Ok, so over the 4 years that I have been a Hipforums member, many of you have rubbed off on me. When I first came here I was all gungho about hospital births and doctors and epidurals. I have now found myself in the past two years being a huge advocate in eliminating the medical establishment(hospitals, OB/GYNS, drug companies) from normal, healthy births. It actually nauseates me that the vast majority of babies born in the US are born under the same roof as someone dying of infection in an ICU. Birthing mommies are not sick therefore should not be treated as patients in a building that exists to help sick and dying people. They shouldn't be forced to have monitors and IVs and horrible hospital food(after the birth). They deserve to have their midwife or doctor(or even doula) there the entire time, not just when it's time to push. It's supposed to be a beautiful moment not some assembly line event in a sterile, offensively lit, and loud(with machines and nurses racing from room to room) environment. It's disturbing that c-sections are still on the rise and more and more women automatically get epidurals before the real pain even starts. I wish that my voice could be louder so that women can fully take back the birth process from the male-controlled tyrany that exists now.
*nods* i have never been so humiliated or so traumatized as I was when my first child was delivered in the hospital. there is absolutely no way I was giving birth to my second baby there, not unless I thought either she or I was going to die if I didn't go. I've heard so many women, after reading Ina May's books, making comments about how births are never really like the ones she in her books. Well, I had my vbac at The Farm, and it really was exactly like those birth stories in Ina May's books. Women sell themselves short, don't think it's possible, or maybe just settle for doing what everyone else does. But they don't have to! They really can advocate for themselves and have the birth experiences they want and deserve to have, if they want it bad enough to fight for it. It's high time people started questioning the authority of their doctors. Doctors are human, and they do make mistakes. It's up to us to choose care providers who respect our rights to make our own decisions when it comes to prenatal care and childbirth. It's up to us to inform ourselves so we can make those decisions for ourselves, rather than just follow along like good little sheep and never question the authority of Doctor God.
after taking my 1 year old to the doctor because she lost her voice, just to be on the safe side she had just got her first tooth at 1... she seems like a big girl now whith her tooth, the Dr said nah she will get over it but if she is giving u a hard time we can put her on anti biotics... but any way he told me that it is very very unlikly that i will have a viganl birth that in this country (australia) they dont do it after a ceasa kinda made me want to have another baby... personaly i dont want the pain evean though it is very painful after... bring on the hopitals and pethadien... with the spial its like i have a half hour op to remove a baby.. done.... i did feel bad that i was missig out but the more i talk to mothers... i dont want the pain if i dont have to
fire any doctor who tells you that you cannot have a vaginal birth. They work for you, you can fire them at any time for any reason. Aus has a very high c/s rate, even higher than the US, last I checked at ICAN. But I'm fairly certain there are midwives there who will attend homebirths, correct? FWIW, my vbac wasn't painful at all, nothing like recovering from major abdominal surgery while having to figure out how to take care of a newborn at the same time!!
My doc told me I was fine to have a vbac (esp. because my last csec was an emergency). I just can't be induced-which is fine with me!!
I don't even think, that the way hospitals are run, are good for sick people. If they were good for sick people, adapting to their needs, making good food, not treating you like an object, they would be good for mothers too, because they would respect their needs
In a hospital we have in Lexington, they let you decide whether you want your midwife in there....or if you don't have one, a doctor. It's not a really bright room (They give you your own in which the delivery takes place, and you stay in that room throughout your stay). It's not a bad place, I might go there if I don't find a doula or someone to do a home delivery.
I also hate that fact is when I was in labor for 7 hours they would not give me water! I was so thirsty and was only allowed to have ice chips. I asked for so many cups of that it would of been solved with a nice cup of water. Also I was hungry and a good energy bar would have helped!
CB, I totally understand that. At the birthing center for my second daughter, I was allowed to consume whatever I wanted. Though, I had no desire for food, I did suck down my husband's fountain Coke. Nothing like carbonated caffeine and sugar to give me that badly needed energy spurt. Hospitals suck for birthing women. The food is the worst though. After my eldest was born...I wanted lemonade and a sandwich from Subway. They wouldn't allow outside food in and I had to eat the bland chicken, soggy green beans, and gingerale. I did get a cookie though...it wasn't chocolate but I smiled anyways.
my doc wouldn't even let me have the ice chips! I was REALLY sick with the flu and was incredebly dehydrated. Leane wound up sick in the NICU for amost a week after the delivery with dehydration and a fever. He also gave the nurse an earful when he found out that I'd eaten a piece of toast after not eating anything for over 18 hours. He was adimate that i have a cecarean, and didn't want me to have anything that would cause a problem with it. Still did it vaginally, though. I'm using a midwife at a birthing center next time.
I remember! We had some words, didn't we? {I still liked you, though! I knew you were a smart cookie} As Maya Angelou says, when you know better, you do better.
this needed to be said twice. hopefully we'll see a paradigm shift. so many pple are more aware and more involved in their own health. i think the days of people treating docs as venerated gods are over. thanks goodness for the internet, really. laypeople are able to access so much more info now about procedures, etc and are able to ask the right questions to get the care that they want.
I totally agree about the whole hospital birth trip,and I am horrified that so many ignorant women are scheduling C-sections unneccesarily just for "convienience"! This is a big trend in our area! You know if giving birth is going to inconvenience you ya probably shouldn't have kids,you clearly are not the mothering type. I think so many people have been so misled by the health care and big pharma-industrial complex they don't have a clue what goes on in their own bodies or how what they eat can affect their health,etc. GRRRRR!
your doctors a quack, find a real one!! If you can't have a vaginal birth in this country after a ceaser then I would like to know how the hell my youngest brother got outta my mum after my sister was born via emergency ceserean...and that was thirty years ago! I have never ever heard that from a doctor here or heard anyone I know who has been through a ceaser say that they were ever told that so I have to say go for another opinion! Yeh, true, there are studies that suggest that maybe once you have had a ceserean you may have problems but this just seems to be risk associated stuff and I have not met anyone who has had thier second child by cesearean that has not done it by choice. Good luck finding someone who can give you a more complete and realistic view of the world of birthing. and as for the other things in the posts that follow such as not being able to have food from outside the hospital...WTF!!!
