Natural Birth Support Group

Wow I am so glad you found your way here!

This is my first pregnancy and when I mentioned to my OB that I wouldn't be able to handle the pain she had a long talk with me about how women underestimate themselves and told me about her birthing experiences. She told me that she choose to have a med free birth at a hospital and would like me to think about my options and we would talk more about it at my next appointment.

That talk led me to do research on my own and I watched the Business of Being Born and became interested in natural birth and home births. Although because of things that have happened in my family over the years I have choosen that I would be more comfortable in a hospital. But I also opened up to the idea of having a doula and interveiwed local ones. I couldn't be happier! My doula is amazing and is always there for me asking lots of questions and guiding me through all this.

When I came back to my OB and told her about my doula she was excited for us! She even told me about how natural births are her favorite to attend and that she hoped she would be on call when we went into labor.

How many women can say their OB actually turned them to natural birth and away from meds? Of course if she felt it was in my best interest then she would suggest them but I feel confident that she (and her partners who hold the same values) would only offer me what they felt I could benefit from and not force anything on me. Since I have also become interested in patient rights DH has been instructed on how to be my advocate and what questions and steps he needs to take to make sure I am listened to. He has really embraced this whole idea and when his mom challenged our decision he stood up for her and told her that this was the best thing for our family.

Good luck to you, I'm not pregnant yet..that I know of, will know in a few days, but I fully intend on having a natural birth. Would like to have an at home birth, but I'm not sure that I'm 100% committed to the idea, more like 90% committed at this point. I saw a documentary on something called freebirthing this past weekend and it scared the crap out of me. These brave/crazy women depending on your perspective of course, had home births completely unassisted, no doula, no midwife, no doctor, it blew my mind. I would never have the courage to do that, and frankly I'd be scared that something might go wrong. I'm all for choice, and a woman feeling empowered but I have to admit that freebirthing as they call it was completely out of my comfort zone, so much so that I had a hard time watching. Freebirthing and a at home VB are two completely different things, and I hope to get the chance to experience the latter, hope I have a good doula/midwife and the courage to see my dream through

Wow, GigiSage!! That is SO awesome that it was your OB that turned you onto natural birth! I am so thrilled to hear that!

Lisating - Freebirth, or Unassisted birth is definitely a step beyond even Homebirth. I know a few women who have chosen this, but I'm with you that I wouldn't ever do it. Unless baby came too quick for my midwife to get there, lol. Beyond that, I'd feel much better having someone trained there to double check everything is fine. Plus, the way I labor I want a few women around to support me and help me out.

I agree, if I ever did a homebirth I would want a midwife there! And if the baby was coming too fast to go to the hospital we would call 911 so that paramedics could get us to the hospital quickly and administer any emergency treatments.

My OB is amazing and because she works at the largest practice in town, they have a huge influence over the hospitals. They are the only practice that does VBACs and breech births. Both hospitals have embraced natural birth and if you are going unmedicated then you are allowed to have a liquid diet during labor.

Hi!
I am planning a home birth and SO excited for it! I'll be having my first child and I"m due March 18th (so basically any day now!).

I'm so happy to be able to basically do whatever I want during labor. I was able to rent a birth tub from one of my midwives, and I think I will have a water birth. I will definately be laboring in the tub!! If I'm still feeling good in there when the time comes to deliver,than that's where it's goign to happen. I'm not set on any certain location/position, as long as I'm at home! My midwives are excellent and I feel so comfortable with them.

My midwife even mentioned to my husband that they encourage the fathers to catch the baby, something he hadn't even thought of, but he's super excited to do that! I think that's really neat too. I know he wouldn't have been able to do that at the hospital, and I'm excited for him/us!

I was really dreading giving birth at the local hospital because they do not learn towards natural birth at all! One of my midwives (I have 2) said that at her hospital birth (over 10 years ago before she knew much about homebirth) everyone rushed in to see her birth because natural was so rare!

I was always one of those people who thought that homebirth people were just hippie weirdos. :) The farther along in my pregnancy I get, the more I realize I'm becoming one of those "weirdos". I question everything now and lean more and more towards all things natural. I'm starting now my research on vaccines and have already decided that I want to use cloth diapers--although the cloth diapering is more because I'm hoping it will be a money saver!!

Looking forward to hearing from other natural mommies!

I'm not yet pregnant, either (in my two-week wait, so maybe...fingers crossed), but I've decided to go with an unmedicated natural birth for my next pregnancy. I anticipate a lot of fighting to get my medical provider on board because I will be doing a VBAC after two c-sections.

After my first pregnancy, twins, was a c-section delivery, I just assumed I'd always do c-sections if there was a future pregnancy. So, though I was offered a VBAC with my youngest, I wasn't prepared to give it any thought and opted for another c-section because I thought it was in our best interests.

I've always been in awe of pregnancy and birth and had planned an unmedicated natural birth with my twins until I realized I would be getting a c-section due to their positions. As the years have gone on, I've often thought about becoming a doula, but I don't know what kind of doula I'd make if I'd never experienced the kind of birth they usually are hired to support. So, now that I'm trying to conceive again, I began looking into having a VBAC after multiple c-sections, and after finding the resources and stories on ican-online.org, I've come to the conclusion that VBAC is the safer option for me and that the risks I thought were so great with a VBAC are not nearly as great as the risks of undergoing another abdominal surgery. I am hoping for an easier recovery with a natural birth though I didn't have bad recoveries with my c-sections. I've also had a lot of back issues since my last c-section, and I can't help but believe the surgery is at least partially to blame for that. I can't imagine making it worse by going through the spinal anesthesia again. Plus, I'd rather minimize how many surgeries my stomach has to undergo, and based on family history, I believe I'll be going through surgery in the next 10 years or so to remove my gall bladder.

