Midwife vs. Hospital

[Halftime Hope]

Aubrey,

 

Here is a URL to her page on the Texas Midwives website:

 

http://www.texasmidwives.com/midwives/midwifepg.asp?mwid=212

 

Her name and contact numbers are there as well. The website also has a find-a-midwife feature, if you want more options.

 

She is a sweet Christian lady who is both spunky and gracious. I hope you like her. Will you please tell her Valerie Rhodes said hello and sent her a hug? (I should call her myself, too, but it won't happen this week.)

[Halftime Hope]

Here's another one, Aubrey. This is the midwife, Anne Crowell, who always partnered with Donna, and she was at one birth but not the other. She has a new birthing center in Hurst, not that far from you, if you'd prefer a birthing center.

 

http://gentlebeginningsbc.com/index.htm

 

I will pray that you find just the right place for you and your family. :)

 

Val

[GothicGyrl]

giving birth to a baby in anything other than a fully equipped hospital, provided that it one is accessible, is nothing but SELFISH. When you (many women in general) plan this event, there is so much talk about how YOU want it to go and how YOU want it to be and what YOUR plan is. It's fine have preferences and but the focus should be on the baby and being somewhere an emergency can be easily addressed. This is the technology God has given us. We don't live in the 1800's and we shouldn't have babies like we do (live in the 1800's.) If something goes wrong during the delivery and the baby, or you, weren't in the best place medically, would you be okay with that situation just because your "plan" was executed the way you wanted to be?

 

Chiming in here, mainly because I want to prove to some ladies that I am not the troll I am made out to be. I have to say something to the above:

 

How absolutely rude and condescending of you! *I* would never go with a homebirth (I say I would but since I am fixed, I will never know anyway), but *I* would NEVER assume to presume to know what is right or wrong for someone else in this situation!!

 

I WOULD LOVE to attend a homebirth. I would love to attend any birth. I LOVE watching it, it is absolutely marvelous to watch. *I* don't get the whole "private" thing, but it isn't ME giving birth. My crotch was open for all to see when I delivered and I did not care because all I cared about was focusing on the pain.

 

I do agree with you about the med students though. How are they ever going to learn if all they have are the whiners and complainers, instead of women like Aubrey and others here. I've found that sometimes med students are more receptive to trying out alternative methods, over skilled Doctors. However, we cannot deny them their right to birthe the way they wish. I wish I was aware of all of the things they are talking about in this thread.

 

My first birth was a nightmare and I absolutely hated it and feel that it contributed to my attachment issues with her, early on (we are fine now). My second birth was a dream comparatively, and I am totally attached to her--so I think giving the woman the choice here is the best thing in the world. My second birth I had more of a choice than I did the first. Not as much as I would have liked, but some.

 

Really now, even if you disagree with home methods, and as much as I think most doctors really do know what they are talking about--they are not God and should not be treated as such!

[Aubrey]

This is the midwife, Anne Crowell, who always partnered with Donna...

 

Thanks, Val. I found her website yesterday when I was searching & thought she looked like she'd at least be worth calling.

 

Aub

[Melinda in VT]

DS1--midwives in hospital. Ended up being induced, epidural, and narrowly avoided vacuum extraction. Decent contact with baby (put on chest, then taken to be cleaned and checked in the room, then given back to me to nurse).

 

DS2 and DD1--birth co-managed with midwives and OBs. Went into labor during the shift of the only OB in the practice who wasn't comfortable delivering twins without an epidural. I insisted, and she compromised--I signed a waiver and agreed to deliver in an operating room with an anesthesiologist in the room and she agreed to deliver without an epidural. My best labor and delivery. Worst post-birth experience due to little access to the babies. (I can understand the one who needed oxygen, but the one who was cold?? Give her to me and let me warm her up!) Bleeding issues for me--needed shots and IV pitocin after the birth.

 

DS3--OB, no midwives (different state). Doctor seemed eager for c-section due to baby's heart rate fluctuations. Vacuum extraction. Surprisingly, the best post-birth experience. (Hospital didn't have that great of a rep for that, but we were limited in our choices by geography.) Baby put on my chest immediately after birth (even while they were checking for broken shoulders) and left there for a long time--an hour, maybe?--before he had his bath and had measurements taken. Immediate nursing.

 

I think some of it is just the luck of the draw, and some of it is advocating for yourself. I *knew* I didn't need an epidural for my twins, just as I knew I did need one for each of my single births. (What can I say, my single babies were both large and facing the wrong way.)