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5 Things Your OBGYN Won’t Tell You | Mother Rising

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5 Things Your OBGYN Won’t Tell You

About How to Have a Better Birth and Postpartum

When I was using an OBGYN for my pregnancies our visits were short and rushed.  I typically spent more time waiting for my appointment than in my actual appointment.  Even though the staff was friendly and helpful, I felt like just a number.

Despite many good intentions, the way prenatal care is today, leaves much to be desired.

Here are 5 things your OBGYN won’t tell you about how to have a better birth and postpartum.

Has your OB told you these five things about how to have a better birth and postpartum? I hope so! #pregnancy #childbirth #labor #laboranddelivery #thirdtrimester #postpartum

1.  Stay Healthy and Low Risk

One of the most powerful things a woman can do to help have a better birth and postpartum is to be healthy and to stay low risk throughout pregnancy.

Some complications are out of our control, but many are not.

Gestational diabetes, preeclampsia and intrauterine growth restriction (IUGR), for example, are three common pregnancy complications that can turn a healthy pregnancy into a more complicated fiasco, all increasing the chance of cesarean, induction and sick babies (which obviously make for a more difficult birth and postpartum).

Did you know that these three pregnancy complications do not necessarily happen by chance?  There are simple things you can do to decrease your risk.

For example, by simply eating probiotic rich food or taking a probiotic daily, you can reduce the chance of ALL the pregnancy complications listed above.

All of them.

Did you read that?

If you drink one delicious smoothie (like the one above) every day during your pregnancy, you can help stay low risk and have a better birth and postpartum.  Amazing.

(PLEASE click through the link above, read it and check my sources before commenting below.)

If this sounds like something you’d be interested in, you’ll love my natural pregnancy resource list.  It’s free!

2.  A Less Painful and Shorter Labor is Possible

We all want a shorter and less painful labor, right?  Well, baby’s position has A LOT to do with that! As you know, baby needs to be head down for birth, but that’s not all.

Baby needs to be facing mom’s back (which is called the anterior position) and also their chin needs to be tucked down.

When baby is not in an idea position, mom’s body will spend the majority of labor attempting to reposition the baby.  Once baby is lined up, things progress normally.

Now that we know what we know, doesn’t it make sense to start working on an optimal fetal position during pregnancy instead of waiting until labor?

Spinning Babies created an amazing video about how to align our bodies in a way which will encourage baby to move into a more favorable birthing position. I can’t tell you how many times I have helped babies move to a better position prenatally or in labor and subsequently had relatively fast and straight forward labors. Knowledge is power!

3.  Epidurals Come at a Cost

The one thing I remember from my college economics class is that “there ain’t no such thing as a free lunch.” Basically, what my professor was saying was that there is a cost for everything. There’s always a catch.

This idea is true for the epidural in labor.

When you get an epidural, there is a cost or a trade-off to that decision.

  • The risk of cesarean birth has increased.
  • The risk of distress to baby has increased.
  • The chance of having to use a vacuum to get baby out has increased.
  • Your chance of perineal tearing has increased.
  • You are now confined to your bed, and cannot eat or drink.
  • Your baby has a lower chance of moving to the optimal fetal position which can make your labor longer (see above).
  • Sometimes an epidural doesn’t work, or only works partially on one side.

I am not against epidurals, and have seen them used wisely and compassionately.

My problem with epidurals is that women don’t know to weigh the benefits and the cost of such a tool (and nobody is telling them that there is a cost).

For a normally progressing labor, the cost of an epidural is greater than the benefit.

If you are preparing to have a natural birth in the hospital and would like to avoid an epidural you should consider hiring a doula.

The current medical model is not set up to fully support a woman having a natural childbirth. Sometimes all that a nurse can do (because of her high patient load and paperwork) to help is to offer you drugs and epidurals.

4.  Lower the Risk of Cesarean

Here are 5 ways to lower the risks of giving birth by cesarean.

Consider a homebirth.

Yeah, I know this sounds so completely out of the box, but is a valid option to consider. I have personally witnessed some of the lowest cesarean rates in low risk, healthy women in a local homebirth practice. Believe it or not, research studies back me up on this.

There is something to be said about giving birth in your own home, not having to leave your home in the middle of labor (disrupting the flow of oxytocin), and having the extraordinary care from a competent and educated licensed midwife. The one-on-one care you receive via a homebirth midwife is incomparable to even a hospital midwife. The time, the relationship developed and the access to the midwife sets a mom up for success.

