due next Saturday so.... I'll have an ultrasound to see if giving birth vaginally is a go or if the baby is really positioned weird a C-section which quite honestly terrifies me much more than any birth.
X-conformist, I know it's useless to say don't worry, but look at it this way, if it really was that horrible there would be no second children. Do keep active, it doesn't really start to hurt much until you're half way through anyway. Keep all your options open and if meds are what is right for you that is fine. The important thing is a healthy baby and a birth that's right for you. No two people are the same after all. Now, if everyone would please send baby flipping vibes I'd appreciate it.
Lisa;)

[mum2sarah]

xconformist,
I think sometimes the *fear* of childbirth actually makes it more painful than it really should be. You are in fear right now: fear of the unknown. You have no idea how painful it will be because this is your first child, and everything we're told in our society makes it sound like it's the most excruciating pain anyone could possibly experience.
I felt just like you when I was pregnant with my daughter. But then in the last trimester of my pregnancy, I did some reading. Once I realized that birth is a *normal* process that humans have undergone for ages, and once I had a better understanding of that process, the fear faded away. But the key is finding the right information on childbirth. I'm not talking about the "childbirth preparation" classes you take at the hospital. They might as well be called "hospital-do-it-our-way-and-be-a-good-patient preparation" classes. You need objective information. I would suggest “The Birth Book,” by William and Martha Sears for starters.
In many hospitals time is of the essence. They want the baby out quick so the OB doesn't have to hang around too long. So often they use interventions to speed up labor that make it more painful (breaking your water, using Pitocin, etc.). It's simpler for them, too, to simply offer you drugs to help with that pain than it is to give you the ongoing attention needed to help you with more natural pain managing techniques. Not to mention that all these interventions for both augmentation of labor and for pain relief can add to complications such as the need for a c-section or vacuum extraction, which carry higher risks and more healing time for both mother and baby. (My best friend’s chiropractor told her that her 2 ½ year-old son’s spine is still messed up from the vacuum extraction the OB used during his birth).
I don't mean to paint an evil picture of hospitals, but it can be difficult to let your body do what it needs to do in such a setting. My goal was natural childbirth with my daughter, but laboring in the hospital prolonged my labor and I ended up with Pitocin augmentation and a shot of Nubain to “take the edge off.” The best thing you can do is to stay at home and active as long as possible. At home you are not in a strange environment. Stress from distractions, an unfamiliar environment, and strangers all around you prodding and poking—all that stress causes you to tense up and *that’s* when labor hurts. If you are in a relaxed, familiar and calm environment, and you aren’t plagued by fear, it’s much much easier to work with your body and not be tense and work against it. Not only will that make labor go faster, but it will also make it less painful.
I would suggest getting all that fear out of your system by learning as much objective information as you can about childbirth. And then when you do go into labor, relax in your own home for as long as possible, but stay active, too, like taking a walk or baking bread. Then go to the hospital late in labor. You may find with such an approach your labor will go so quickly you won’t even have time to think about medications. My aunt insists that is why she had such easy labors with her two children; both were only about 4 or 5 hours long, and by the time she got to the hospital, it was time to push, so she never needed pain medications. She said if she had been in labor as long as I had been (26 hours) she doesn’t think she could have done it naturally. That’s because I was naive and went to the hospital too soon, and made terrible progress because of the distractions of being in the hospital.
Pain relief during labor is a very personal thing. Every woman reacts to labor and their birth environment in different ways. You have to do what’s right for you, of course. I just believe that sometimes misinformation or lack of information or fear of the uknown leads us to decisions that we might not otherwise have made. HTH.


5xblessed,
I really hope your baby turns for you. I think I heard somewhere that rocking on all fours can encourage a breech baby to turn. Good luck, and here are some baby-flipping vibes coming your way!

[Raven67]

I am 36 weeks pregnant with a baby girl who is breech. I was planning a homebirth, but now I can't even deliver vaginally in a hospital if she won't turn. Because of liability, no CNM or OB in this area will deliver a first-time breech mom. I will have to have a c-section. I am trying a version next week. Hopefully, that will be successful, and I will have the homebirth I have been dreaming about.

