s/o Any good hospital birth stories?

[Caitilin]

I have had 5 hospital births.

Twins were a semi-planned section with a neonatologist because lower twin was breech and would NOT shift, but was a good experience, minimal recovery pain, etc. My only real complaint was that because the girls were small (4 10 and 6 1), they started them on bottles right away. If I had it to do over, I would have said no to that. But overall, a good experience.

 

Ds1 was an unplanned section after 24 hours of labor, failure to progress, and baby's heartrate dropping at every contraction. My midwife was able to scrub in for the birth, though, and like birth #1, dh was scrubbed in too. :D This was not what I had planned on, but I trusted my midwife to make the right call and when she said "you can have the section now, and be awake, or you can try laboring for another hour, but then you'll probably have to be under," I believed her. It was the right call; the fluid was nearly gone and there was meconium in what remained. I was grateful to the surgeon, though he was a jerk to me in our birth plan interview.:tongue_smilie:

 

Ds2 was a successful VBA2C. Longish labor, but no drugs, no cutting, minimal tearing, nursed easily. First Bradley method birth. Same midwife as ds1--a wonderful, wonderful woman. LOVE her. A great experience. Had a doula too--highly recommend it.:D

 

Dd3 was a perfect birth. Shorter and still drug free labor, delivery was quiet, just dh, midwife and doula, darkened room, no tearing though she was my biggest baby, we even had a name in mind, great nurser, etc. Totally the perfect scenario.

 

Ds3 was a short labor, but intense. 5 hours in the hospital till delivery, and due to my being a VBAC, I have to go in early on, so really quite short. I had to be in an ultrasound room at first until my room opened up, and then had to move to the real room. That wasn't great, but it wasn't anyone's fault either. But, another intervention and drug free labor. Due to labor's intensity and being almost 2 weeks overdue, it wasn't as idyllic an experience as with dd3, but it was blessedly short.

 

I feel like the main thing to know is whether your care provider really knows, understands, and CARES what you want, and that you can trust her to only override you when it is truly warranted. I love my midwife, and recommend her to anyone who asks, largely because I feel that she will give you the birth you want as far as she possibly can. If you want an epi, you can have one, but if you tell her you aren't doing pain meds, she won't push them. She chooses the nurses who work with her, etc. I wish everyone had access to someone like her.

[lynn]

I had 3 of my children here in AL and one in Tucson. All were good experiences love my OBs, nurses, staff. I had epidurals with each birth. No problems, no complaints. Oh and the food was very good. Loved the dinner for two that is served with dh the night before you leave the hospital.

[BamaTanya]

Dr did not make it in time for the first two and the nurses who delivered those babies were amazing. The dr arrived in time to repair the internal tearing that occurred during the first precipitous birth.

 

The nurse called the dr EARLY for #3 and there were no interventions. Dr let me help rub and clean him as the little guy lay between my legs on the bed. And dr sang "Happy Birthday" to him -- so sweet!

 

I allowed myself to bow to family and dr pressure to be induced for #4. (Trying to coordinate the care by working family members of the other 3 complicated things), but I'm not complaining.

 

I really had reservations about being induced for #5. I really wanted to labor at home. I really wanted no interventions. Again, coordinating the care of 4 young children and having dh with me . . .

I was in labor when we got to the hospital. I wasn't crazy about all the monitoring, but I'm glad in retrospect. Dd was delivered with the cord around her neck and I'm happy for the assurance that her heart rate was normal throughout labor.

 

I was fascinated by my friends who wanted homebirths. I guess it was my "ideal" but it isn't legal in our state and friends had to travel . . . I don't want to travel while I'm in labor!

 

The hospital supported my wishes and respected me, but I also trusted them to keep my babies and me safe. My doctor LOVES babies and I knew he would do his best to watch out for them!

[kilo90]

I had a baby less than a month ago. Since we are military, I never know who will be on duty in Labor and Delivery when I go into labor. I was blessed with a wonderful midwife this time! She use to have an at-home midwifery business. I wanted a natural delivery so there could not have been a better person on duty. This is my 4th baby (all 4 sans meds) and although the OB's I've had were good, I felt much better with her. I felt/knew she was more knowledgeable with laboring naturally.( She let me drink what I wanted to and not just have ice chips. :D ) The only thing I wasn't nuts about is that she required me to have a bag of pitocin AFTER delivery to help with bleeding. Since it was my 4th baby and I am late 30's, she said it a good plan. (Based on something that happened with a friend recently, I did not argue the point with her.) This may not have been HER preference; it may have been hospital policy. Don't know. Not a huge deal. Still feel like I had a very good experience with this delivery.

 

Gloria

[Pretty in Pink]

My first hospital birth was not so wonderful. I was newly 18 and had no idea what to expect or what to ask for.

 

My other three births were all beautiful hopsital births. I had a midwife with each, no interventions, not even an IV drip (just a hep. lock). I'm planning a fifth hospital birth for baby due this fall.

[Spock]

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.

 

 

All 4 of mine were born at a hospital, the first two with OBs, the second two with nurse/midwives (our state only legally allows nurse-midwives, and only in hospital). All 4 went well. I had no medication with any of them.

 

I was allowed to walk around with only periodic monitoring for the first and 3rd. For the second and fourth, I was required to keep a monitor on and was given less freedom of movement. For the second, it was because an ultrasound the hospital gave (because they didn't believe me when I said I was in labor--apparently I didn't "look" like I was in enough pain) showed that he was in distress, and would die if not born soon. For the fourth, it was because his heart rate slowed and almost stopped with every contraction. So, continuous monitoring was justified in both cases.