I understand if you need to have your baby in a hospital, but if homebirth is an option, consider it!  The documentary The Business of Being Born is an excellent documentary to get you started.

Hire a doula.

By having a doula present at your birth you will be more likely to have a vaginal birth (source) and less likely to need extras like epidurals and vacuum assisted births.  Doulas lower the chance of having a cesarean birth.  Amazing!

Avoid an induction.

In a nut shell, an induction increases the risk of a cesarean birth. (source)

“One-quarter of those who had a labor induction ended up needing a C-section, versus 14 percent of those who had a natural labor.”(source)

Familiarize yourself with common reasons for induction like low amniotic fluid and going past 40 weeks beforehand so you have an answer when the induction conversation happens.

Check out my posts about inducing naturally with things like castor oil and pineapple juice! 😉

4.  Labor at home if possible.

In my experience, the further along a woman is in the labor process, the harder it is to disrupt the flow of oxytocin, which is the hormone that causes contractions.  If a woman shows up at the hospital 1-5 cm, her labor pattern is more vulnerable to influences like adrenaline, which slows labor.  

However, if a woman shows up at the hospital 6 cm and up, her labor pattern is typically strong and resilient to any influences like adrenaline. To lower your chance of a cesarean, try laboring at home as long as possible.

But you know, make sure you get to the hospital and don’t have a car baby.  I’m kinda over seeing birth videos all over Facebook where women are unexpectedly having car babies.  Car babies aren’t fun! 😉

5.  Plan for a natural birth.

Things like an epidural and pitocin greatly increase the risk of cesarean.  Planning for a natural birth will help decrease the risk of cesarean.  This is where childbirth education and hiring a doula are mandatory.  You cannot simply hope for a natural birth, you must plan for one.

plan-for-a-natural-birth

I once heard an OB ask their patient if she had taken a childbirth class. Mama answered no, to which the OB said, “Oh, don’t worry, I’ll walk you through it.”

Yeah… that won’t ever happen.

Maybe she’ll walk you through the pushing stage, but she sure isn’t going to walk you through pain coping techniques, how to labor at home, how to lower your chances of surgery and other interventions, etc.

You might think that women have been giving birth for eons and eons, so you’ll get through it just fine, right?

Here’s the thing – until recently, women have not had to give birth in the medical system that modern women do. Women used to attend each other’s births and gain knowledge and wisdom from each other.

Since birth switched from home to hospital, women have lost the wisdom gained from one another.  Birth became something unseen.  This then left the modern woman ignorant – navigating pregnancy, birth and the medical model.  What a mess.

Birthing From Within childbirth classes, for an example, are an excellent mix of information learned and at the same time addressing the mother as a person, and how she can prepare for childbirth as a mother.

Whatever you do, find a good childbirth class to plug into.  A good way to find a class is to send an email to a few local doulas asking their opinions on classes.  Doulas are the information keepers of birth communities.

BFW childbirth class shot

5.  Breastfeeding Preparation is a Must

Women have been breastfeeding their babies for eons and eons, so breastfeeding books and classes are a waste of time, right? Nope.

The same reason childbirth preparation is a must can be applied to why breastfeeding preparation is a must. For awhile in the 1900s, breastfeeding almost went extinct (in America). Formula companies told doctors that their product was better than breast milk, formula was marketed to moms and everybody believed the lie.

The result was the loss of breastfeeding knowledge that was typically passed down from generation to generation. Ideas like how to get a good latch, how to know if your baby is getting enough and how to increase milk supply were lost. The profession of lactation consultant was born, and boy am I thankful. Contact a doula or a midwife to get a good referral if you end up needing some extra help.

Luckily, new moms today have more breastfeeding support than their mothers and grandmothers did, but we’re still not back to where we used to be. I highly recommend taking a prenatal breastfeeding class.

Simply Breastfeeding Online Course

If you are a visual learner, Cindy & Jana’s Simply Breastfeeding online course is PERFECT for new parents!  I’ve personally taken this course and LOVE it!

Why learn about breastfeeding?

Breastfeeding is natural but it takes time to learn. New mothers say:

“I never imagined breastfeeding would be so hard and so time consuming.”

“They don’t really prepare you for how overwhelming breastfeeding can be.”

Parents who wait until their baby is born to learn about breastfeeding feel overwhelmed.  The learning curve is steep, especially when also dealing with exhaustion from the birth and overrun with company.

I’ve seen plenty of tears and heard families’ frustrations over not knowing how often to feed, whether their baby was getting enough milk, or how to avoid breastfeeding pain.

