No more babies in the hospital
I recently watched The Business of Being Born. And I am completely convinced now that if I have another child (if J and I are absolutely insane enough to go through another first 4 months of a baby), I will not have him/her in the hospital with a doctor. I will either give birth at home (although I don’t want the clean up afterwards) or at a birthing center with a midwife. I’m done with the pressure ob/gyn’s put on a mom to give birth by a certain time or the mom will be induced which GREATLY increases the mom’s chance of having a c-section.
Birthing a baby is one of the most natural things a momma can do - and why on earth it’s becoming the second most performed surgeries on mommas… well, it’s just ridiculous.
I am not a crunchy person. But I try to do what’s best for my children. I breastfed Big Sister for 19 months until my milk was gone from being pregnant with Little Sister. She was exclusively breastfed for six months until we introduced (organic) solids into her diet last month. I co-sleep, attachment parent, baby wear. With Big Sister I delivered in a hospital with an epidural, after having natural labor for 10+hours. At 9 centimeters the nurse told me I should get an epidural because it could take HOURS to finish dilating. It didn’t. It took 20 minutes and I delivered Big Sister with the help of a vacuum because I couldn’t feel my body to push. Babies shouldn’t be vacuumed.
With Little Sister, I delivered in a hospital where the doctor wasn’t even called because no one checked on me to see how far I was going. I almost delivered in the bathroom with the help from my husband. But, thankfully, I was able to get to the bed and the nurse was able to deliver her with only one glove on.
So next time, if there is a next time, I will be delivering at a place where they actually care about me and my baby and I’m not just another price tag laying in a bed (where it hurts like h-e-double hockey sticks to be when you’re in super duper active labor).
I know I have one reader who is absolutely scared to death to have a baby. But let me tell you - it’s okay. It’s fun, it’s natural, and if you stay away from all the “help” doctors try to give you, you’ll be fine. Your body was made to carry babies, give birth to babies, you can do it.
*This was brought to you by some hormonal issues that I am currently having. 7 months marks the time I usually get my girly stuff back after not having one for over a year - yay breastfeeding!
** I realize that there are real medical reasons why some women may need to give birth by c-section for their baby’s health and I think that is amazing.
May 6th, 2008 at 10:09 am
I had a doctor deliver my first and a midwife for my last three. I love my midwife!! She read my body and what it was doing and saw what I needed at that moment! Even though I was at the hospital she made me as comforatble as I could be. It was a night and day difference!
May 6th, 2008 at 10:56 am
I was too chicken to do the home birth process, but only becauase I’d never known anyone who had actually been through one. Now, 11 years after giving birth to my first, if I had it to do all over again, I’d do it with a doula (that sounds funny) in a heartbeat. One of my best friends is a doula and oh how I wish we had been living closer to one another when I had my babies!
May 6th, 2008 at 11:20 am
Um so, she’s talking about me…the one scared to death to have a baby!! Yeah, that’s because I am only friends with 99% of woman that have children…and their stories…not many were that fabulously appealing to me! Since we have a heart to adopt most of our children…I might try the whole birthing thing a time or two. Two will be determined after the experience #1!!! And you can sign me up to go to the hospital a week early and start administering the epidural gradually!!! I love kids and I’ll love my kids…they’ll be ok for the little time it takes while I deliver them and get some drug love at the same time!! Ok, Im cracking myself up. & who knows what I’ll really decide upon when I feel a little life moving around INSIDE me!
May 6th, 2008 at 1:49 pm
I think doing it in a birthing center or at home would be such a special experience for y’all. We are so opposite! LOL I wouldn’t have it any other way than a C-section. Thankfully, with Bailey, my Dr. decided to go ahead and cut (I begged him to, and I wasn’t progressing a teeny tiny bit) She had the cord wrapped around her neck twice, so it would’ve been a stat section rather than me having time to get used to the idea and prepare. Having a baby the natural way scares me to death, but I guess that’s how it works, since it didn’t work that way for me. And I definitely hear ya on rethinking the newborn process. All the not fun stuff during pregnancy that I forgot about after Bailey got here is all coming crashing back!
May 6th, 2008 at 3:38 pm
I wish I could have had my babies naturally but I have a heart condition and it would have put a HUGE strain on my heart. Not to mention they wanted to break my daughter’s clavicle. I said NO WAY Cut me open instead. I did not want them to hurt my baby!
