Natural and home birth and un natural hospital births

Paige

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#81
I often wonder that too. I dunno. I could've had Briggs at home with NO help and delivered him myself fine. Our labor was that easy. I still feel most comfortable at a hospital delivering my baby. I thought I'd homebirth the 2nd till I got pregnant again. I am not going to tell someone they are airy fairy and dreaming about a home birth and not in reality though. Lots of people birth at home and have beautiful births. Baby die in hospitals too from complications from interventions. Does that make interventions wrong? Heck no! Just really unfortuante circumstances.
 

ihartgonzo

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#82
Oh my gosh... that makes me SO happy that I'm pregnant now, and not 100 years ago. :eek: But look at literally all medical practices/hospitals/medications/mental institutions/etc 100 years ago and you will be mortified!


I wonder how lifestyle differences between areas play a factor and how much may NOT be the fault of doctors methods
I agree with you completely. People love to blame issues resulting from their own parenting or environment on anyone else! My little brother was born via epidural, and with forceps. You could easily blame his apparent "ADHD" on that. My Stepmom blames anyone but herself... but the reality is, she is a horrible, inconsistent, verbally abusive & neglectful mother. My little brother acts like a perfectly normal, smart 10 year-old when she isn't around, but has always had outbursts around her, even as an infant. It must be the epidural! All of my sisters & I were born via epidural and we're all very healthy mentally and physically.

I think that article is just a little bit ridiculous suggesting that in the "future" we're going to find out how horrible epidurals are. They have been used in millions & millions of births for the past 40+ years, don't you think that in this day and age of lawsuits, precautions and testing, they would've figured out whether it was harmful or not? It is absolutely awful what women had to go through in the early 1900's with testing and new drugs, but that is not where we are right now, we're in an amazing scientific age.

My friend used that argument, when she was admonishing me for wanting to give birth in a "filthy hospital" and considering getting an epidural. It's not like this is a new craze - generations of people have been born with the help of epidurals.
 

sparks19

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#83
Yep... I got an epidural with Hannah and she is so smart and social and compassionate. I suppose I could blame her nicu stay on the hospital and the docs but the fact of the matter is I had a very small early leak and had no idea. Absolutely NO fault of the doctors buT i am sure it is another statistic that will be chalked up against the easiest target.
 

sillysally

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#84
Oh my gosh... that makes me SO happy that I'm pregnant now, and not 100 years ago. :eek: But look at literally all medical practices/hospitals/medications/mental institutions/etc 100 years ago and you will be mortified!




I agree with you completely. People love to blame issues resulting from their own parenting or environment on anyone else! My little brother was born via epidural, and with forceps. You could easily blame his apparent "ADHD" on that. My Stepmom blames anyone but herself... but the reality is, she is a horrible, inconsistent, verbally abusive & neglectful mother. My little brother acts like a perfectly normal, smart 10 year-old when she isn't around, but has always had outbursts around her, even as an infant. It must be the epidural! All of my sisters & I were born via epidural and we're all very healthy mentally and physically.

I think that article is just a little bit ridiculous suggesting that in the "future" we're going to find out how horrible epidurals are. They have been used in millions & millions of births for the past 40+ years, don't you think that in this day and age of lawsuits, precautions and testing, they would've figured out whether it was harmful or not? It is absolutely awful what women had to go through in the early 1900's with testing and new drugs, but that is not where we are right now, we're in an amazing scientific age.

My friend used that argument, when she was admonishing me for wanting to give birth in a "filthy hospital" and considering getting an epidural. It's not like this is a new craze - generations of people have been born with the help of epidurals.
Well, to be fair hospitals ARE germy places and are often breeding grounds for super bugs. People often think of hospitals as sterile places when that really is not the case. That having been said I would definitely give birth in a hospital, just something to keep in mind though.

Also, it is important to remember that every invasive procedure has its risks, even one that has been done time of times. Chances are if you had an epideral you would be fine, but it's still something that you want to know the pros, cons, and possible side effects of going in. :)

I don't know what I will do. The idea of something being stuck into my spine freaks me out, but when the time comes I might be in so much pain I don't care where they stick a needle-lol.
 