It doesn’t have to be this way!

You can feel confident breastfeeding your new baby. Spend time snuggling instead of frantically googling. Cindy and Jana have helped thousands of new families and can help you as well.

Simply Breastfeeding is an indispensable resource which takes you step by step through the things you will need to know about breastfeeding. Your subscription never expires; you can refer back when you have questions and learn at home at your own pace. Pause, rewind and replay as often as you like.

As Registered Nurses and Lactation Consultants with over 20 years experience, Cindy and Jana’s goal is to help you discover the real expert for your baby — YOU!  ——>>>> CHECK IT OUT!

Do Your Own Research

The one thing I hope you gleaned from this article about things your obgyn won’t tell you about how to have a better birth and postpartum is that you need to do your own research and advocate for yourself to achieve a better birth.

You are your advocate, and you will find nobody advocating for yourself like you would.  Speak up and let your voice be heard!  If after reading this article you’re not sure if your care provider is the best fit, it may be time to fire your OB!

NOTE:  This article was so popular, I made another!  Head on over here to read 5 More Things Your OBGYN Won’t Tell You (About How to Have a Better Birth and Postpartum)

Typical prenatal care leaves much to be desired. Here are 5 things your OBGYN won't tell you on how to have a better birth and postpartum.

Check out my NEWEST eBook: A Simple Guide to the Hard Parts of Labor! What's inside? ---->> ALL of my best information about getting through the hard parts of labor. Want a copy? Simply click the image above, follow the prompts, and it will be delivered to you today!
disclosures
Mother Rising is a participant in the Amazon Services LLC Associates Program, an affiliate advertising program designed to provide a means for sites to earn advertising fees by advertising and linking to amazon.com. This post contains affiliate links.

Comments

  1. great post! i am so glad i took your class and highly recommend it. i’m also so happy that i chose to have a homebirth, what an incredible experience! i do wish i would have prepared more for breastfeeding…i wasn’t expecting it to be as hard as it has been to get it going well, or prepared for the emotional upset caused by feeling, in that first postpartum week, like i couldn’t feed my baby (we’ve had latching issues)

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  2. Great post! I would add to seek out an IBCLC while you are pregnant, so you have one on speed dial once baby has arrived, pretty much everyone needs extra help. And set aside the funds for one!

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  3. Most of this article is a load of crap. It’s not a matter of the mothers-to-be against their physicians; it’s not a war of wills. Certainly you must research the subjects presented and be your own advocate. But going into the process with the proverbial ‘chip on your shoulder’ is totally unproductive and a waste of precious energy. Listen to your OBGYN and make decisions with him/her as a TEAM. In the end, we all just want a happy mom and a healthy baby. :)))

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    • Yikes! I wouldn’t wish a war of the wills during pregnancy/birth on any mom. If they’re finding themselves in that situation they likely need to switch care providers for a better fit.

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    • YES! I spent my pregnancy (first ever) reading all this junk and getting a major chip on my shoulder as you said and getting brain washed into thinking hospitals were terrible evil places where the staff only cares about themselves and not you or the baby. So, I decided to have a natural birthing center birth with only midwives. It was awful. They completely misjudged how progressed i was in labor to the point where I was never given antibiotics for being GBS positive, and was told I had 5+ hrs to go, and I decided I couldn’t handle the pain any more and requested to be transferred to the hospital for drugs. Well, turns out I was in very very active labor and they let my husband and I get in a car and drive to the hospital. Half an hour after we left (and were told we had many many hours to go) I gave birth to my baby in the front seat of my car, alone, without anyone who knew what they were doing let alone any medical care/supervision. The hospital was wonderful. They were so diligent about taking care of the baby and me, kind, not pushy, answered all questions I had. It was great. They completely turned a horrible time around. I will never again consider a non hospital birth. And I completely disagree with the “the risks of an epidural outweigh the pros”. That is the writer’s OPINION, not a fact. Please don’t state it as a fact and let mothers who don’t know any better think it is a fact. For the writer, the pros of natural birth out weight the cons. That doesn’t mean it’s true for everyone. I will have an epidural next time. For me, the pain was not worth it. It took away the excitement and enjoyment. I feel like I COULD do a natura birth again, but, why put myself through that again? I just hate this brainwashing. I learned my lesson the hard way. I hope other mothers are smarter than me and don’t take articles like this as die hard facts.

