s/o Any good hospital birth stories?

[Lisa R.]

With all the talk about rushed OBs and medical personnel ignoring patients' wishes, I thought it might be a good idea to share positive hospital birth experiences.

 

I had all four of mine at hospitals. I researched my OBs carefully beforehand. (I had to switch OBs after my first two were born.) I had my first twenty years ago at a large hospital in a birthing room. I chose to go natural. No one pressured me for an epidural. It was a hard labor, but short--only 4 1/2 hours.

 

I chose to do an epidural at the very end of my labor for my second. While this wasn't a well-thought out decision, it made me realize the relief that the epidural provided. (I received the epidural right before I needed to start pushing.)

 

For my third and fourth child, I walked into the delivery room and made it clear that I wanted an epidural as soon as possible. Both of these babies were induced. The epidurals were *fantastic*. I was able to chat, watch TV, relax, etc. throughout labor.

 

Nurses and doctors were respectful. No episiotomies at any of the four births. (This was something discussed beforehand with the doctors.) My second OB was a recommendation from a labor/delivery nurse that worked at that hospital.

 

Great experiences. Personally, it calmed my nerves knowing that an operating room and equipment were just down the hall.

 

Any other good hospital birth experiences?

[Ellesmere]

nm

[UnsinkableKristen]

Yep, I've had all three of mine at a hospital with the same OB and he was wonderful.

 

#1 and #3 were induced early(pre-ecclampsia/low amniotic fluid) and I had an epidural with each. They were short, painless, and absolutely wonderful. I loved every single minute of the labor. #2 was natural, no epidural, and exceptionally painful and short. I had him 10 minutes after I arrived at the hospital at 38 wks and was only 8cm dilated, but he came anyway. We just told people he was bruised from his Fed Ex delivery :) . Oh, and no episiotomies with any of them or bad side effects from the epidurals - I was able to walk easily less than 30 min after each delivery.

 

Same OB, same hospital for #4 are planned. I'd like to have this one without being induced, and without medication, but it won't bother me to have it otherwise because of my previous great experiences.

 

 

And this is random, but the hospital food this last time (#3) was FANTASTIC. I don't know what they did, but it was out of this world good. I think I licked my plate after almost every meal. :D

Edited April 21, 2011 by UnsinkableKristen

[Mommy22alyns]

Well, I had my water broken with Rebecca when I was 3 cm. I got an epidural shortly thereafter. They had to readjust the epidural, but then it was blissful and I felt like my body could do what it needed to do without me being stressed about the pain. I quickly dilated all the way and only pushed for about 10 minutes. Out she came, and I had her put right on my chest. I never felt pressured or forced into anything.

 

With Sylvia, I had complete placenta previa. I had a severe bleed at 32 weeks, 1 day. She was almost an emergency C-section, but we pulled out of it. I was hospitalized on bedrest for 4 weeks and she was born by scheduled C-section at 36 weeks exactly. Neither of us would have lived without the excellent care at the hospital, and I'm extremely grateful for it.

[dangermom]

I had a very good experience at our hospital, despite a difficult labor. The funny thing is that everyone says the hospital up the ridge is better for births and lots of people go there, but I'm appreciative of the care I got.

 

With my first child, I went into labor on a Friday morning and the nurses cheerfully announced I'd have a baby by noon. They had me walk around a lot, and offered a hot tub (which I hated, but apparently I'm weird). The Lamaze I had learned turned out to be no use at all, and a nurse taught me a different way to deal that worked very well for dealing with the pain. Labor stalled, though. Hours later, I could no longer handle the pain (I was falling asleep between contractions and would wake up at the height of the contraction instead of being able to move into it, you know?) We decided to get an epidural so I could rest a bit. Labor stalled more. Around 8pm, the doc said in a couple of hours we might think about a c-section--he didn't rush it at all, in fact waited longer than I would have liked. I had the c-sec around 10pm.

 

My daughter turned out to be over 10 pounds and sunny-side-up. She never descended at all and was completely stuck; nothing would have gotten her giant head through my pelvis. But through the whole thing, the nurses and doctor were great and supportive. One stayed hours over her shift and held my hand until after the surgery (when, gratefully, they gave me Demerol and I slept for several hours--baby was in a bit of trouble by the time they got her out and so she couldn't be with me, and I was beyond exhausted).

 

For baby #2, my doctor advised against a VBAC. It would have been the same thing over again, and our small-town hospital can't always deal with dire emergencies (in fact our charter school ES was rushed to Sacramento a few weeks ago for an emergency c-section). We did a scheduled c-section 10 days early, which worked great; I walked into the hospital and 45 minutes later, I had a baby! And she could be with me right away! She was still over 9 pounds.

 

My births were not "ideal" but they got me healthy babies and I felt that the nurses and doctor were very considerate and supportive. I never felt pushed into anything, even though I had assumed that I would do a natural birth with no drugs, and certainly a c-section never crossed my mind.

 

I live in California, though, and so natural birth is pretty much the routine default; I know very few women who go into it wanting any intervention. Hospitals have gotten very used to it and I've never heard anyone from around here complain that their birth plan was disregarded.

[AK_Mom4]

With dd9, she was transverse at 40 weeks and I was scheduled for a c-section in the morning. That night, of course, I went into full-on labor. Within 15 minutes of arriving at the hospital, they had gotten the OB and a team and a surgical room and were ready to go. It was not rushed, it was not panicky, it was all very professional and matter-of-fact. The actual delivery was very difficult for the OB and his 2 assistants to wrestle that little starfish out and DH said it looked really gross, but everyone was just fine.

 

Afterwards, I had to stay for a week in the hospital due to an infection. The nurses were cheerful and efficient. (Gosh, I sound like a hospital ad!). Once I was feeling better, I had plenty of time to spend with little DD and got some much needed help from the lacation consultant to get her feeding properly.

 

It was a medical challenge that required properly trained professionals to have a good outcome for both me and dd and I am very thankful they were available. My hospital stay was longer than usual and I appreciate the good care I recieved.