 

I was treated with respect with all 4. All of them were exclusively breastfed, and the hospital did not try to give any of them a bottle. I was allowed to keep all of them with me almost all the time, and I went home within 1-2 days with all of them, with no complications.

 

The only somewhat aggravating thing was what I mentioned with my second--when I went in, the staff didn't believe I was really in labor, based solely on how much pain I appeared to be in. (I tend not to cry/scream/make faces when in labor, because it actually makes it harder for me to tolerate the pain.) They said they would just do an ultrasound and send me home, since I was scheduled for a check-up that day, anyway, and they could just cancel that appointment. Based on the results of the ultrasound, they checked me in, but they still didn't believe I was in labor. They were trying to push me to have an induced labor, and thought I didn't realize how serious the need for my son to be born was. In reality, I knew I was already in labor, and induction was unnecessary. (My water broke while I was in my room, but when no nurse was present. They thought I was mistaken in that, also.) Finally, my mother convinced them to check me for dilation. At that point, they realized I was close to delivery, and agreed to just monitor to see if induction was needed if labor stalled. He was born just a couple of hours later.

 

That is the only "problem" I ever had with any of my babies (except the youngest taking more hours to be born than all 3 of the others put together, but that was not anything the hospital could do anything about). Overall, all my experiences were positive.

[sassenach]

My best delivery was a hospital birth with a midwife. I think that OBs are cut from a similar cloth and lean way too heavily on medical interventions. However, the medical intervention skill of an OB is a miraculous blessing when you need it. I would not want to give birth in a way that would hamper my access to those skills. BUT, give me a midwife to run the show. OBs only by request, please.

[twoxcell]

Yes I have had 4 great hospital births! With my first I had an amazing OB, and he was there at the hospital for all 4 hours of my pushing. He came n and out offering me support and advice on what to do. I had no epidural or episiotomy, and only tore a little because my ds had his hand up. My OB was not rushed and let everything stretch out nicely, he even helps stretch. He also let the cord pulse out, and let me hold ds directly. He retired shortly after number 1, so with the other three I had a wonderful CNM. She was so calm, and stayed with me throughout most of the hard labor and delivery. My CNM has never given me an episiotomy. In fact she uses castor oil during crowing, and helps stretch everything. She was amazing when my dd had shoulder distocia, and got her out quickly with a tiny tear. That dd was 10.5 lbs. She also let the cords pulse out, before clamping, let my dh catch the babes except for dd who was stuck, and puts baby right on me. My babies were all on me directly, and I was able to hold them for awhile before they did anything to them. Our hospital environment is great also you have labor, delivery, and recovery all in the same room. Also you can have anyone you want come and watch. Just recently they made a rule that only sibling children could be in the L&D area. My ds has been at my last two deliveries, and my CNM was amazing answering all of his questions. My dd1 was at my #4 also. Now if only they would let me leave sooner it would be perfect. I feel like I'm in jail after the baby is born LOL, and who can be comfortable on a hospital bed.

[twoxcell]

Oh I forgot to add that the babies always roomed in with us, but I would have not allowed anything different. Also breastfeeding was always encouraged by the nurses, and my CNM.

[razorbackmama]

6 out of my 7 births have been in hospitals. 4 out of those 6 have been positive experiences. Honestly I think one of the main reasons they were positive is because I use CNMs in a hospital. Now, I will say that one of the deliveries was with the back-up OB because both of my CNMs were out of town. But he was pretty laid back - evidently my midwife had threatened him ROFLOL!!! I had to deal with more garbage from the labor nurse than from him.

 

I'm planning another hospital birth with a CNM this time around. This time a water birth.:D

[AFwife Claire]

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.

 

LOL, very true about the nursery!

 

I've had good experiences with military hospitals too. Six of my 8 have been born in military hospitals, and they have all been good experiences. I have found that the military hospitals tend to let you do your own thing if you want (leave you alone), and I have never felt remotely pressured to have an epidural or anything--all my births have been natural, with no drugs (well, I have been induced a few times, but no pain meds). In fact, with my last one, the doc told me NNMC Bethesda doesn't induce until 41 weeks, which I found quite refreshing!

 

My least favorite hospital birth experience was at a civilian hospital with a civilian doctor. She was pretty young and inexperienced, and she evidently had never dealt with anyone having more than their 3rd child (it was my 6th). She was PARANOID that I would hemhorrage, even though I have no risks for it (no c-sections or previous problems). So she pushed and pushed me to induce early, and finally I agreed about a week early, just because I was tired of being pregnant and tired of her wearing me down. It was a long labor, and they kept upping the pit, but the baby just never was in the great of a position. Definitely not ready to come! Eventually I had her, but she had mild shoulder dystocia, and my uterus DID have more trouble clamping up, because of the long labor. But I blame that on the doctor, not the fact that it was a hospital birth. I didn't have any troubles with my last 2 births!

 

So I think the most important thing is making sure you have an OB or midwife who you really feel is on the same page as you (if you can pick your doctor or midwife!). I never felt all that comfortable with that one doctor, but unfortunately there were no other docs who took the military insurance around, so I was stuck. That's why I went back to the military hospital for the last 2 births!

[mytwomonkeys]

i had a lovely experience. both kids were born at the hospital. i used a team of midwives (through Atlanta OBGYN) and they were fabulous. i had friends and family with me when my daughter was born, and my favorite CD was playing in the background (enter the worship circle). with my son, it was also at the same hospital, same midwife team, and just my husband and i. both experiences were unique and great. good memories for sure!:)