Now, once I get pregnant and start seeing whoever my OB will be, I'll have to figure out if I am willing to chance a likely-unsupportive hospital birth or go with an at-home birth because there are no birthing centers in my area that will take a VBAC at all.

I would start looking for an OB now that will do a VBAC. If you call the hospital you would deliver at they will tell you if any provider they work with does VBACs. I would look for a large practice that has a presence at the hospital 24 hours a day since they are more likely to do them then a small practice that only comes in for the birth.

I hope it all works out for you!

Have you looked into www.dona.org? I think that women need support even if they have not had a natural birth. My doula goes to all births including scheduled c-sections. She said that there is a need for it and that many doulas do not do them at all. She feels if a woman needs her then she will be there despite what kind of a birthing plan they have.

I won't have much choice in my provider if I want it covered by insurance. I am a military wife and won't get referred for OB care until I am pregnant; I'm new to this area, so I'm not sure if they have a separate OB practice at the military hospital or if they refer to private practices. I figure I'll know pretty quick if the OB practice I'm referred to is on my side or not and how much they are supportive of my decision and can then choose to continue seeing them or pursue another provider.

I've looked at dona.org once or twice before. I know doulas are needed for all types of births, but it just seems like most women not interested in natural birth aren't interested in hiring doulas.

I think it is because they get turned away by most doulas for wanting an epidural or going through a c-section. My doula is actually referred to by other doula's unwilling to attend those births because they know she will.

Well you can still find out who and then always appeal to your insurance when you do become pregnant. I would bring up that a VBAC is less expensive then a c-section. It is worth a try although it probably won't work.

GinaB,

Unfortunately I haven't heard much good about military OB's working with VBAC-desiring moms, much less VBAMC desiring moms. Our local ICAN chapter leader had her 2nd VBAC because her military hospital kinda bullied her into it, and then had to go outside the system and do a HBA2C when pregnant again.

Here's a link to her YouTube video, and her website with her story. (caution som"0ACe graphic c/s scenes) VERY powerful story. You can contact her through her website if you want more information about what she went through w/her military OB's.

http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=h1LiYaiZ7-g
http://www.empoweredmomma.net/main/index.php

Doulas are awesome! Mine was going to be attending a "family centered cesarean" yesterday, but mama went into spontainous labor and delivered her 3VBA2C! (Mom was waaaay past due and it had become their only option) I know my doula won't accept just anyone, though. She's done it long enough to know her limits and had made personal choices about moms she knows she won't mesh with. We have a great doula "assosiation" out here though, and they always refer around!

My doula accepts any kind of birth plan but she will not accept clients that she doesn't get a long with on a personal level. She also doesn't turn people away if they can't pay. She feels it is her calling and is not in it to make money.

Thank you for the information! I'm almost certain I will be forced to birth at home to have a successful VBA2C, but I will remain optimistic about the care providers here until I know differently.

Hi! I'm pregnant with my 3rd son and planning for another med-free hospital birth. I had positive experiences with my first 2 so feel totally comfortable going that route again. Certified midwives have only been legal in my state for the last couple of years, so homebirth was not really an option with my first two, and now we live further out of town and have a supportive OB so I'm most comfortable going back to the hospital.

My first I went in knowing I wanted to have a med-free birth, but figuring that I wouldn't be able to handle it. None of my friends or SIL's had gone w/o an epidural, even those that said they wanted to going in ended up getting one, so I just didn't think I could do it if they couldn't. My mom at least was supportive so I wanted to give it a try. I went into labor on my due date and labored at home for a long time. I was really paranoid of getting to the hospital too soon and being sent home, so I waited and waited. I really kept expecting it to be worse than it was, not that it wasn't painful, but it was manageable. Finally went to the hospital around noon the next day and I was a full 10 when I got there! My doctor barely made it and DS was born less than an hour after we arrived. The worst part was the stitches I needed afterward from a 9 lb baby coming out in 20 min of pushing.

My second was 8 days late and we found out he had turned sideways sometime after my 40 wk appt. My doctor was able to turn him back head down, but wanted to go ahead and induce so that he wouldn't have a chance to flip again, and b/c my first was big so this one was also probably on the large size (he was just under 9 lbs). I was scared of the pitocin, again b/c of horror stories I had heard, but again it wasn't too bad and I think my body really took over once the contractions were started and they never turned it up very high. DS2 was born less than 5 hours later. The doctor did break my water at around 6 cm and he was born 20 min after that.

I'm hoping to not have an induction this time, but I think it was the best option last time; if I had already been in labor when I got to the hospital and DS was breach, they would have sent me straight to a c/s, so I'm glad for how it worked out. Even with being induced and having to be constantly monitored, my nurse was great about letting me get up and move around and I think that helped a ton. I'm excited to see how this one turns out!

Welcome! It sounds like you have a supportive team in your OB and the nurses at the hospital. That's great that they were letting you move around. Do you know what your pit level was set at? Sounds like your OB maybe started at a low dose just to kickstart your body, which is exactly what should be done. A lot of OB's nowadays crank it so moms can't handle it and refuse to turn it down once labor is established.

You were so smart to labor at home and wait to go to the hospital with your first! Good for you!

How far along are you this time? I'm 19 weeks wih my 3rd baby, too! (2nd son) We're chosing midwife because of all the restrictions placed on a VBAC mama in the hospital.

Kailah