[lovinmyboys]

I had all 3 in a hospital with an OB and I had great experiences every time. A different doc delivered each time and they were all wonderful. They all told me that safety was their first concern, but comfort was a close second. The nurses were FANTASTIC at helping me nurse (especially with my first). I did not have any complaints at all.

[fairfarmhand]

 

My births were not "ideal" but they got me healthy babies .

 

 

I would say that they were ideal with that outcome!

[simka2]

When I was induced with dd1 we discovered I had a very rare pain disorder. My cervix will not dilate if I am in physical pain. I was trying to go natural, but after 21 hrs, no dilation, and almost rupturing my cervix I went with the epidural. DD was born within 5 min of it going to effect.

 

With the twins I chose not to risk it and the epidural was immediate. They came so fast the OB ran into the room and caught the first one. You should have seen the terrified look on the Peds Drs face when he thought he was going to deliver them.

 

By the time ds4 came along, we all knew the drill. This time though the epi only worked on half. Sure enough I would not dilate. They got it fixed and he was born 7 min later.

 

I'm very thankful I had access to a good hospital!

[Jean in Newcastle]

My labor with ds13 was a nightmare (73 hours, 14 hours of vomiting at the end) but I have absolutely no complaints against the hospital, my doctor or my nurses. They were great! They worked hard to provide care for me in a very difficult situation - an earthquake and a very high-risk patient (me) with weird reactions to almost everything they tried. I had not wanted a C-section and there were medical reasons why to avoid one, and they did everything they could to help me to deliver my baby vaginally (and succeeded even though at the end I was on the table). My nurses held my hand, prayed for me and came in later to tell me how glad they were that things went well in the end. Both my experienced labor nurses and my very experienced high-risk OB told me later that they were very worried.

 

My labor with dd9 was more uneventful during the actual 3 hours of labor. But dd9 had the cord around her neck. The nurses called for a doctor "Stat" - they really do that! and that doctor came in flying. I'm very grateful for how fast and efficient he was.

[iquilt]

All three of mine were very good experiences. I was labeled high risk for all three so I had no choice but the area's top hospital one city away. I especially had wonderful nurses who were smart, helpful, professional and kind all rolled into one. Seriously, the staff was awesome for all three trips. I was fortunate also to have the same doctor for all three.

Edited April 21, 2011 by iquilt
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[Cortana]

Best hosptial birth we had was with our daughter, we went to the same hospital we went to with youngest son but they had built a brand new birthing center plus changed some of their policies especially for c-sections. Our OB was wonderful and did so good, joking with us throughout the whole c-section and keeping us relaxed, I had never felt so calm with the other 2. The nurses were fantastic. The best part was I was only away from dd for the 15 mins it took them to do her exam, then they brought her right into recovery so I could hold her and start nursing her. The absolute best part was we got released after just 2 days, the OB and pediatrician said both me and dd were doing wonderful and we'd recover better at home so they let us go home a day early. :001_smile:

[kchara]

I've had all of mine in a hospital.

 

The first three, I really feel I wasn't educated enough. They were all epidurals, all had pit, all had things happen that I regret doing, but I honestly didn't know any better.

 

With 4 and 5 (twins), the hard labor was insanely fast, and the hospital was 35 miles away. I was in easy labor most of the day, and started to the hospital as the pains got 5 minutes apart. By the time we hit the hospital (DH had to make a WalMart stop :glare:) I was REALLY close. The walk from the parking lot to the maternity ward did a lot to help me along, and I had Caeleigh 15 minutes after we drove up to the hospital, and Delaeney 5 minutes later. :D DH had to catch Caeleigh. It was a Saturday, and the on call doc wasn't in the hospital at the moment. hehehe Freaked the nurse out good. Doc did catch Delaeney, though. I purposely waited a long time to go in, b/c the hospital's policy was to deliver twins in the OR, which I thought was stupid. I delivered in an L&D room. The staff was not impressed. Sucked to be them. :D

 

With #6, I had planned an unassisted birth, but I started to bleed bright red blood with every contraction after about 14 hours of labor. We went in, and they got me settled. Apparently, my doc, who wasn't around (I've never actually had *my* doctor or midwife deliver my kids :tongue_smilie:) because it was Thanksgiving, but the on call was awesome. I was really worried about him, b/c a friend said he had tried to force her into 2 unnecessary episiotomies. (sorry, bad spelling) Anyway, I got a walking epi, and the anesthesiologist was a woman I can't STAND (small town... knew her from church), but she did a good job. However... he was badly positioned and I pushed for HOURS. (Usually, I have 2, maybe 3 pushes and the babies come out. Long pushing times just isn't me.) The doc (FP, by the way, not OB) started to talk c-section, because it was apparent he was stuck. DH suggested trying to push his head under my pubic bone at the next contraction, and it worked! He was able to get a little farther, but, being sunny side up, and big (8 pounds 10 ounces), and being that I was exhausted, we ended up having to use the vacuum. BUT... I was OK with that. Because, after that long of pushing, most docs would've insisted on a c-section. He not only didn't, he sat with me the entire time I was pushing, he let me in MULTIPLE positions, and listened to DH's suggestions. When the doc wasn't in there, the nurse was. They also let me take my placenta home for encapsulation (although they didn't really ask why past passing curiosity... he said it was mine to do whatever I wanted with).

 

I'm still praying for a homebirth if we're blessed again, but I think the #1 thing (especially in small, rural hospitals like I've been in the past 2 times) is being educated. When I come in as someone who knows what I'm talking about, knows what I want, and knows how to get it, then they tend to back off with the stupidity. But.. I also realize that sometimes, it's not the OB. Like, with my twins, it wasn't my OB's idea to deliver in the OR. That's hospital policy. If he had gone against that policy, he could've lost his privileges, which would've been a career killer. Instead, I waited, and waited, and waited, and that got me the delivery I wanted (100% natural, outside of an OR), and absolved any OB on call of any responsibility.

[BakersDozen]

Out of my 9 hospital births I've had 3 that were really great. The other 6 I ended up with dreadful nurses or pushy doctors, or I was offered a shared recovery room so ended up going home 4 hours after having my baby. However I wouldn't give up my hospital births for anything because I can get drugs - wonderful, pain-relieving, make-birth-great drugs!!! :D No nurse or doctor or shared room will take away my epi experience, lol.