[Erin Pavlina]

Good luck with the version Raven. Please let us know what happens!

[Jamie]

This is my 4th pregnancy and we're planning a home birth.

Pregnancy #1 (my daughter is now 8 years old) was an uncomplicated hospital birth with epidural. I was 18 at the time and was not entirely pleased with hosptial protocol after the birth. The nurses would not leave us alone and my daughter was fed a bottle of glucose water with an artificial nipple without my consent! It was OK as far as hospital births go. I was young and somewhat afraid of labor, so I didn't consider other options. Didn't even know there WERE other options.

Pregnancy #2 (2 year old daughter) was a drug-free birth at a freestanding birth center. My midwife, her assistant, my husband and me were the only ones in the building - a naturopathic clinic, at 2:00 a.m. My daughter was born an hour after we got there (3 hour labor, total). No drugs, not Vit K or other shots for the baby, no artificial nipples - the only thing was the eye ointment, which is required by state law within an hour after the birth. In fact, I think it was more like an hour and a half. They pretty much took care of me, made sure baby was fine, and left us alone for a good long while. We were home by 6:00 a.m. that morning.

Pregnancy #3 (daughter, stillborn) was a hospital birth, though I had been planning a homebirth. My water suddenly broke at 19+ weeks. We had just returned from Mexico City, and I had been ill with diarrhea for a few weeks, then the night before my membranes ruptured, I was having awful diarrhea and abdominal cramps. I spend three days in the hospital while waiting for labor to be induced. There was no amniotic fluid remaining and we were told the baby would not likely survive if the pregnancy were to continue. Apparently, without the amniotic fluid, the lungs cannot properly develop. There was also a fairly high risk of infection to both the baby and me.
It took a looooooong time to induce my labor. First was several doses of cytotec, then IV pitocin. I had and epidural and gave birth vaginally to a 10 1/2 oz baby girl, we named her Abigail ("Abby") (sad, but amazing to see at that stage of development).

Pregnancy #4 - currently 17 weeks. Planning a home birth. After having had 2 epidurals, I'm not interested in another. Assuming all goes well and we have a normal, term birth, my midwife will come to me. I feel very confident that the birth will be fine. I had no problems with my 2 y/o and know what to expect based on that experience. I'm not planning to birth in water for 2 reasons, my labor may be too fast to set up the tub, in which case I would've paid for a tub I won't be able to use, and I prefer to be standing and moving almost constantly during labor.

[poleidopy]

I am planning a home birth w/a midwife. My first child...I am soooo excited! I am looking forward to the whole experience. My husband doesn't even want to watch. He will either throw up or faint (he does that when he watches me give blood) But I think that when the time comes, he will be too excited not to be there. I was very lucky to find a midwife who accepts Medicaid. I was under the impression that since we don't have much money, I would never get to have a midwife or a home birth, that I would be stuck going to the hospital. I HATE hospitals!! Just in case...there is a women's & childrens hospital less then 2 miles from our home.

[ArwenA]

I haven't posted yet that I'm expecting, so here it is: number three is on the way. This is my first vegan pregnancy, and so far I feel much, much better than my first two when I was an omnivore.

But on to the topic at hand: I had my first two children in the hospital with a certified nurse midwife in attendance. With my daughter (now five) I had planned an unmedicated birth, but complications (painful back labor and two days of no sleep) led me to decide on an epidural. It went fine and I didn't tear or anything, but Alana had trouble latching on for days and I was miserable.

I really disliked being in the hospital, and desperately wanted a homebirth with my second. Unfortunately we couldn't work it out with our insurance. We settled on another nurse midwife practice, and again went for as few interventions as possible. I had planned on laboring in a pool at the hospital (you can labor there, but not give birth), but was already too far advanced to use it. Elias' birth was completely natural and non-medicated. I have to say that I felt much better the second time around and the wonderful hormonal rush you get after natural birth was far better than being numbed from the waist down. My son had no problems latching on whatsoever, and nursed right away with gusto. Still though, I was supremely annoyed being in the hospital, and had to fight them at every turn about interventions and treatments I wanted no part of.

