Careproviders » The Birthin' Blog

NO! Where I would birth and where you find to be the perfect location for a birth may be completely different. I have two daughters- one births in a hospital and one births at home. Those are the right places for them. If I were to give birth today, I would birth at home and use Debbie Pulley. I have other home birth midwives I absolutely adore as well, but Debbie has been my matriarchal mentor for some time. If I could not birth at home I would birth at AMC with Intown Midwifery. They are by far my favorite hospital practice in town. Yes, I said it in print. It is how I feel. Do I feel like you should feel the same way as me, NO! Today I was exploring why I loved this hospital practice the most of hospital based practices.

I like options. Now I am not sure I would use or even need to utlize all the options but I love options. I feel my clients get the most options at AMC with Intown Midwifery. Want to be seen as “normal” when hoping to have a natural birth? √ Want to be allowed to eat and drink in labor ? √ Want to get to know the midwives who will be attending your birth and not have another group that you have never met backing them up? √ Want to be able to use telemetry if you must be continuously monitored? √ Want to be free to take photos of the birth itself? √ Want to be able to labor in a tub? √ Want to be able to birth in the tub? √ Want to be able to delay cord clamping? √ Want to be able to have the baby skin to skin? √ Want to avoid an episiotomy? √ Want to have the option of a breech vaginal birth? √ Want to have the back up doc be an expert- perinatologist? √ Want to be able to get sterile water papules if you have back labor? √ Want to be able to labor in your own clothes and not have to explain yourself? √ Want to be able to not be routinely induced based on the calendar but instead on how your baby and you are doing? √ Want a low cesarean rate- meaning they are only done when absolutely needed? √ Want to be able to keep your baby with you the whole time? √ Want to be able to decline vaginal exams during your pregnancy and have very limited ones in labor? √ Want to be able to move around and walk in labor? √ Want to be able to not have routine IV access or fluids? √ Want to be supported in a VBAC and even birth in the water for a vaginal birth after a previous cesarean? √Want to avoid having pitocin given both in labor and routinely postpartum? √ Now I am sure there are more options I am not even remembering, but that is a ton. Continue reading »

I recently had a conversation with a mom about the birth she desired. She told me about the location and care providers she had chosen. She told me she had shared she wanted a natural birth with her doctors and they did not dismiss the idea. She has chosen the hospital in the metro area that has the highest cesarean rate. And it is one of the large metro hospitals that has well over a 95% epidural rate. So what does that mean?

Often times when you say I want a natural birth, the assumption is that you mean the baby comes out of the part of your baby that is natural- not having a cesarean birth. So when you say to a care provider you want a natural birth, perhaps the use of the term non-medicated, intervention free would be better used. Continue reading »

Having No Birth Plan Is Worst Birth Plan Ever is an article written by Christie Haskell. It is a tongue in cheek article with a substantial bite. I totally agree that not having a plan of action to get the birth you desire is a bad idea. But I am not a proponent of having a lengthy plan typed out with information and an expectation that it is going to be followed or even read by many of your care providers, much less even honored. Plus sometimes folks think that if they write it out, it will insure it will happen, although they make no other provisions for making it so. They read an article about the use of a birth stool for instance and then put it in their plan to use one. Well guess what, most hospitals don’t have one to be used. There is information about laboring at home in early labor- but they read it after you arrive…so why is it there? There is something about pushing in whatever position you desire, but you chose a doctor who always puts “his little mamas” in the stirrups and breaks the bed down.

I think there is a strong need for the desires of a woman to be met in a different way. She needs to educate herself by taking a comprehensive childbirth class to investigate what her options are. I think a lot of introspective thinking about what she wants is also needed. She need not choose a birth based on the medical model, what her insurance company demands, what her mama wants for her or her girl friends, and also honestly not just what her partner thinks either- it is her body and primarily her experience in the end. I don’t want to diminish the partner’s role, but he is a support person here, not the leading role, she is. Continue reading »

Is It Too Late?

May 202011

I attended a VBAC yesterday that would not have happened if she had stayed at her previous practice. This mom interviewed us late. She was already 32 weeks when she sat down with one of the Ladies of the Labyrinth and made the decision to hire us. Then we had her prenatal meeting at 35 weeks. She expressed the kind of birth experience she desired and I knew she would be hard pressed to do this at her current practice. We discussed how she would need to fight to get what she wanted. She was ready for the fight. But that night she tossed and turned thinking about the idea of having to fight during her labor- something no one should have to do. She called me the next morning to say she was ready to change practices and locations. Continue reading »

There are basically three kinds of training for midwifery; CPMs, CNMs and DEMs. Although there are a few others designated. The midwives training is different as well as their licenses. I thought for clarity sake I would share them with you. Although the restrictions of the type of care they can provide varies from state to state. I have gathered this information from the websites that represent the different types of midwives.
Continue reading »

I was delighted to work with Dr. Richard Robbins at my last birth. He knew this mom wanted a natural, lesser intervened birth. Her water broke and she waited several hours to go to the hospital. I arrived a few hours after she was there, not yet in labor. The Pitocin was started and I was there to meet her soon after. Dr. Robbins arrived a short while later and entered the room with the greeting of, “Hey Stud!” to the mom. I loved it. He chatted about how his wife had a natural birth with their first two but the third was a much longer labor and after several hours she chose the epidural. He mentioned that this baby was a bigger baby by a pound. This caused my client to ask if a pound made a huge difference. She asked this since the sonographer had said this baby was at least a pound bigger than her first one. Dr. Robbins said, “Nope! Should not be a problem at all!” He stayed a short while and when he left he said as he shook his hands in the air, “Let’s keep these out and let you do what you are doing so well!” I wanted to kiss the man! He was so encouraging to my client!

Is There A Perfect Place To Birth For Everyone?

Normal, Natural or Organic

“Having No Birth Plan Is?…

Is It Too Late?

Midwives: What is the Difference Between Them?

My Compliments to Dr Robbins

Navigation

Subjects

Breastfeeding Info

Cesarean/ VBAC

Childbirth Prep

International Organizations

Local Birth Resources

Parenting

Research Resource

Unique Shopping

Search The Blog Here

Elsewhere Online

Upcoming Events

Posts From Teresa’s Personal Blog

Translate this Page

Meta