[msjones]

I had great hospital births. The nurses were fantastic -- so supportive and encouraging and attentive.

 

I hardly remember the doctor -- he didn't show up either time until I was beyond paying attention to who was in the room.

 

My labors were very fast, had no 'interventions' (other than an oxygen mask when I was really getting dizzy once), and resulted in healthy baby boys.

[melissel]

My first hospital birth (with an OB) wasn't great, but my second, with a midwife in a more progressive hospital, was just what I wanted. I was so ready to fight for my natural birth, but i had two amazing nurses, one of whom had specialized in natural birth and one who had had three of her own. When we got to the hospital they had to monitor me for 20 minutes before I could go into the tub, and when I started asking just how long it might taken to get an anesthesiologist up if I happened to decide I wanted an epidural, they put me off very politely and reassuringly because they knew I was there for a natural birth with a geat midwife. The labor tub was AWESOME, though getting back out of it during transition was not :lol: and my midwife and nurses were very relaxed and reassuring, even when I was shrieking my way through pushing!

 

DD5 had some trouble in the hospital after her birth and they were all great--no one pressured me to send her to the nursery OR guilted me into keeping her with me when I needed a break. I would have loved a home birth but insurance wouldn't cover it. Truly, my hospital birth with her was almost as good.

[Allearia]

I had a great experience with my VBAC in the hospital. My first birth the doc really tried everything she could, baby was face up. I had been induced due to sudden hypertension and dilated and everything. Even the anesthesiologist somehow had experience with trying to help turn the right way but after hours of pushing it was not happening. Baby was 9 lbs 6 oz.

 

So with my second some of the other doctors in the same practice said they would just do a c-section but one of them said he was fine with trying for a VBAC given the circumstances of my previous. I had never seen him before but after that I had all my appointments with him. I had the sudden high blood pressure again at the end, and so had a couple of days of semi-bed rest so I could wait until he would be the one on duty at the hospital. I was technically induced but already pretty well dilated by then. I got there at 7am and baby was born at 1. I was so thrilled, because I had thought that if I wanted a VBAC I would have to have this huge fight with everyone and that they would not induce at all but it just worked out great and even though the doc was definitely more businesslike than touchy-feely he did exactly what I wanted. I never hear of VBACs with induction and epidural but they can happen.

 

p.s. after birth both times baby stayed with me and was never taken to the nursery or offered formula at all. It was in Berkeley of course so that may have helped. With my first my husband was there the whole time and able to stay and care for baby while I was recovering from the c-section. Ironically the only bad experience was with the breastfeeding consultant, horrible woman!

[AFwife Claire]

I live in California, though, and so natural birth is pretty much the routine default; I know very few women who go into it wanting any intervention. Hospitals have gotten very used to it and I've never heard anyone from around here complain that their birth plan was disregarded.

 

Wow, really? I am surprised! My sister-in-law is a labor and delivery nurse, and she worked at 2 hospitals in Roseville for many years before marrying my brother and moving to Texas. When they were dating and she met me for the first time, she couldn't believe I had mine all naturally, and she said she hadn't seen any natural births at her hospital other than in people who waited too long to come in! She definitely gave me the impression that CA birthers, at least in the Sacramento area, all came in demanding epidurals and scheduled inductions, LOL. It's good to hear another perspective!

[Once]

I have had three in the hospital, 100% natural.

 

First one was very late and the doctor had scheduled a stress test ultrasound the next day (which may have led to an induction). But I went in to my final labor that night and delivered in the morning. I had a doula and she helped me a ton. Part way through I stalled and I would not completely dialate.....there was just a lip. My doctor said they might have to take some action.....my doula ramped up her efforts and got me up out of bed and moving. I. hated. her. But it saved the day! Daughter was delivered within a half and hour. I had no interventions and my doctor, when I handed her the birth plan a few weeks ealier, was very sceptical. The doctor mentioned to me how it does not usually happen so close to the birth plan. I think she was pleased to be part of a natural birth (she was a Family Physician not an OB).

 

My second was a crazy drive through a terrible thunder storm. I arrived and they thought I was being dramatic when I was actually in transition. They checked me and started yelling at the foot of the bed to get the midwife there. My midwife and doula barely made it....no pictures were ever taken. My son was over 10 lbs and because I failed one blood sugar test early in my pregnancy, they wanted to keep me and my son in for 24 hours. Each hour or so they took a blood sample to make sure his levels did not crash. As soon as the first 24 hours were done, they let me go home....I left at 7pm at night the next day. I suppose another another mom would have been encouraged to stay longer but I was wanting to get home. My nurses just left me alone after labor. I did have lots of tearing which my midwife assured me beforehand that she would help with but I am just made that way......I think it is hard to get away from tearing with a ten pound baby. ;)

 

My third was early (I think due to Staph B). I went in after a day of really strong "Braxton Hicks" that turned out to be labor. After putting me on the machine to check them out my water broke. They gave me antibiotics IV for the Staph. I stayed and within 4 hours he was born. We knew ahead of time that his cord was double chambered....which increases risk for heart problems in the baby. He was VERY blue when he was born but he recovered quickly. My doctor watced him closely for the night and part of the next day and I was in under 24 hours. I returned the next day for the baby to be checked again at the doctors request.

 

All three of my deliveries had minor issues that doctors and midwives could have insisted be handled with more interventions but they did not. Each time I made it very clear to everyone before hand that I wanted as few as possible without putting the baby at risk. They respected that and I am very grateful to each of them.

 

I have a few friends that have delivered at home and, although I support it, I was happy with my hospital births. My doulas were all very very helpful in defending my desire to have my delivery natural. I highly recommend hiring a doula if you want natural birth in a hospital!

