had a baby in a birthing center?

[girlmom]

just wondering if anyone has used a birthing center and what was it like? im thinking about it for my last baby. did insurance cover it? was it crowded? did you enjoy it? do you know of any medical reason why someone could not have a baby at a birthing center? would you recommend a birthing center over a hospital? sorry so many questions but i can't get an appointment until next week for a walkthrough of the center and im dying to know this stuff from ladies who have already done it. thanks

[applesoup]

I've looked into birthing centers, but there was only 1 in my state & it wasn't near my house. And my insurance doesn't cover anything. Other than those huge issues, my only "problem" with it, was that I'd have to leave within hours of giving birth. I wanted my mess to stay there a bit longer & be monitored longer too.

I do know 2 people who've had home births attended by midwives. Midwives carry a lot of the same birthing tools that birthing centers have (oxygen, pitocin, etc). They LOVED their home births & both went well.

Given my insurance, I just opt for medication free births & have had great experiences.

[girlmom]

thanks applesoup. i thought about a homebirth but my contractions with the last one kinda freaked the kids out. the thing i don't like about the hospital is the iv's thats the first thing they do is give me an iv and make me stay in bed here. i hate that, i want to be able to move around and with my last one my labor stalled so they just started pitocin while i was asleep without even asking me. if anyone has used a birthing center i would love to hear about it.

[applesoup]

...how were you sleeping during a contraction? Did you have an epidural? It's common place to give someone pitocin after having an epidural because the epidural literally slows down the labor.

Well, I live in a "hippy" type of area & I STILL have to fight the hospital on what I want. Did they start the IV because of the strep B (I think that's what it's called?) test? Why did they start a drip line??

Just write a VERY pointed birth plan. In it, I ask for a nurse that "enjoys natural labor" & I specifically tell them that I do not want pitocin AT ALL & I only want "intermittent fetal monitoring." My DR told me that they only need to do it for 10-20 minutes every hour or so.

Honestly, I was so frustrated with births 1 &2 because they hooked me up to the monitor, refused to take it off, and gave me crap about doing it naturally. So, with DS3, I literally showed up to the hospital at 8cm dilated. I then had my very pointed birth plan handed to them...and they followed it! They may've been talking behind my back, but they were nice and cordial to my face. It was my best birth yet.

You may consider having someone take the kids so they can't hear you during the contractions @ home. Or, have a very strong-personality doula help represent what you do and don't want in the hospital.

[girlmom]

i fell asleep because it ws 3 or 4 am i can't remember and like i said my labor stopped. i dialted to 5 they admitted me. i walked around and got to a 6. i was trying to rest between contractions. i fell asleep because the labor just stopped. when i woke up they were hooking me up to pitocin. i probably went in way way way too early but my last 3 labors lasted 30 mins from the time my water broke. and i live 30 mins from the hospital. thank goodness my water always broke at the hospital before but i was scared to risk having my water break at home and not getting to the hospital in time. i did have an epidural after they started the pitocin because it made the contractions so much worse. and i asked them why i had to have the iv they said its just standard there in case something goes wrong it just ran with saline but still i hated it.
maybe i just needed a better birth plan. im going to speak with a doula tomorrow. i just hated the hospital. they only allow me to have 2 people with me for my entire stay. only siblings can be on the floor, so my neice and nephews could never visit and see their new cousin. you can only get food during special hours and thats crazy after being in labor for several hours you get hungry. i had to share a bathroom with the lady in the room next door. its a sucky hospital but its the nearest one.
still better then the miltary hospital where i had the first 2. when i asked for pain meds they told me to get out of bed and get it myself.

[applesoup]

The military told you to get out of bed & get your own pain meds? Were they kidding? My sis just found out she's preggo & DH is in the Navy. They're excited the gov't is paying for it. Is that standard...experience for women giving birth?

Yeah...sorry...it's only been 2 years & I've already forgotten about that dumb saline line that they have to have in. What I told them was: put the buff cap in, but don't hook me up to any saline. As long as you're drinking... I think it's 3-6 oz of water an hour, you won't get dehydrated. They just "legally" wanted it there for an emergency, and were happy since I let them put the buff cap in.

From what I hear, it's almost impossible to have a medication free labor after pitocin. It makes the contractions worse than they'd normally be. That's why I'm anti-induction too...there's no way to make it through without the drugs.

Stalling labors...hospitals tend to do that. Although, given your other births, I think I would've done the same thing! That's the problem: you never know what will happen in labor.

DS1: skipped early labor altogether...welcome to contractions!!
DS2: Posterior. Showed up at the hospital early since my first had come so fast. The posterior labor made it drag on...the hospital was unhelpful in diagnosing or helping undo the posterior baby. Thankfully, my labor didn't stall too bad...just slowed down.
DS3: Stayed out of the hospital as long as possible. Went in when my contractions were on top of each other & I couldn't stay quiet any longer. I was 8cm.

Given your quick labors...& your hatred for your hospital...you may look into having someone take the kids out. To another house, to the park, to the movie...something, so you can have the house to yourself. Or, if you have family near by, ask if they'd be interested in hosting a birth...? A stretch, I know. My MIL freaked any time I talked about having a home-birth. She always had to specify "safely in the hospital, right?"

[applesoup]

Oh...totally forgot about the birthing center. if you have one near by, I'd definitely do it!

[DoulaMama]

I would, hands down, use a birthing center over a hospital any day of the week! I'm a homebirthing Mama, though :D I've had 2 of my 3 at home, and this one will be born at home too. Can I ask who would attend you? Not sure if your birthing centers are like ours...ours are attended by registered midwives.

[grasshopper]

DD#2 was born in a birthing centre and I thought it was fantastic. I am in Oz though so they may do things differently here but we also have ours attended by registered midwives and it was so lovely...noone forcing drugs or drips, no pressure to get the baby out in a hurry, no monitors etc and I was the only one in the whole building at the time (other than DH and midwife of course). Much easier than DD#1's birth with all of the intervention at the hospital. I stayed overnight with my DD#2 sleeping safely in the bed beside me (big queen size bed) and left the next day.

I am planning on having this next baby at the same birthing centre...any risks or complications during pregnancy though put them in a position where they have to refer you to the main hospital so I am crossing fingers this pregnancy continues along smoothly.

Perhaps you can go on a tour of your local birthing centre? I can highly recommend.

[girlmom]

thank you so much. i do have an appointment next week to tour one i just wanted to know if it was worth it. i mean if the hospital is the better option then i'll put up with it to go there but the freedom to move around and be in the position i want without monitoring the baby or the saline drip or that stupid thing on the tip of my finger and a blood pressure cuff they refused to let me take off.
applesoup, its great to have the military cover 100% all your birth costs and yes it was so nice not to have to worry about that. they were very serious. they told me they were busy and to go to the nurses station and get some tylenol myself. i asked my husbands commanding officer why things were the way they were and im quoting, "if we wanted him to have a family we would have issued it to him." im not in anyway knocking the military i can't tell you how wonderful it is to get all your medical paid for and have a regular paycheck you never have to worry about being fired or laid off. im just glad to be a civilian now and im so glad to have a husband that comes home everynight. but tell your sister i know the sacrifices shes making too and i appriciate it.