With my third child now I finally am able to have a home birth, and I am thrilled at the prospect! We have a group called HomeFirst here which does physician-attended home birth, with one doctor, two nurses, and a midwife attending your birth. I'm going to look into renting a birthing pool as well.

I know that hospitals are getting better about supporting natural birth and breastfeeding and things like that, but I don't like the feeling of going into a war zone, when I just want to relax and have my baby. Birth is a natural, beautiful process that I feel has been greatly corrupted by western culture. Mum2sarah, I just scrolled down and finally saw your post, and all your advice is so excellent. I agree that if a mother does have to or want to birth in a hospital, then she should do as much laboring at home as possible. I did this with my son, and barely arrived at the hospital in time to push. Still, I had to endure the monitoring process, and telling them that I didn't want the I.V., and please can you just let me move around like I want to and stop poking and prodding me and all that. Also, they never did find the promised squat bar. Never again!

For the first time in my life, I am 100% looking forward to the birthing experience, with family and friends and familiar sites around me. Joy!

[sophie]

Congratulations Arwen! How exciting! So happy that you're having a homebirth. I had two amazing natural births at a birthing centre, but giving birth to my third child at home was the most joyous experience of my life.

[mum2sarah]

ArwenA,
Congratulations on your pregnancy and being able to plan the homebirth you want! I understand what you mean about insurance companies--we're paying for our homebirth with a loan (refinancing our house), and hoping perhaps to get some reimbursement from the insurance co., but I doubt it...
Just wanted to mention that, as an alternative to renting a labor pool, you could even purchase one of those kiddie pools. That's what we've done. It's an inflatable pool that is 60" in diameter and 22" deep. We can then use it in the summer with the kids, and it was only $50 or something. We even did a "rehearsal" of how long it would take to inflate and fill the pool and how we'd drain it, and it seems it will work out beautifully.
Anyway, congratulations again and good luck!

[ArwenA]

Thanks for the congrats, and Mum2sarah, thank you for the idea of the kiddie pool. What's the difference between birthing pools and regular pools anyhow? And I always wondered: how do you keep the water warm in the pool? Do you have to scoop out some old water and add new warmer water? Are you filling yours with a hose attached to your bathtub? I sure need to do some research about this!

Even had our insurance not worked out with the home birth, I would have insisted on it anyhow. Glad to hear about your positive experience Sophie.

[mum2sarah]

Arwen,
I don't know a whole lot about labor pools that you rent, but if they are anything like the labor pool I used in the hospital with my first child, they are slightly different than a kiddie pool. The one I used in the hospital had seats and such moulded into the sides, kind of like a jacuzzi only without the jets.
A kiddie pool is just a plain round pool, no frills, nothing fancy. I got mine here: http://shop.store.yahoo.com/csskiequipment/sev60diamrou.html
The sides of the pool inflate and are fairly comfortable to lean your back against. I am hoping it is as refreshing during this labor as the labor pool was during my labor with Sarah. Even though it doesn't have seats built in, it seemed very comfortable when we tried it out. Plus being in my own home, I won't be as inhibited to be as naked as I want to be.
When we practiced filling it up and draining it, here's what we did. First we borrowed a battery-operated air pump from my stepdad, and we inflated the pool (which took about 15-20minutes). Then we attached a regular garden hose to the bathtub faucet (my husband bought an simple adapter at the hardware store so that the hose fit on the faucet). Then we used the hose to fill the tub with warm water (there was a line inside the pool telling you not to fill it above that point). This took about 25 minutes. To drain, there were instructions that came with the pool as to how to siphon it. All we had to do was basically fill the hose with water making sure one end was still submerged in the pool, then detach from the faucet making sure not to drain any water from the hose by holding that end up in the air. Then, continuing to hold it in the air, my husband took the hose outside our back door and around the house to a spot at a lower elevation than where the pool was in our living room (in our case this turned out to be our front driveway). Then he set the end of the hose down and all the water came running out. You just have to be sure the end of the hose that's in the pool stays completely submerged to keep the siphoning action going. When the water level got low, we tipped the pool so that the water was all covering that hose end, and we ended up being able to completely drain the thing minus a few drops which were easily dried with a beach towel. Then we just deflated the pool and put it away. The whole draining and deflation process took about 45 minutes.
As far as keeping the water warm, when I asked my midwife about it, she said that it's easiest to just take potfuls of water out of the tub and replace with more warm water, or even heat the potfuls on the stove to a boiling and dump them in. Last time I was in labor it was very early April (not warm out at all around here), and I was hot as can be, so even if the water cools down a bit, I might not even notice or care.
Anyway, hope that helps....