[praisefor3]

Wow. Each one was different and each one had so many good/positive pieces to it. But I'll just mention the last one. My OB was so great that on my last one, which turned into a Cesarean, he let my DH scrub in with him (who is not a doctor) because my DH was sorry he wasn't going to get to pull this one out. The OB reached in and got her head and then let DH pull her the rest of the way out of my belly. How cool is that! I realize not all men would like this but my DH loved it and has memories of a lifetime. Now that is a cool doctor!

[Ellie]

My babies were born in 1975 and 1978. :-) I had no drugs. Mr. Ellie was right there with me. I nursed both in the delivery room. Both roomed with me. I went home within 24 hours.

 

This was before today's almost-mandatory sonograms, before epidurals were so common, when we fought against spinals or general anesthetic, when it never, ever ocurred to anyone to actually schedule a c-section. We were fighting the battle against the labors and deliveries our mothers had endured, when most births were done with generals, when the fathers had to wait in the waiting room, when babies stayed in the nursery most of the time and routinely given formula, and when mothers were kept in the hospital for at least 48 hours, sometimes more.

[Rhonda in TX]

My births were not "ideal" but they got me healthy babies and I felt that the nurses and doctor were very considerate and supportive. I never felt pushed into anything, even though I had assumed that I would do a natural birth with no drugs, and certainly a c-section never crossed my mind.

 

This is exactly how I feel. I had two c-sections. Did I plan it? No. Do I feel they were necessary? I'm not absolutely positive, but I am completely at peace with them. I had two healthy babies and some discomfort for a week or so. My doctor and the nurses were wonderful. In the end, I consider that a positive hospital birth story.

[Sara in AZ]

I had three fantastic, drug free hospital births with two different certified nurse midwives whom I adore.

 

(and then I had an amazing home waterbirth. It was my favorite.)

[OH_Homeschooler]

Thanks for asking! It drives me nuts when I hear people talk about how hospitals work against mothers (mostly when I hear it from someone who has never had a baby but watched "The Business of Being Born" so now they're an expert).

 

I'd say I had good experiences. For my first I checked into the hospital around 10pm. The nurses were great, so friendly and helpful. Unfortunately, my baby was in distress most of the night and the response time from the nurses seemed very slow. DH and I would be sitting in the room and the alarm would go off to indicate the dropping heart rate, and it seemed to take forever for a nurse to respond, I'm sure because they were just understaffed overnight. When it came time for pushing I was informed that due to the distress, there was a possibility of needing a c-section depending on how fast things progressed. I was fine with it, I wanted the baby safe! But the doctor used the vacuum thing to help get the baby out, and I did have a bad episiotomy, but it was clear that the doctor did everything he could to deliver the baby safely without a c-section. So whenever I hear people claim that hospitals only force c-sections on mothers, I scoff.

 

I didn't have such dramatic deliveries the other times. :) I am SO grateful that I was in a hospital for that birth, I can't imagine what would have happened if the baby wasn't being monitored and the doctor didn't realize how urgent it was to get the baby out ASAP.

[blondeviolin]

I've had all three of my kids at the same hospital with the same OB for prenatal care. Unfortunately, only my son was delivered by my actual OB. LOL He was my best birth, to be honest. I had an epidural with the older two.

 

With my first, I had an on-call doctor who allowed in literally an entire group of residents and/or med students. Looking back now, I'm infuriated that he brought them all in (without asking!) and I had just assumed that was how birth in a hospital went. Imagine my surprise when my son was born and the only people in the room were my nurse, my OB, my husband and my daughter!

 

With Ellie, it would have been a fine birth, but she came very quickly and I had a VERY inadequate nurse. I am the type of patient who doesn't want to make waves or whatever so I just waited and waited for them to move me from triage to L&D. We moved to L&D and she was born before they even had my hospital tag. Looking back from her birth I would have let my husband go chew out the nurse (like he wanted to) and allowed him to be my advocate. My OB was not there, but only because there was a torrential rainstorm where she couldn't get to the hospital fast enough..

 

With my son, there was no complaint that we had my 16-month-old daughter with us. I got an epidural, it worked, he nearly fell out and they let Abby watch Blue's Clues while he was born.

 

We always leave within 24 hours from the baby's birth. I'm up and showering after nursing the baby and peeing.

 

For this baby, I am planning on the same hospital, hopefully with my OB, and an epidural.

[Mommyof4ks]

All three of mine were born in a hospital.

 

The first birth was rushed due to my very high blood pressure, but I was able to have a natural delivery thanks to my wonderful doctor who respected my fear of a c-section. He had to use the vacuum thing on her, but she did finally decided, with persuasion, to come out.

 

The boys were both easy deliveries, and my youngest did not give me much warning about his impending birth. I was scheduled to be induced, and when I arrived the nurse said she was not sure what to do because I was at a 7. She kept asking if I could feel the contractions, and other than some discomfort I could not lol. Certainly not the intense pain I had with my other two. He popped right out 2 hours later. I had wonderful docs for all three of my deliveries.

[ChristusG]

Both of my kids were hospital births. I had to since I had to be induced early with both of them due to low fluid....but I would have chosen hospital births anyways.

 

Both times, a midwife did the delivery. Both times I had wonderful epidurals. Both times the nurses were extra friendly and helpful with recovery. With DD#1 I bled a lot due to the fact that DD tore my cervix on the way out....she plowed her own way out of there. The midwife was quick to get a doctor and get moving to stop the bleeding.

 

With DD#2, everything was smooth sailing. I was walking out the hospital exactly 24 hours (that's protocol) after having her.

[Mommyof4ks]

Wow. Each one was different and each one had so many good/positive pieces to it. But I'll just mention the last one. My OB was so great that on my last one, which turned into a Cesarean, he let my DH scrub in with him (who is not a doctor) because my DH was sorry he wasn't going to get to pull this one out. The OB reached in and got her head and then let DH pull her the rest of the way out of my belly. How cool is that! I realize not all men would like this but my DH loved it and has memories of a lifetime. Now that is a cool doctor!

 

That is a cool doctor! What a blessing that your dh got to be a part of that.

[LizzyBee]

I had all three of mine in a hospital. Growing up in a rural area, babies were airlifted to bigger hospitals if there were complications, usually without their mamas. I chose to have my kids in large city hospitals with NICUs that could handle nearly any kind of emergency because I didn't want to take any chances on that happening.

