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Jan Stover
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« on: May 21, 2009, 07:03:12 AM » |
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Did you have a homebirth and/or a hospital birth? Hoping you'll share the pros and cons/do's and don'ts of each with us here.
Jan
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Lori
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« Reply #2 on: May 26, 2009, 10:51:34 AM » |
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Had all 4 of mine at home (planned homebirths) and can't imagine doing it any other way.
My former midwife is also a naturopath, and still our family doctor. Something to be said for having a doctor who has known the kids for their entire lives!
-Lori
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Dawn Alger
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« Reply #3 on: May 30, 2009, 11:38:50 AM » |
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I had all 3 of my children at hospitals. With my first two children, a homebirth was not an option. We were living on a sailboat in Florida at the time and it just would not have been possible.
My hospital experience with the first two children was very pleasant though. I had a midwife at the time and delivered at a hospital where the labor, birth, and recovery all took place in one room. It was a very large comfortable room with a jacuzzi tub in the bathroom. My husband was able to stay with me and we slept together in a futon bed.
With our third child, we had just moved back to Ohio, and the pregnancy came as a bit of surprise. I didn't really have time to seek out a new midwife so I returned to the OB/GYN I had prior to moving to Florida. He's a great GYN, but I didn't really care for his practice's birthing options. I also HATED the hospital he worked with. I labored and delivered in one very large nice room, and shortly after the birth was moved to another less pleasant room. The bathrooms had no bath tubs, our room was small and cramped, and the food was horrible. I couldn't wait to get out of the hospital. In fact, I left about 30 hours after the birth.
I did have small issues with all 3 of my deliveries, stemming from the hospital staff, not problems of mine or the babies'. With our first child, I had nurses rushing into my room every 5 minutes pushing for an epidural after I plainly stated in advance that I would not accept one unless it was a medical emergency. The nurse also insisted I start pushing far too early.
With our second child I was given a dose of pain medication without my consent. My husband and I were both very angry about that. The dose of medication was given so close to the actual birth that they called in a another specialist to make sure the baby wasn't harmed by the medication. My nurse for that delivery was just awful. My husband very nearly had to deliver our daughter himself because the nurse did not send for the midwife when I told her it was time for the baby to be born. She insisted that she knew more about having babies than I did, and that I had plenty of time before the midwife was needed. When the midwife arrived I was already giving birth before she even had her gloves on and her supplies ready.
With our third child, I again had an issue with getting the Doctor in time. He arrived at the hospital for the morning and came in and said "Good Morning" to me. I informed him that we were about to have a baby any minute now, and told him he was late. He said "I'm not late, I'm just in time". He went off to change his clothes and by the time he returned to the delivery room one of the nurses and my husband were holding the baby in.
I honestly think after my 3 experiences, the nurses really make the difference in your birthing experience.
I do think that a homebirth would be a wonderful experience, but I don't think I will ever get to experience it first hand. I think we are probably done having children due to our ages and the economy.
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skepticmom
Newbie
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« Reply #4 on: June 01, 2009, 05:21:49 PM » |
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I only have one child who was born at a hospital... If I am blessed with another one, I will look into homebirth. I had no major complications with the first one, although I had a marginal cord insertion and they required me to take many many ultrasound. My baby was often sleeping during those sessions, then they woke him up with a electric shocking sort of thing... I would say that was unnecessary... And for the labor itself, I don't think I saw the doctor until the very end for like 5 minutes... The nurses took care of me, artificially inducing the whole process. They were in a hurry because my water has been leaking... I was first on some kind of pain killing stuff, and then epidural, then pitocin and a whole lot of antibiotics... Everything worked and we had no complications.
However, this experience really took me out of the medical system itself... I don't even take my son to doctors any more. I sensed that the medical system was monitoring me for their benefits, not for mine. I felt like I am also being monitored by them on how to raise my son. If my little sister asked me for an advice, I would suggest hospital birth the first time and homebirth afterwards. I would encourage studying so you can minimize medical intervention. You can say "no" many times if they don't listen to you. I do feel that some hospitals are better than others on listening to you.
For the second baby, I would look for a midwife who is willing to educate me on my body and my mother nature...
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Pamela05
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« Reply #5 on: June 04, 2009, 09:20:09 AM » |
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I loved your birth story Jess! I am so glad that you were able to do this at home. I am going through the same issues with my mother right now. She is truly stressing me out. Ugh..but it is encouraging to see that you were able to put the negative thoughts out of your mind and have a great experience. |
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SamiPolizzi
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« Reply #6 on: June 19, 2009, 05:55:35 PM » |
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I gave birth in a hospital and it was a pretty awful experience.
The nurses wouldn't listen to me at all and basically had no regard for how I wanted the birth to go.
If I ever have another baby (I hope so!), I'm doing it at home for sure.
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itisstarry
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« Reply #7 on: July 03, 2009, 11:01:06 AM » |
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I loved your birth story Jess! I am so glad that you were able to do this at home. I am going through the same issues with my mother right now. She is truly stressing me out. Ugh..but it is encouraging to see that you were able to put the negative thoughts out of your mind and have a great experience. It is hard, even as an adult, to face a parents dissaproval, even when you know you are doing whats best for you and your baby. That is what you have to remember though, you are doing this for you and the baby, not for her. You can do it! |
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stephanie
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« Reply #8 on: July 09, 2009, 07:46:49 AM » |
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All three of my births were in the hospital and were induced. I would not have changed that. I am too far from the hospital of choice to do it otherwise. In the event that we have another baby (which is not in the plans) I would look into homebirth because of the socialized medecine that is coming our way.
With my first I went in the night before and the nurse told us to rest. but she was in all the time bugging me about putting in the IV. Then they couldn't hear baby's heartbeat so they would adjust me. So much for rest. Then the doc said I would probably be in labor until the next day. My nurse didn't visit very often. Luckily there was a massage therapist with me (awesome) and she was able to get someone to come in when I needed to push. The new nurse was great. Due to lack of insurance we decided to leave the next day and my nurse said I could leave without the baby because he needed to be seen that week by a dr. and all offices were closed by then. What a traumatic experience. Luckily we convinced them that we would see a ped. that week and they let us go.
Number 2 went very well. The nurse left me only once and had someone else there while she was gone.
Number 3 I basically did everything myself. The nurse was out and I had to push. She came in and called everyone. My dr. missed it by a minute.
Overall my experiences were good.
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