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      • This isn’t brainwashing, hon, this was a woman sharing her knowledge and backing it up with sources. I have no idea why your birth was the way it was (did you not take childbirth classes? Did you simply not get along with your midwife? Etc) but you are equally wrong for “brainwashing” other women into thinking that natural birth is a load of crap, or that anyone giving fair warning about legitimate issues with hospital birth is somehow scaremongering.

        I too had a hospital birth, and I am blessed that they were so supportive…at the time of labor. Before then, when I had to switch to the hospital for back labor complications, a doctor tried to scare me into never having a home birth should I get a cesaeren (which is a load of crap), and the staff completely disregarded my pain as relating to labor. They were convinced that it was a kidney infection despite tests coming back negative, and even when I lost mucus plug!

        Yes, there are good hospitals and wonderful OBs/nurses, just as there are bad ones. Just as there are good AND bad midwives. The point of this article was to allow women to educate themselves on something plenty of OBs may not properly explain well or at all to allow themselves to prepare for the birth they want. I never got a negative vibe from this, and I loved my OB who attended my birth (she prevented my need for a cesaeren!)

        I am only returning to this hospital for my second delivery because there are no independent midwives in my area. Although I know the hospital is supportive of natural birth, they still have to follow hospital procedures that can disrupt natural birth, and don’t even allow a woman to birth n a tub (she can labor, but must get out to push out the baby). Does that sound like something I should remain unprepared for? Simply because educating myself and speaking about it with my OB is somehow painting her and the midwives as evil???

        Instead of tearing women down, respect that women will experience birth differently from you. No one needs your negativity, only your personal story and acceptance.

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        • Well said, couldn’t have said it better myself. Each woman’s labor is different as well as each pregnancy. Educate yourself, it’s power, then make the best choice for YOU and no one else! BTW I have three children and expecting my first grandchild next month.

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    • AGREED! This article makes it seem like your provider is keeping information from you. ESPECIALLY your epidural section. False on a lot of counts. Googling does not = Medical Degree

      Ps- I have a REAL eaRNed medical degree…

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      • I have IUGR right now and I assure you I am a healthy woman. IUGR is not preventable by drinking a smoothie. Lol! What a joke! It is caused by a problem with the placenta like a tear or poor attachment in the early stages of birth. This article is ridiculous.

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        • If you think the point of this article is saying to simply drink a smoothie and all your problems will be solved…I’m afraid you’ve missed the whole point.

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          • Hey Hannah. Thanks for commenting. Sorry you had pre-e. It’s definitely an unexpected turn of events especially when it seems like you’ve done everything right. Many things are out of our control and all we can do is the next best thing. ❤️

        • I’ve had IUGR with all 3 of my pregnancies.. All considering I’m only 5 ft tall and 110 lbs. And I know people that small can have easy pregnancies. I should mention this last pregnancy ate healthier. Stayed healthier. Did that help any? Nope!!! Actually more complications popped up. High blood pressure.. i was not having any caffeine drinks no sugar. Sometimes that ain’t enough. I have had csection on all three pregnancies having small babies. So i know IUGR aint preventable. It puts the baby at risks. And with each pregnancy more risks pop up no matter what I do.

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        • I had gestational diabetes and am really offended that this article is saying it is preventable. I was incredibly healthy before and during my pregnancy and everyone was shocked to find out I had it until they found out it was hormone related and completely out of my control

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    • I totally agree. I am the healthiest person I know, and about a week ago I almost died from a massive blood clot that formed, completely out of the blue in my iliac vein. I was running until 18 weeks, eating a diet rich in bloody everything good for me and the baby and none of that makes any difference. There are things out of your control and having an OB is not connected to that. It was my OB that saved my life by admitting me when then public registrars were going to send me home (as a whinger with some hip pain). My birth? I just want to survive it. I can’t stand this patronising crap, no doula would have been able to save me.

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    • I don’t think the article is telling you to disregard your OB or ignore medical advice that should be taken seriously. I think her goal is to encourage mother’s to be informed and educated about their options and health, including the options discussed in thr article. With the birth of my 2nd child, I considered, used and, benefited from much of the advice in this article, including Lindsey’s advice to focus on my baby’s position and use spinning babies to prep for the birth. I went from a 36 hour labor and emergency c-section with my first child (where I didn’t do these things and had a poorly positioned baby) to a 4 hour labor and natural birth with absolutely no complications or issues with my second. I wouldn’t change a thing for my second birth, and would have done everything different if I could do my first birth over again, following much of this advice. Every OB is different, every mother is different, and every birth is different. Being aware, educated, and mindful of your own body, baby, and needs is a benefit for every expecting mother, regardless of whether your OB is on your side or not, whether you chose a hospital or home birth, or want an epidural or unmedicated birth.