JessLough

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#85
Well, to be fair hospitals ARE germy places and are often breeding grounds for super bugs. People often think of hospitals as sterile places when that really is not the case. That having been said I would definitely give birth in a hospital, just something to keep in mind though.
Yep. A lot of people seem to forget that people go to hospitals when they are sick. Germs are going to be everywhere, no matter how sterile people try to keep stuff. Especially when you're in a place that is there for sick people to get better. (Obviously not the only reason it's there)

The idea of a needle into my spine makes me cringe :lol-sign:
 

Paige

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#86
This may sound like a niave and silly question but don't most places have their own maternity ward? Here it has it's own floor. The sick people aren't ru nning around up there. Would that make a difference as far as germs go or no? I'm not a germaphobe so that may just sound incredibly ignorant.
 

JessLough

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#88
This may sound like a niave and silly question but don't most places have their own maternity ward? Here it has it's own floor. The sick people aren't ru nning around up there. Would that make a difference as far as germs go or no? I'm not a germaphobe so that may just sound incredibly ignorant.
Well... air doesn't really respect those boundaries. and I know that I always manage to get lost in a hospital and walk everywhere. :lol-sign: I had to go through the maternity ward to go see my boss when she was in there for a ruptured bowel. So usually it's it's own ward, but not necessarily it's own floor.

Once the baby is out and breathing air, it's pretty well fair game as far as airborne stuff. Kinda like how if somebody pees in the shallow end of a pool, the pee is still gonna make it's way into the deepend. (For some reason, pee in a pool is always my go-to scenerio :lol-sign:)

ETA: It's also not necessarily the sick people spreading the germs. Just people who touched something (like the door to the hospital or elevator buttons) that a sick person did, then going to the maternity ward)
 

jenv101

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#90
I don't know what I will do. The idea of something being stuck into my spine freaks me out, but when the time comes I might be in so much pain I don't care where they stick a needle-lol.
Me too - I hate needles and cannot stand the thought of one in my spine. :eek: I will probably pass out from that in itself, and not the pain lol. I'm also afraid of it making labor longer and harder because then you can't move around and you can't really feel what is going on down there. I guess I won't know until the moment actually comes what I would do.
 

zoe08

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#91
This may sound like a niave and silly question but don't most places have their own maternity ward? Here it has it's own floor. The sick people aren't ru nning around up there. Would that make a difference as far as germs go or no? I'm not a germaphobe so that may just sound incredibly ignorant.
Our Maternity ward is part of the children's hospital. On it's own floor, with its own operating rooms, real close to the L&D rooms. The postpartum part is down a long hall, past the nursery on the opposite end of the floor from L&D.

Yes there are germs in hospitals(although L&D is separate, hospitals also have air filtration systems and I am pretty sure sensitive areas such as ORs, and nurseries, delivery rooms, etc have really good systems), but *I* will take the hospital germs and doctors, nurses, breathing equipment, etc, all being right there seconds away, than to be at home where if there is a problem it is going to take me 5-10 minutes to get the baby (and/or me) to a hospital, at which point it may be too late. I would NEVER ever forgive myself if something happened to my baby because I chose to deliver at home instead of where there are doctors and medical equipment right there in case something was wrong.
 

Romy

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#92
The only way I'd personally consider an epidural would be if I was getting induced again. Induced contractions hurt sooo bad! And there aren't breaks between them to rest like a normal contraction. Every time I had one I'd want anything to make it not hurt so much, but as soon as it started letting up I was like nuuuuu!!!, because I'm allergic to many pain killers and the last thing I wanted to discover was how allergic I am to something right in the middle of giving birth.

That's all moot though since I'm done having kids. lol.
 

Paige

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#93
My mom had 4 kids. The last two, my sister and i, were inductions. SHE DIDN'T FEEL ANY PAIN IN ANY OF HER LABOURS AND TOOK NO DRUGS.

I hate her.
 

Zoom

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#94
I intend to never have to actually make these decisions, but I'd much rather do a birthing center with a pool, midwife and close hospital access "just in case", versus being trussed up on a table in an unnatural position and hoping everyone remembered to wash their hands.

I despise hospitals, they creep me out and people seem to forget that even if everything has it's separate ward and air filtration, the cafeteria is still community shared, including with sick patients who felt they were well enough to walk down there. I have yet to see anyone disinfect their shoes or clothes and germs don't just stick to skin.
 