May 6th, 2008 at 4:49 pm
Very interesting topic! I have high risk pregnancies due to a bleeding disorder, so I can’t use a midwife. Plus I live in a small town in Idaho, so the only birthing center in the state is several hours away. We are so behind the times!!!
But I did have a natural childbirth experience. I knew I didn’t want an epidural and I spent most of my labor with my second daughter in the shower or on the birthing ball. It was such an amazing experience!
My DH is dead set against the idea of having a homebirth though, even if my pregnancy was normal. I think he is just too nervous about something happening, even though we live a few blocks from the hospital!
May 6th, 2008 at 8:44 pm
Ok, you’re brave. I love the whole idea of having a baby at home, but am too chicken and like the safety of actually being in the hospital if something goes wrong. I had 22 hours and then 20 hours of labor with both my babies. The first epidural lasted only 6 of those hours and numbed only one side of my body. The second was better, but I still pushed for two hours with both. Not fun, but worth it!
May 6th, 2008 at 9:08 pm
I am so thankful that doctors can perform c-sections because me or my children, or both would not be here today without them. (My pelvis is too small… which is AMAZING considering these hips. Apparently I have a small pelvis surrounded by a whole heck of a lot of fat!) But that being said I kinda have a rotten attitude about having to have c-sections. I HATE the recovery time. I HATE that I will never get to experience what so many mothers do in childbirth. At least I got to go through 13 hours of labor with my first before finding out I had to have a c-section. I am glad I got to experience at least some labor. When my second child was born my first was 12 months old and I could not hold her for 2 weeks until I recovered. She did not understand why I couldn’t hold her and I cried for 2 weeks straight. If you don’t have to have a c-section avoid it at all cost… and like Jill said so often being induced ends in an emergency section!
May 6th, 2008 at 10:17 pm
I watched this too and was shocked and outraged. It is TERRIBLE that they are turning mothers into a business just terrible:(
May 7th, 2008 at 11:19 am
I totally agree with you, hormones and all lol! If there is a next time for me, I’ve thought about, at least, a birthing center. I’m not completely sure I’d be able to use one, as I was high-risk with my first with PIH (pregnancy-induced hypertension). I just know that babies were not always delivered in hospitals, that’s for the sick and maybe complicated pregnancies. I think it is much better for baby and mother to be in a place where you can get the attention and care both need.
May 7th, 2008 at 1:50 pm
All my bio kids were born at home and it was awesome! Such a peaceful experience, totally different from anything I’ve heard from my hospital-birthing friends.
Why fear the clean-up afterwards? That’s the midwife’s job! You’re job is to hold, nurse, and love your new baby.
The recovery is MUCH faster at home, where the discomfort is only during the birth, not after (like w/ a c-section or epidural). It really is the way to go if you’re a low risk birther.
May 7th, 2008 at 9:12 pm
April, giving birth is so much fun! I loved it!!!
And I tried to click on the link but apparently Malaysia is mad at the people who posted the video and it’s not up anymore (totally weird!).
I had a wonderful birth of my youngest because my doctor was really laid-back and let me have a say in a lot of things. So no one was yanking the placenta out or anything crazy like that! It was wonderful!
May 10th, 2008 at 11:17 am
Wow, Jill… I’m so sorry you had such a lousy experience with Big Sister. I absolutely loved my hospital (Baptist East in Montgomery), and my OB group is the greatest! A friend of mine served as a doula for me, and the staff was totally in tune with my wishes. Here’s my advice: Make a birth plan! It tells the med staff exactly what you want. My doctor signed mine, and everyone followed it as far as possible. I did end up asking for an epidural because it was so late at night, my labor had been so long, and I was so exhausted but not making any progress. But, that was my choice. No one tried to force anything on me… my birth plan told them not to ask. Now that I know about my clotting disorder, I know that I have to have my baby in the hospital… but that’s ok because I would absolutely choose to do it again even if I was low-risk. Please don’t hold the example of a few hospitals against all hospitals. There are good ones out there. Since my little one got some fluid in her lungs on her way into the world, it was great to be there with medical professionals who cared about both of us.
November 12th, 2008 at 9:57 pm
62enfwxjt5se93sb