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    • I totally agree with you. I have had three kids and three epidurals, for one. As soon as I birthday my children, I was scarfing food down-since you cannot eat before. Also, I breastfed two of them, while one I was unable to due to a complication (due to how brutal it was, the epidural actually partially saved my life). Although I breastfed, I would NEVER judge or try to push another mother into breastfeeding. This article is ridiculous.

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    • It’s not a war against the patient and the doctor but it is an a big on written non-verbal argument. In the hospital with a regular Doctor Who has thousands of patients you’re just not going to get the care you would get if you don’t do your own research your own searching your own classes and all your homework for yourself. Being an RN and having three homebirth I can promise you that’s true. In the hospital is where all the germs live all the inductions live all the nurses live that have no experience having babies of their own and no nothing about nursing a baby will always almost always. Two in the shortcut wrong way. I cannot believe when I hear coming out of the mounds of nurses and doctors. I watched a burst last week of my daughter-in-law. The doctor called in a PZI to me and later said that the patient to war so the insurance would cover it. She lied she lied I want to do an a PZI to me there was no tear and she lied. But the patient loved her. That’s my daughter-in-law. They’re going to get that baby out of there One way or the other and she’s the fastest way and it won’t be anything near the natural way. 35 years ago you were a rebel if you wanted the husband in the delivery room. Today 2018, you cannot take a video of a baby coming out of the vagina with the doctor standing there.. Now the only reason you can’t videotape the birth of the baby from the vagina point of you is because they don’t want it on video when they make a mistake. Or do something stupid. I’m done

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    • Sometimes it is a fight and “having a chip on your shoulder” could save you from unnecessary medical intervention. This happened to me. Planned home birth things took awhile but all vitals were perfect. Transferred to hospital as precaution. I’m 9cm dilated and 6 staff members came in my room to coerce me into having a cesarean. ” You can’t give birth naturally” I may have believed them had my midwife not been there. Hours of fighting them off and my son was born naturally with no complications. I didn’t even tear. Too often doctors will do what’s convenient to them regardless of the bodily or financial cost to you.

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  4. What an interesting article!! And it’s made even more interesting by the fact that you’re unwilling to post comments that challenge the content. Readers beware.

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    • Looks like somebody spoke before their comment was posted by the system. lol This is a great article, Lindsey, with really helpful insights. I don’t know why somebody reads something and thinks they need to take it all or leave it all. Take what you need, research some more, find what you think might work, and then let Mother Nature throw all the cogs in the wheels She can. lol

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    • There are useful comments that contribute (respectfully) to a conversation, and there are angry and disrespectful comments that only inflame. I think the author has the right to decide the difference. If I wanted to listen to people rant and criticize I could turn on the daily news.

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  5. Thank you for sharing this! I think it is absolutely ridiculously crazy how birth has changed so much in the last century. What have we got yo show for it? Not much! I also am not anti epidural but, like you, a mom needs to know everything that comes with the package (and it needs to be discussed before delivery day!). Any way, I can go on forever I’ll just say again, thanks for writing this.

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  6. Great article and right on point. It’s funny bc my doc said the exact same thing to me about walking me through the birthing process after asking about childbirth classes. Turns out, she wasn’t able to make it to my daughter’s birth and I had a doc that had no clue what I knew or didn’t know about the process. He was wonderful but a typical hospital doctor aka BUSY. He would come in every couple of hours to check on me but really didn’t offer much else. He was kind and compassionate but had many laboring mothers to deal with. Luckily, I’d taken your class AND had you as my Doula so I felt confident in my decisions. Nurses are wonderful and a great source of information, but depending on how long you are in the hospital, you may go through many many rounds of nurses. I think we had 4 sets during my labor and delivery (yeah, it was LONG). So that means the knowledge about what was working or wasn’t working (pain coping) might not be passed down the chain. Anywho, I see the point you are making here. It’s not about having a “chip on your shoulder” as previous commenter stated. It’s about knowing what you are getting yourself into and how to make decisions that are right for you and your baby.

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  7. I would like to challenge the statement that labor nurses only know how to offer epidurals and drugs. I am a seasoned labor nurse. I work hand in hand with all providers and try to work with each family to give them what they want, and work with their plan. We have just as much training in assisting a natural birth as a doula. I have used tubs, pools, showers, balls, walking, positioning, massage, and any other trick to help a laboring woman have the natural birth she wants. I also help to push them through when they beg for drugs if they came in with a natural plan. However plans can change and that’s ok. Many nurses stand up to ob’s for unnecessary interventions such as breaking their water for no reason, or augmentation of a progressing labor. Please consider that even in a hospital setting there are great nurses who work their tails off and do so much more than push drugs.