 

I had complications that negated my birth plans, but I still had good experiences. In Baltimore, my OB practice had one doctor, so I got to know her well during the pregnancies. Fortunately, she was available for both births, because I liked her much better than her back-up doctor.

 

My first birth was kind of wild because a local TV station was doing a story and asked if they could film us. I said yes without realizing they meant during the birth! They showed us on TV playing Uno with my sister while we waited. During the birth, a cameraman was at my shoulder on one side and my sister was on the other side with her videocamera. I progressed very slowly and finally had an epidural because I figured I was going to end up having a C section. After the epidural, I went to sleep, and when I woke up I was ready to push. Now that's my kind of labor! I only had to push through three contractions, and my dr said I did it like a pro. :tongue_smilie: The dr put her on my chest as soon as she was born and we tried nursing as soon as the hubbub died down. The only complaint I had was that my nurse wanted me to use a bedpan even though my dr had told me I could get up to use the bathroom (but only for that because I had HELLP syndrome and my BP spiked when I wasn't lying on my right side). She didn't want to bother unhooking the monitor and moving my IV pole. :glare:

 

My second was all natural because she came so fast. When I told dh I was feeling the urge to push, his response was a sarcastic, "Well, don't" instead of finding the nurse and telling her. (He has spent the past 14 years trying to make up for his unhelpfulness that day. :D ) My doctor came to check on me at lunch time, took one look at me, and knew the baby was coming now. I wanted an epidural, but there was no time, and I started to panic. The doctor looked me in the eye and told me this happened to her with her second, and she did it and I could too. I love having female doctors because you don't get that kind of empathy from a male! That was my worst birthing experience because the contractions were so painful, intense, and close together, but as soon as I pushed, everything went numb and I had no more pain at all. The baby was out with just one push, the dr told me not to push anymore because the cord was wrapped around her neck tightly enough that only her head could come out, and I thought to myself that it would take a thousand horses pulling the other way to stop pushing because I had no control over it at that point. Dh said that when the dr cut the cord, the baby popped out and the dr caught her like a football. :lol: The dr put her on my chest as soon as she came out and she nursed like a champ.

 

My third one was born in Raleigh, and I didn't like my OB practice because it was like a cattle herding operation. There were no small practices in my insurance plan. But the hospital experience was fantastic. If a nurse opened the door and saw that I was sleeping, she'd leave and come back later instead of waking me up! All the nurses were super nice. The day dd was born, I went to the dr with HBP, and when they did bloodwork, they found that I had HELLP syndrome again. The dr said he could send me home on bedrest, but I'd be back the next day and worse. I agreed with him, so I was induced as soon as a L&D room became available. DD's heart rate began dropping during contractions, so the dr reserved an OR, but I was impressed with how hard they tried to avoid a C-section. They stopped the pitocin, infused fluid into my uterus, then re-started the pitocin slowly to try to reverse whatever was causing the distress. But when her heart rate dropped to 30 or 40, the dr came in and said we're going to the OR. I felt like I was in an episode of ER; it was surreal and emotional. The cord was wrapped pretty tightly around the baby's neck, but she was fine and her apgar wasn't terrible - dh can't remember what it was, but he thinks it was a 7 or 8. After the section, my BP crashed and I was passed out for about 4 hours. When I woke up, I had some kind of electric warming machine over me and hot towels wrapped around my head. It took me hours and hours to warm up! Based on my initial bloodwork, I wouldn't have been able to have an epidural, but they did more bloodwork to see if they could get a higher reading on my platelets. If they hadn't done that, I would have had general anesthesia for the C-section. I am very thankful that I was awake for her birth even though I passed out almost immediately afterward; I did get to touch her before I passed her. Luckily, the dr on call that night was one of the older, more experienced drs in the practice, and at my follow up appts, the other drs I saw commented on how nice my incision was and what good work he does. :lol:

 

One of my friends in Baltimore went to a birthing center to have her babies. She told me once that she was so thankful to have her babies there instead of in a hospital flat on her back and with her feet in stirrups. With the exception of my C-section, I never even saw stirrups during childbirth, and I wasn't flat on my back with either of my vag births. OTOH, I visited her in the birthing center when she had her 2nd, and I was so thankful I didn't have to have my babies there. Almost a week later, she commented on how sore she still was and she could barely walk, and I asked her if she was still using the pads with icepacks in them. The birthing center didn't give her any! I thought it was worth having my babies in hospitals just to get those pads. :lol: To each his own and all that; I'm glad we were each able to make choices we were happy with.

Edited April 22, 2011 by LizzyBee

[Dawn in OH]

I had all four children in a hospital. The first two with a mid-wife, the third with an OB, and the fourth with a mid-wife.

 

The fourth birth was absolutely perfect. Everything about it was perfect. We went home when the baby was 27 hours old. The goal was 24 hours, but my husband and I were having some trouble finalizing the name and getting the birth certificate handled.

 

We stopped at Grandma's house on the way home so the kids could see their new baby brother.

[LizzyBee]

With my first, I had an on-call doctor who allowed in literally an entire group of residents and/or med students. Looking back now, I'm infuriated that he brought them all in (without asking!) and I had just assumed that was how birth in a hospital went. Imagine my surprise when my son was born and the only people in the room were my nurse, my OB, my husband and my daughter!

 

 

This reminded me of a funny story about my first child's birth. My first two kids were born in a teaching hospital. After dd was born, I got up to go to the bathroom. My bp dropped, making me dizzy and sick. The dr checked on me, then asked if some interns could come in. I guess because I had an epidural and then got sick, I was a good person to check reflexes on. A whole parade of interns came in and hit my knees with their reflex hammers and one girl was bragging to the others about her deluxe hammer. I was so out of it that I didn't even know what any of them looked like, although I was aware they were there. My dh still laughs when he remembers that because it was so comedic.

