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I just gave birth to a 10 lb baby 3 weeks ago. I would be considered "overweight" according to the BMI. I gained 30lbs during the pregnancy. I had a quick easy birth, less than 4 hours from first contraction until I pushed the baby out (home water birth). You all had a nurse on there talking about how overweight/obese women make larger babies that can lead to c-section or complicated deliveries. Well I think that statement leaves out important information... for one, Drs are now doing late pregnancy ultrasounds estimating the weight of the baby, if the baby is "big" they are suggesting the mom be induced because of course (sarcasm) there is no weigh a mom could birth a large baby with out medical help. The inductions when the mom and baby aren't ready are what are leading to increasing c-sections with larger women/babies.My first baby was your typical 8lber and that labor and delivery was 10 million times harder than my 10 lb baby.

posted 3 years, 7 months ago
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Thank you for posting OHSUfamilydoctor. More doctors need to be as educated as you are on birth. :)

I wish others in your same practice felt the same way. I mentioned my homebirth plans to an aquaintence that I later found out to be an OHSU Family practice doctor and I was bombarded with all sorts of horror stories about all that can go wrong (not necessarily home birth related).

Over all I have a great impression of OHSU and STRONGLY considered using their midwives for this birth.

posted 4 years ago
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Hugs Mary, that had to be really stressful.

posted 4 years ago
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Please do some research on your statements, or don't, you most likely won't like the results.

We have some of the WORST infant mortality rates in the world.

I highly recommend anyone wanting to further educate yourself to watch this short (web-based) video. Birth By the Numbers

posted 4 years ago
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I have several friends who have had a traditional hospital birth, with schedule inductions and epidurals and the whole sha-bang. They had WONDERFUL birth experiences. They Loved how they brought their babies into this world and I would never discredit their experience. But for MANY women who want to have a natural birth, who believe that the interventions aren't necessary and only interfere with the birth process hospital births arent' a safe or comfortable place.

I am pregnant with my second child and the hospital is my last choice on where to have a baby. However I am not a home-birther-at-all-costs. If there was a medical reason or situation that warrented a hospital birth I'd be there with bells on. I think hospital are wonderful places for sick people and medical emergencies and I am grateful for all the advancements in technology we have.

posted 4 years ago
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The source I cited was from the website Orgasmic Birth. So admittedly I have no personal experience with how quickly a Portland area hospital staff can prep for a c-section, the OB on the show today said it takes about 30 mins and that they were working on getting that down to 15 mins. You can re-listen to episode or get the transcript to get her exact quote.

You have to keep in mind that a lot of the need for c-sections are caused by the interventions that interfere with normal birth and natural hormones. For example, pitocin interferes with oxytocin causing longer and more painful contractions (with can cause fetal distress) then with pit there is an increase need for epidurals which slow down labor, which leads to more pitocin, then forcing women to lie on their backs work agains the body's own ability to push out the baby. So quite often the baby gets in more distress the OB's then come and save the day with a c-section that was caused by their own procedures.

The OB on the show talked about having a natural beautiful birth in a hospital... but failed to mention how hospital procedures undermine a womens ability to birth naturally.

And in the example of the "OMG home birth gone totally bad-- BREECH baby!!" the midwife was right. The midwife saw a potenial risk in the birth and in a timely non-emergency manner transferred care to a hospital. Babies can turn breech at any point and the same thing could have happend in a hospital.

posted 4 years ago
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I am currently 20 weeks pregnant with my second child. We are planning a home birth/ water birth. This will be my second water birth and my first birth at home. With my son I had planned a traditional hospital birth and was recieving prenatal care with an OB. At 30 weeks I switched to a birth center because it was becoming more apparent that it was MUCH more difficult to get the birth I wanted from a hospital. The difference in prenatal care was the first major difference I noticed. I hardly saw my OB, I was in and out and spent most of the time with the nurse. With each of my midwife appointments I felt like they wanted to know me as a whole person. They reassured me that birth and pregnancy were natural normal things and that pregnancy wasn't an illness.

As for emergencies and things that could go wrong, I know there are risks, the same risks (if not more) in a hospital. As I feel that some of the hospital "emergencies" are caused by the interventions doctors push on patients.

“The hospital doesn’t react quicker if you are giving birth there, it doesn’t influence mortality rates. In hospital, there is not a sterile team waiting in the operating room in anticipation of an emergency, it takes them about a half hour to be ready. In principle, if you are giving birth at home, it is the same. The moment the midwife calls to say a medical transfer is necessary, the gynecologist brings the appropriate team together.”(source)

Two recent studies, one conducted in the US with over 5,000 births and the other one in Europe with over 500,000, concluded that having a birth at home with a midwife was as safe as having birth in a hospital, and depending on your view of unnecessary interventions (that can often lead to birth trauma and interfere with breastfeeding) home births can be considered safer.

posted 4 years ago
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