Kilter

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#95
people try to sneak drinks and food during their labor when they're only suppose to have ice chips.... we do that for a reason...lol EVERY SINGLE time someone does that, they vomit. And when they do, we just smile and remind them that they were only suppose to have ice chips..lol A lot of women tend to vomit when they get to the last stage of labor. Another reason we only allow ice chips is for the emergency factor. If an emergency happened and they had to do an immediate c-section (and it happens) they don't want anything in your belly because if they had to intubate mom during the surgery.... the risk for aspiration would be significant.
When I was induced with my first, they put me on clear fluids only. The doctor did not listen at all, and insisted that the gel would produce a baby within 4 hours. Finally at the end of the FIRST day, I begged the nurses to let me eat something but had to go buy something. Same with the next day, nothing but jello and warm juice all day, finally went into labor at 4 pm, tried pushing at six and had a c-section at 11 pm. A friend of mine was in labor and the doctor told her to have toast and honey to help raise up the blood sugar, she had her baby a few hours later, no problem. Midwives often feed you too from what I've heard.

Depends on where you are in the process too. With both c-sections I was up and walking within hours, not much for pain (the first was worse, because I did labor etc. then have a c-section, opted for just a c-section with the second and was back to normal more or less quite quickly - hurt to roll over etc. but otherwise was fine).
 
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#96
Yes, not eating is usually for hospital convenience, not really good for mama at all. My doula snuck me food while in the hospital and while at home my midwife was definitely pushing food.
 

nancy2394

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#97
When I was induced with my first, they put me on clear fluids only. The doctor did not listen at all, and insisted that the gel would produce a baby within 4 hours. Finally at the end of the FIRST day, I begged the nurses to let me eat something but had to go buy something. Same with the next day, nothing but jello and warm juice all day, finally went into labor at 4 pm, tried pushing at six and had a c-section at 11 pm. A friend of mine was in labor and the doctor told her to have toast and honey to help raise up the blood sugar, she had her baby a few hours later, no problem. Midwives often feed you too from what I've heard.

Depends on where you are in the process too. With both c-sections I was up and walking within hours, not much for pain (the first was worse, because I did labor etc. then have a c-section, opted for just a c-section with the second and was back to normal more or less quite quickly - hurt to roll over etc. but otherwise was fine).
some people might get lucky eating while they're in labor. Most of the time, it's not the case. Once you hit transition... the action has hit. I'm not saying everyone vomits in labor, but it happens quite a bit. The ones that sneak food during transition are the ones that always regret it..lol If you're going to be what they call a serial induction (more than a day) it's a necessity to eat. Your body needs fuel to have the energy to effectively push a baby out.

I know different cultures and different people do things differently when it comes to child birth. I can only share my experiences with where I work and what i've seen. I know at our hospital... they don't "strap" you to a bed and make you labor on your back. The laboring mother pretty much labors the way she wants to (within reason) the hospital staff wants people to come back and have other babies at our hospital.. so we try to make it a pleasant experience for them. Sometimes you can't please people.. but most of the time.. you can :)
 

nancy2394

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#98
Yes, not eating is usually for hospital convenience, not really good for mama at all. My doula snuck me food while in the hospital and while at home my midwife was definitely pushing food.
it's not for hospital conveniece..lol Its for the safety of the mother. Emergency surgery with food in the belly is DANGEROUS. I'm not jumping your comment... just giving my opinion on it. It just amazes me how many people have nothing good to say about hospitals. I guess it's kind of like the police.. no one likes them until they save their life. This isn't aimed specifically at anyone.. i'm just so surprised at peoples thoughts. I guess my beliefs are just the minority. People are free to do as they please. I wish anyone the best of luck when they deliver a baby outside of a fully equipped setting. It's not the goal of the hospital to make child birth a miserable experience.
 

Locke

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#99
Not long ago, I was pretty much set that I wasn't interested in having kids. The potential pooping, the hospital, the moaning, wailing, etc. just totally turned me off and I decided if I really wanted kids, I would adopt.

After watching The Business of Being Born, I've changed my mind...for now at least. Maybe having a baby can be pleasant after all!
 

ihartgonzo

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As far as hospitals being germy... the world is germy!!! Hospitals are very conscious about sterilizing everything in sight, washing with high power soaps, and preventing the spread of germs. I'm sure my house is germier, even though I clean often, I don't go around sterilizing everything. And I cannot imagine cleaning up after a birth at home. Not that I doubt that people who are dedicated to having home births are all about keeping everything sanitary. I just don't trust myself as much as I trust hospitals. Mine is really awesome, state of the art, and conscious about cleanliness! They give people with colds masks to wear even!

The maternity ward where I'm giving birth is completely separate from the rest of the hospital. A separate building, with a separate cafeteria. There will not be any lepers roaming around my delivery room. :)
 

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