[momofkhm]

The first was with a clinic style HMO but at a local hospital and "birthing center". The doc on call ended up not being one I'd ever seen. But it was a good birth. I remember getting in the shower for a while. Nothing was pushed on me. I asked for pain relief - stadol and got 2 shots before she was born. No issues. She was a "meconium baby" but they cleared that quickly, she didn't aspirate any. I don't know how they knew, but I had a clot and that I remember as being very painful, almost worse than giving birth which I had just done an hour before. But they cleared it and all was good.

 

The second was a doc in private practice at a different local hospital. This one was induced. Pitocin started about 5. Epidural at about 11 or 12. She was born at 1:30 am. She was over 10 pounds. There happened to be a delivery nurse that we knew who was in the room with us. She wasn't assigned to us, but she saw my name and came down. I remember the doc breaking my water but nothing pushy and no pushing to get the epidural in earlier than I asked for it. Much after this birth the friend who is a nurse let me know that this doc was an accident waiting to happen or was it a lawsuit waiting to happen. She didn't give details but I changed docs again.

 

New doc, different hospital again. This one was attended by the midwife in the practice. Like the OP, I remembered the total relief with the epi. I remember hearing how far I was dilated at one point and saying "So I can get an epidural if I want, right?" They asked if I wanted one, I thought about it but said "no, it's not that bad yet." This one my water had broken at home. Total labor from water breaking to baby in my arms was 3 hours. No issues at this one either.

 

I had good experiences at all of them.

[ocelotmom]

I had a wonderful unmedicated hospital birth with my second. The only problem was that I went from 6cm to baby out in about 20 minutes, before the tub could be filled, so I didn't get to try that out. But overall, I did what I wanted after they took a 20 minute strip (sitting on a birth ball, but basically stuck in one place) when I was first admitted. After the birth, I was able to hold and nurse the baby for over an hour before they took her to the warmer (within the same room) for a thorough assessment and measuring and so forth.

 

I had a homebirth with my third, but if we'd still lived near the hospital where I had my second, I would have happily gone there instead (and actually considered commuting back there for the birth, but decided that wasn't reasonable).

 

So much depends on care provider, and the policies of the individual hospitals. Some hospitals/care providers are great. Others not so much.

 

Wow, really? I am surprised! My sister-in-law is a labor and delivery nurse, and she worked at 2 hospitals in Roseville for many years before marrying my brother and moving to Texas. When they were dating and she met me for the first time, she couldn't believe I had mine all naturally, and she said she hadn't seen any natural births at her hospital other than in people who waited too long to come in! She definitely gave me the impression that CA birthers, at least in the Sacramento area, all came in demanding epidurals and scheduled inductions, LOL. It's good to hear another perspective!

 

Dedicated (hospital) natural birthers in the Sacramento area tend to go to a few specific hospitals with natural birth friendly policies :) One of them being the one where I had DD1.

Edited April 21, 2011 by ocelotmom

[Britomart]

I had all four of mine in a hospital - the same hospital for all four - and had a good experience at each birth. Largely due, I think, to three factors:

 

1) My support people: my husband and my mom. Both were calm and supportive and kept me calm and happy and unworried.

2) The nurses. The nurses at my hospital were (and are) AMAZING. No-nonsense, but very kind and incredibly competent.

3) My doctor (for the first two) was a family practice guy and not an OB. Call me crazy, but I think the fact that he can't do a c-section (would have to call someone else to do one) made him less inclined to go that direction. My births were long (27 hours & 16 hours) and he'd just stroll in, check on how I was, say, "okay, looks good, see you in a bit," and stroll out again. And when I was pushing, he was, again, patient, and let everything move at a normal pace, which equaled, for me, no episiotomy and no tearing.

 

The last birth, my twins, was about as complicated as you can get (they were monoamniotic, which is pretty rare and very dangerous) and I was in the hospital for a LONG time. But the nurses, like I said, were amazing and, again, that made all the difference.

[Donna]

I had all 3 of my kids' births in a hospital with an OB...different OBs each time and the last one was just the on-call OB who wasn't part of my doctor's practice. All 3 were positive experiences even though 2 kids were born early enough to need some time in the NICU. I had them all naturally without epidural or medications except IV antibiotics due to being Group B strep positive. I liked the nurses and doctors in attendance and never felt like they were rushed or overworked. All were very professional and caring.

[G5052]

We had some surprises with my firstborn, but we had very respectful, professional care with each birth by both OB's and neonatal specialists. My firstborn likely would not have survived if we had not chosen a hospital.

 

I always cringe a little when people gripe about hospital births because we probably would have been transported to a hospital anyway if we had chosen a birthing center or at home, and the whole experience was fine.

[Melissa B]

All four of mine were wonderful hospital births. We had a great hospital known for its labor and delivery floor. All four were rushed in the sense that I delivered quickly, but no bad experiences and no drugs (not by my choice. :D)

Edited April 21, 2011 by Melissa B

[Mommy22alyns]

With my first, I had an on-call doctor who allowed in literally an entire group of residents and/or med students. Looking back now, I'm infuriated that he brought them all in (without asking!) and I had just assumed that was how birth in a hospital went. Imagine my surprise when my son was born and the only people in the room were my nurse, my OB, my husband and my daughter!

 

 

 

:001_smile: When Becca was born, they asked me if they could bring a group of students/residents/whatevers to observe. I was punch-happy from the epidural and basically said, "The more, the merrier!" :lol: I don't regret it; I say her birth was a party, which is so appropriate for her whole personality - social and sunny.

[birchbark]

Positive hospital experiences here! My first was an attempted homebirth that ended up in a hospital transport. The next two we decided to have with the same doc that delivered the first. Awesome, like-minded guy, and the hospital was very small yet new and progressive.

 

I feel like the opposite of most people; terrible homebirth experience and wonderful hospital one.

[Garga]

1st: midwife, hospital, no epidural. The water in the tub didn't fill up fast enough for me to get in it (baby came sooner than we thought.)

 

Baby breathed meconium, so was in the ICU for 2 days, and had to stay in the hosp for 7 days.

 

No one pressured me about anything. No one minded that I made noise. The nurse later told me that it was an awesome birth and she was glad she'd been there.