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    • Hey Jeani! You are totally right. There are some AMAZING nurses in hospitals that act as doulas and are invaluable. I’m so grateful for nurses like you! I’ve had the pleasure (a few weeks ago) of having an amazing RN for my most recent birth. She went above and beyond. Blessings to you!

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  8. I went from 0 to 8 in 4 days in week fourth-one and labored almost the whole time. I had some sleep the first night. I went to the hospital twice and was a 3 both times and would leave. The next time I was a 6! Yay! When I reached 8, I stayed there for 5 hrs. The Dr did not like that. I consented to c-section. I did not have any drugs prior to(unless you count the stability ball, that made the first few days easier). When Charisma came out, i was told she was in the posterior position and her head was situated funny, so she never would of come out. I was thankful but also irritated as I had heard about spinning babies a week prior. And was mad the Dr had been checking where she was for the last month(pelvis wise). I’m hoping to have vbac the next time around. The book “natural home birth” helped but I didn’t know about it till week 40 lol.

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  9. Great article! I disagree with you that you must hire a doula to have an unmediated hospital birth. I have had 3 unmediated births with just my husband, so it is possible. The extra support would definitely be helpful, but not necessary.

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  10. I wish I had read this when I found out I was pregnant. I ended up in an emergency c-section 19 hours into labor. I showed up to the hospital because I thought I might have been having contractions (all while telling myself I was wrong and contractions had to have been worse than what I was feeling. I was in labor, contractions coming about 3 minutes apart and dilated to four cm so I was admitted. I told everybody I could possibly tell that I was having a natural labor unless they needed to act to save my baby’s life. They convinced me that I needed pitosin after 7 hours because I “was not progressing quickly enough” due to the fact that I only dilated 3 cm in those 7 hours. I now know how crazy that was. They stopped the pitosin after 5 hours because my baby’s heart was “stressed” ( now that I know what pitosin is… Um, DUHHHH!). Another 5 hours later baby had completely left station and I was back to 5 cm dilated and they told me I would have to have a c-section due to my baby’s heart doing dips. We had every complication that is typically expected from the spinal/c-section and it was a purely awful experience. I wish I could go back and do it all over and do it more knowledgeably. I truly believe they rushed us just to free up the L&D room because I was a Medicaid patient and they only get a portion of the costs reimbursed from Medicaid. Oh, to be able to do it all over again.

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    • Im so sorry. Remember, when you look back on your birth, be kind to yourself. You did your very best.

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  11. You offer some great advice here and I learned some things I’d never heard before! I do find it discouraging when such negative comments are made about OBs as a whole, though. There are some bad ones out there but there are some great ones too. It seems like a lot of people go into it their dr’s office assuming their OB just doesn’t care and won’t support natural childbirth. I delivered in two different hospitals in two different states without an epidural (or a doula) and had a wonderful experience and a supportive nursing staff. Prior to delivery day I had a very open dialogue with my OB. She knew what I wanted and I understood what she was comfortable with and what the hospital would allow. I definitely agree that every woman should do her research (we took a 12 week childbirth class that was fantastic and my OBs really encouraged taking whatever classes we were able) and I’m sure there is more medical intervention going on in healthy pregnancies than is necessary these days (you would certainly be more knowledgeable about this than me ) but I think moms-to-be can be informed and encouraged to become informed without casting such a negative light on the dr who is trying to help them before they’ve even met the OB. That’s just my perspective. I appreciate all you’re doing to help women like myself be as prepared for pregnancy as possible. I’m glad we have so many wonderful resources available!

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  12. I like to challenge your statement of having an epidural you are stuck in a bed, I had an ambulatory epidural, which means you can still walk. I only had freezing in my belly and hoo hoo (advanced medical terminology). It allowed me to enjoy each moment of my labour, all 40 minutes of it after they broke my water. The bonus was that I didn’t feel the stiches when I tore naturally on having an almost 10 lb healthy baby.

    On another note, the 4 public health nurses, 2 lactation consultants and finally a breastfeeding Dr., all had varying ideas on what was wrong with my “latch” during feeding. My own research allowed me to figure out that I had way way too much milk, enough for 4 babies. Block feeding advice from other mom’s is what ended up helping me the most and miraculously the “latch” was fixed.