[sophie]

I guess we're lucky here in New Zealand that all healthcare, including maternity and including homebirths (yay!) is government funded. I probably couldn't afford a homebirth if I lived in another country :(

[mum2sarah]

yes, cost is definitely an issue. We refinanced our house to cover the cost of a homebirth, because we have absolutely zero savings.:( But we feel it is worth it...

[vegangirl]

I am planning on an all natural, water birth. I am having my baby at a birthing center and I don't have to accept the Vit. K shot or the eye ointment. The offer it, but she highly suggests not to use it.
I am confident that I can have the birth that I am wanting. My other two children were all natural and very short labors.
Good luck!

Pam

[ilovegiraffes]

We are going to have a hospital birth. I was hoping for a home birth, but we live in a tiny apartment with offices below us and I don't want to worry about making too much noise or mess. Unfortunately due to a big obgyn shortage in our area the only doctors that are covered by my insurance deliver at the hospital whose maternity ward i like the least. The one hospital has everything in one room and its very homey and comfortable. I haven't had a chance to look at the other hospital's ward yet, but I've heard it's more like the older style. I did luck out with doctors however, I have a wonderful doctor who delivered 2 of my husbands brothers and sisters and he's just a great guy. I was really wanting a female obgyn, but mine retired 4 months into my pregnancy so I had to go with one of her partners and he's great. Neither of my doctors has had any issue with my veganism or my working throughout my pregnancy and that's a welcome blessing here in West Virginia where in many parts of the state we don't have doctors or hospitals at all. I would have preferred a birthing center, but the closest one is 2 hours away and I'm not making that drive in labor. Luckily my husband is slowly warming to the idea of being there for the birth. My mother is coming up to help, but she holds very traditional views on motherhood (ie let them knock you out and wake you up when it's over) and I would like to avoid drugs if possible. My plan is to wait until the absolute last possible minute to go to the hospital (since I can almost see it from my backyard) so that I can just stay relaxed here at home and go there to get psyched up to give birth to my wonderful baby.

[xconformist]

Lol, i haven't been on here forever, so i didn't realize so many of you responded to my post...sorry! I'm approaching my due date now (it's now April 2nd, not the 7th). I haven't dropped yet, i'm getting really excited, and I'm *ready*.

I've since decided to just kind of do whatever feels right in the moment. I'm going to be in a birthing pool for a while, and on a birthing ball...i have been staying really active, and i still walk about a mile or two a day :) I'm still leaning towards an epidural, but if the time comes and i feel i can go natural i will.

[Alicia]

Our first birth was a horrible painful out of control experience! They gave me every drug and then some, and in the end it was either an epi, or an emergency C-section. I swore I was never going to have kids again!

Now that we are strict veggies, and have tons of more info on our health and well being, we've decided to do a water birth at our hospitals birthing center. I'm hoping that it is 100% better, and that everything flows. I can't have any drugs, so this will be an all natural event.

Has anyone had any waterbirths after their first? Was it better? Would you do it again? We are due 6/27/04, and we are getting excited!

Alicia:)

[Jillene]

My first two have been at the hospital with epidurals and this third one will be just the same.:p
I did not dilate quickly with either and the pain was no fun. The first one they had to give me pitocin to get things moving along and I am sure that I would have rather died then spend the next 24 hours going through that w/o the epidural.

(Btw, the first two came out eating like little monsters and are as healthy as can be)