 

2nd: midwife, hospital, no epidural, no tub available (different hospital). No one pressured me about anything. No one minded that I made noise. The midwife later said it was an awesome birth and I did great.

 

 

(I think they always tells you that you did awesome.)

[NanceXToo]

No specific story but when my 5 y/o son was born at a hospital here in PA (my older two had been born in NY), it was a WONDERFUL hospital. It was a really good experience overall. :)

[Starr]

I had the best nurse with ds. She was by my side constantly, keeping my breathing focused and kept me going through a difficult labor. It ended up that the boy was stuck and the doctor finally was able to turn him and all was well.

[PinkInTheBlue]

When I was induced with dd1 we discovered I had a very rare pain disorder. My cervix will not dilate if I am in physical pain. I was trying to go natural, but after 21 hrs, no dilation, and almost rupturing my cervix I went with the epidural. DD was born within 5 min of it going to effect.

 

With the twins I chose not to risk it and the epidural was immediate. They came so fast the OB ran into the room and caught the first one. You should have seen the terrified look on the Peds Drs face when he thought he was going to deliver them.

 

By the time ds4 came along, we all knew the drill. This time though the epi only worked on half. Sure enough I would not dilate. They got it fixed and he was born 7 min later.

 

I'm very thankful I had access to a good hospital!

 

I've never heard of this but I wonder if it affects me. My 2nd and 3rd labors just trickled along with much pain and no progression. However after getting epidurals with both of them the babies came so fast it put everyone in panic. My ob/gyn remembers and mentions the frantic run everytime I see him now.

[littlebug42]

Both of my children were born in the same local hospital with the same OB that I have had for 15 years. I had great experiences both times. From beginning to end, the nurses, my OB and I all worked together to have a great outcome. With my first daughter, I wanted to try a natural birth. No one pressured me to do anything differently. After 17 hours, I did have an epidural and don't regret it for a second. My other daughter's labor went very fast. The doc almost didn't make it back to the hospital for her delivery.

 

Both of my dc were induced for necessary reasons. I wasn't pressured into that either. In fact, with dd9, I had been begging for him to "get her out" for weeks prior to her birth because I was so miserable. He talked me off the ledge every week as it was not in her best interest. I have so much respect for him and I have a hard time with threads where everyone vilifies OBs and hospitals. If I were to have any future children, I wouldn't change a thing.

[Hannah C.]

Just wanted to say thank you to all of you for sharing the other side of the hospital coin. Personally, I'm finding it very reassuring. :001_smile:

[GWOB]

I had hospital births for all three.

 

1st- Active duty Sailor birthing in a Navy hospital. Scared to death. Just did what the officers/doctors told me me to do. Ended up with Pitocin and an epidural. Baby was perfect, so I count that as a success.

 

2nd-I was a civilian birthing in another Navy hospital with Midwives. A bit more relaxed, except for the fact that most of the regular hospital staff had just deployed to Iraq (5 days after Iraq War started). Stupid "nurse" busted every vein in both hands trying to put in an IV (Group B Strep positive). No drugs. 5,000 people watching. Still had a fat, healthy baby. Still counts as a success.

 

3rd- Too far away from a military hospital to birth there. Had wonderful, chill midwife care. Go to hospital where my super awesome midwife stood up for me and didn't let the nurse put in an IV. Chilled in the tub until time to push. Begged the midwife for drugs, only to have her respond "Oh that's great! Just keep going. You're fine." I told her before to ignore me when I asked for drugs. So very relaxed and chill. Tried to give birth on the toilet, but Midwife sweetly and oh-so-very-non-chalantly talked me out of it. Only people there were me, dh, Midwife, and nurse. So very awesome. Could not have had a better experience.

 

I am one of those people who seriously thinks women should be mostly (in "normal" cases) be left to their own devices when giving birth. I don't believe 90% of the crud OBs tell women to scare them into unnecessary interventions. However, I just couldn't do a home birth, mostly because I'd be too freaked out about how clean my house was to relax.

[elizabeth]

I delivered by scheduled C-section as my stubborn child refused to turn. They tried and it failed to produce results. My nurse the day of the c section turned out to be a woman my grandfather had delivered in Mcgregor, Iowa. I delivered dd at the hospital my father practiced at while he was alive. What are the chances that MY nurse would be a woman delivered by my own grandfather ??? Who had lived and practiced medicine primarily in Villa Grove Illinois? None. No accident there just a wink from above. It was a comforting thought. Unfortunately I developed a spinal headache and had to have a blood patch placed in the epidural space(that was awful) but delivered a healthy baby girl. And dh did not faint during the c section . It was just a great experience.

[2squared]

I've had two great deliveries in civilian hospitals and two great deliveries in military hospitals. I was delivered by my own doc in the civilian hospital, and by whomever showed up at the military hospital.

 

Actually, the military did a fab job with my #3. He was a big baby unsuccessfully trying to come out sunny side up. We weren't responding well to anything, and he went into fetal distress numerous times that day. The military assigned us our own nurse AND the head OB Dr for our delivery. They managed to deliver him safely and vaginally, but I am most impressed with how closely they monitored us and how my quickly my delivery room filled up whenever I heard beeps and alarms going off. I was worried after hearing so many horror stories about military hospitals, but I experienced only wonderful care.

 

My only complaint about the military hospitals was that they didn't have a nursery. After my experience with #3, I could have used some help. After delivery, they basically push you down the hall with baby and well wishes, never to see you again.

[StephanieZ]

My only hospital birth (kid #2) was my best birth! (All 3 were just fine. . . but #2 was amazing.)

 

I had an OB for my prenatal care (so that insurance would pay for it, as it didn't cover lay midwives, lol) and a lay midwife & her backup 2nd midwife (same two who attended my first child's birth) were to attend the birth. All of them knew about each other and were fine with the arrangement.

 

My labor began with my water breaking, and it went like lightning. I alerted our OB, just in case, as we had prearranged. But my midwives could not get there in time for my fast moving labor, as the main midwife was at her day job at a small urgent care, dealing with a heart attack patient, and the 2nd/back up midwife was at another birth 2 hours away. I didn't want a third unknown midwife, so I called our OB back to tell him I was on the way to the hospital.