    There are many other “facts” in this article I disagree with but all my points are the same, no matter what profession the person is in “trying” to help, they are just people. And like all people in a job, some are good and some are bad, so YOU have to be your own advocate.

    Best example is a friend of mine whose baby died at 15 weeks and midwife missed the fact that there was no heartbeat. She carried the baby for another 2 weeks before demanding another check up because SHE didn’t hear the heartbeat. Everyone makes mistakes, be as educated as you can be on a topic and don’t let things that are bothering you go, your instincts are best.

    Good luck to all the soon to be moms, Congratulations!!

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  13. Formula companies didn’t ” lie” to doctors. The 1940s is when women entered the workforce for the first team time mass with WWII ( think Rosie the Rivioter) and newly working mother’s needed an alternative option than breastfeeding. Before you start making false claims, please consider the socioeconomical needs of the time

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  14. Formula companies didn’t ” lie” to doctors. The 1940s is when women entered the workforce for the first team time in mass with WWII ( think Rosie the Rivioter) and newly working mother’s needed an alternative option than breastfeeding. Before you start making false claims, please consider the socioeconomical needs of the time

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  15. It’s articles like this – which lead me to believe in a pack of lies about natural labor- that lead me to a very physically traumatic natural labor that ended in third degree tears and post traumatic stress with my first birth. Don’t believe everything you read in blogs ladies. GD and preeclampsia cannot be prevented. It’s not your fault if you end up with either. Epidurals are a warm magical blanket of peace and tranquility that can help you experience the intimacy of birth- rather than COPE with the pain of it. Natural Birth should never be something you are intimidated and threatened into. It should be something you deeply desire and want. And as for the evils of formula? Tell that to my healthy toddler who is in the 90% for growth, can count to 20, read letters, and speak sentences before the age of two. Clearly the formula has stunted her ability to thrive.

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    • You don’t need to be aggressive about formula just because you chose to use it. The companies are unfortunately corrupted and have caused huge damage in underdeveloped countries… We need to be aware of this. Formula isn’t going away, but it is still a public good to promote a societal return to breastfeeding – we can ALL stand behind this together regardlesss of individual choices/circumstances. I think that’s the best way to support the formula-feeding mother, too. By not minimizing its value by making it about “choice” and “you do you” but instead by treating it as the rare but life-giving nourishment that it is. The rarer the instances of formula, the more valuable it really is.

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  16. There are definitely truths here. I certainly had a really bad experience doing natural birth in a hospital setting. Since then I learned that not all midwives are great either. Whether you do birth in a hospital, birth center or your home the biggest thing I think that’s important is having a good relationship with your care provider. There are great OB’s and really bad ones, their are great midwives and really not great ones. Trust your gut, do your research and make sure that YOU are comfortable with the dynamic and relationship that you have with yours 🙂 If I had trusted my gut and looked for a different OB I am positive I would have had a better experience as I learned later there are some great OB’s in town that are more supportive of natural birth. I think if there is respect and support all the way through prenatal care and birth what the end outcome is has a much less negative effect on us and our psyche because we were respected, cared for, listened to and did what was needed for that particular situation (whether that’s nothing or a lot of intervention).

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  17. Please first get your FACTS STRAIGHT, before scaring all pregnant women regarding epidurals and c/s. With and epidural YOU CAN DRINK clear fluids. With a c/s (which I HAD) you are up walking within 8hrs, and picking up your baby just fine. Your abdominal surgery 2 weeks postpartum is NOT the same as a C/S, so don’t compare the 2. People can have wonderful natural childbirth with research, I agree, however not every baby or woman is fortunate enough to experience the 2, and don’t make hospitals and medication the enemy. What would you do if you had a natural childbirth at home, and then your uterus decided not to contract, and you began to hemorrhage? Who is going to help you stop the bleeding? Who is going to save you from bleeding out? WHO.

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    • This article is no way an attack on you or your choices. But I stand by what I wrote. And my midwife would stop a hemorrhage. She’s really good at it.

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      • Unless she carries blood and can pump it into you as fast as it’s spilling out, you may well not survive a hemorrhage at home. Also, it amazes me how often home birth advocates fail to realize that hemorrhages can have causes that are not easily located and stiched. I nearly bled out alone on my bathroom floor after giving birth. I survived because of ER nurses who replaced most of the blood in my body, and an OB who did emergency surgery to locate the hidden source of the hemorrhage. It’s so flippant to say, “Oh my midwife can fix a hemorrhage, she’s really good at that.” Those are the kind of comments I hear from people who have never lost consciousness in a puddle of their own blood. I wouldn’t wish that experience on anyone, and I urge everyone to give birth where help is readily available if it happens.