 

I walked in, refused the wheel chair, refused to allow my husband to be separated from me for 'paperwork', & walked up to the maternity hall. Our doctor met us and introduced the (sweet, supportive, out of our way) nurse he had handpicked for us. Our doctor used the doppler to listen to one or two contractions, checked my cervix once, and retreated to the hall where he fed our 2 year old ice cream bars for the better part of an hour. He had told us that the nurse would check my BP, but since I got in the shower right away and had our son so quickly, she never got around to it until after he was born. :) Meanwhile, I got in and out of the shower, and was ready to push within an hour of arrival to the hospital. Two pushing contractions later, our son was born! Four hour labor start to finish!

 

Our doctor swore that if he could only bottle & sell that labor, he'd be a very wealthy man. LOL, I only wished I could have had a repeat when I had my 3rd child a few years later (much harder birth).

 

Our son was never admitted to the hospital and never left our side. They weighed and measured him at bedside, and put the AB ointment in his eyes there, but no further interventions at all.

 

I snuggled, nursed, showered, and then rested 3 hours in the hospital bed before grabbing the newborn in the carseat and walking right back out of the hospital, waving to the same desk staff who had admitted us four hours earlier. (That was surely a first and last for them. . . their expressions were priceless. . .)

 

My birth involved two brief pelvic exams -- one at admit, and one when I was ready to push. Doppler held to tummy for 2 contractions at admission was the only monitoring. My BP was taken after birth. No IV. No drugs. No cuts. No stitches. No stirrups. No overnights. No warming beds for baby. No nursery visits. No bath. Nobody told us to do a darn thing except when Dr. Tom heard me groan in the bathroom & hollered "Don't have the baby in the toilet." which was probably a wise bit of advice b/c that baby fairly flew out of me moments later when I went back to the bed to have Dr. Tom check my cervix. (In fact, I never truly pushed. . . Dr. would say, OK, you can push, and I'd stop STOPPING my body from pushing and within a couple seconds he'd say, OK, STOP, STOP, and then repeated that one more time and the baby was born! I'm telling you, that boy wanted OUT!) No messing with my baby at all. No troubles at all.

 

Our 2 yo was able to watch the birth while in the arms of a dear friend who was there to take care of her. It was perfection.

 

It was a perfect birth. Zero interventions. Zero stress. Super safe.

 

There you go. . . a great hospital birth story.

[Sara in AZ]

My only hospital birth (kid #2) was my best birth! (All 3 were just fine. . . but #2 was amazing.)

 

I had an OB for my prenatal care (so that insurance would pay for it, as it didn't cover lay midwives, lol) and a lay midwife & her backup 2nd midwife (same two who attended my first child's birth) were to attend the birth. All of them knew about each other and were fine with the arrangement.

 

My labor began with my water breaking, and it went like lightning. I alerted our OB, just in case, as we had prearranged. But my midwives could not get there in time for my fast moving labor, as the main midwife was at her day job at a small urgent care, dealing with a heart attack patient, and the 2nd/back up midwife was at another birth 2 hours away. I didn't want a third unknown midwife, so I called our OB back to tell him I was on the way to the hospital.

 

I walked in, refused the wheel chair, refused to allow my husband to be separated from me for 'paperwork', & walked up to the maternity hall. Our doctor met us and introduced the (sweet, supportive, out of our way) nurse he had handpicked for us. Our doctor used the doppler to listen to one or two contractions, checked my cervix once, and retreated to the hall where he fed our 2 year old ice cream bars for the better part of an hour. He had told us that the nurse would check my BP, but since I got in the shower right away and had our son so quickly, she never got around to it until after he was born. :) Meanwhile, I got in and out of the shower, and was ready to push within an hour of arrival to the hospital. Two pushing contractions later, our son was born! Four hour labor start to finish!

 

Our doctor swore that if he could only bottle & sell that labor, he'd be a very wealthy man. LOL, I only wished I could have had a repeat when I had my 3rd child a few years later (much harder birth).

 

Our son was never admitted to the hospital and never left our side. They weighed and measured him at bedside, and put the AB ointment in his eyes there, but no further interventions at all.

 

I snuggled, nursed, showered, and then rested 3 hours in the hospital bed before grabbing the newborn in the carseat and walking right back out of the hospital, waving to the same desk staff who had admitted us four hours earlier. (That was surely a first and last for them. . . their expressions were priceless. . .)

 

My birth involved two brief pelvic exams -- one at admit, and one when I was ready to push. Doppler held to tummy for 2 contractions at admission was the only monitoring. My BP was taken after birth. No IV. No drugs. No cuts. No stitches. No stirrups. No overnights. No warming beds for baby. No nursery visits. No bath. Nobody told us to do a darn thing except when Dr. Tom heard me groan in the bathroom & hollered "Don't have the baby in the toilet." which was probably a wise bit of advice b/c that baby fairly flew out of me moments later when I went back to the bed to have Dr. Tom check my cervix. (In fact, I never truly pushed. . . Dr. would say, OK, you can push, and I'd stop STOPPING my body from pushing and within a couple seconds he'd say, OK, STOP, STOP, and then repeated that one more time and the baby was born! I'm telling you, that boy wanted OUT!) No messing with my baby at all. No troubles at all.

 

Our 2 yo was able to watch the birth while in the arms of a dear friend who was there to take care of her. It was perfection.

 

It was a perfect birth. Zero interventions. Zero stress. Super safe.

 

There you go. . . a great hospital birth story.

 

I love this story!!! Especially the part about the doctor feeding your two year old ice-cream and the part about walking out 4 hours later. Truly an amazing hospital experience.

 

My last birth was similar (only at home.) Three hours start to finish. One minute I was leaning over the side of the tub groaning to myself, "I promise I won't be disappointed if she checks me and I'm only a 5" and the next minute crowning. That baby just came with no voluntary pushing involved (in spite of the fact that the midwife was stuck in traffic 15 minutes away...) Quite exciting!