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        • Hey Jen. I really hear what you’re saying… Oh my! Sounds like you went through a lot. I’m truly glad you’re ok. Thank God for medicine and doctors. Whew. I just want to say, for all those who are reading this, that I literally watched my midwife stop hemorrhages happening to women while I was her birth assistant. She is a trained medical professional. She has a protocol she follows for excess postpartum bleeding. And when things need it, she can transfer to a hospital for more support. By saying that I am not discounting your experience, nor am I disagreeing with you that you needed medical support. I’m just trying to explain that yes, there are people who know how to handle postpartum hemorrhages out of the hospital.

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    • My husbands cousin was bleeding extensively after her all natural home birth with a midwife. Her midwife was able to stitch her inside and applied essential oils to help the blood clot and heal. Midwives CAN do things like that just choose one who you think is experienced and perfect fit for you. On the other hand, I was planning to have a completely natural hospital birth because there are no midwives or doulas in our area for a home birth. I went in at 6 pm, labored overnight and started active labor at 9 the next morning. The only support I had was from my husband. The nurses were not able to focus solely on me (busy ward). I dilated to a 7 1/2 and asked for an epidural. After sitting up for the epidural, I realized too late that if I could get up and walk that I would be able to stand the pain. No one had offered me that option or reminded me that I was in control (I was extremely exhausted and almost delirious from pain and laboring lying down all night. Fell asleep as soon I had the epidural which gave me the strength to push when I was woken two hours later being told I had to have the baby immediately. Due to my baby’s cord being extremely short, he was getting held up, unable to push through the canal. My OB decided to use a suction, which broke but helped get him out far enough for me to push him to the point where she could cut the cord. Some things could have been changed to make his birth easier if I had had the support of a midwife or doula there, but some things were inevitable! And next time I will be informed and am excited to see if things go better!

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  18. I am a Labor and Delivery nurse and I love this!! For my first baby (before i worked in L&D) I was induced at 39 weeks, had my water broken early, got an epidural (which caused a whole plethora of complications) and it ended in an emergency C-section. For my next baby, I educated myself, and I work in L&D now so I had more knowledge anyway. I was a primary VBAC, so I didn’t have the option of a home birth, but I hired a doula and put together a great birth team. I work with and fully trusted my OB, and he and I spent the entire pregnancy planning my birth. I had an all natural hospital VBAC. It was a wonderful experience. Did it hurt? Yeah, but the pain was temporary and so worth it to me! I am actually looking forward to being pregnant and having another natural birth (in like 3 years lol). Thank you so much for writing this and sharing your wealth of knowledge with us! This gives so much good information!

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  19. As someone going through gestational diabetes in the third tri where I was told repeatedly by medical professionals this was out of my control and I did nothing to cause it, it’s a bit heart breaking to read an article actually implying that I could have done something different and if I drank a smoothie every day I wouldn’t be having to deal with the stress of this and added potential complications with my baby…. Yikes.

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    • This article is not about you and it is not written to you. This article is written to women who were looking for ways to reduce pregnancy complications. (We should all want that for all women.) I hope all women can have healthy pregnancies and births by using evidence-based practices and decisions backed by research.

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  20. I am disappointed with this article. You have some pretty intense reasons to avoid having an epidural with zero statistics to back it up. Adjectives are not statistics.
    I was 100% convinced I was going to birth my child all natural but I did my research about epidurals just in case. These risks you share are not as frequent as you are attempting to scare your readers into believing and tearing happens even in the most hippy of births. That’s part of giving birth.
    When I found out how big my child was being being estimated, I begged to be induced and made sure I got an epidural before I was too far gone. I labored actively for three hours after my water broke with NO dialating. I asked for my epidural and went from 3cm to full dialation in an hour.
    Also, who wants to eat when they are in active labor? I would have killed anyone who suggested the idea!

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  21. As a medical professional, I firmly believe that you should do your research and learn about all aspects of a planned procedure (such as birth), regardless your trust in your doctor. While I don’t agree with all points made in this article, I do like that it provokes alternative thinking and brings up important points. I especially like that it brings up some of the risks associated with an epidural – a procedure that has become so commonplace that it is almost assumed to be a standard part of birth. It may very may well be an important tool for many women, but it is important to realize that no medical intervention comes without risks. And every procedure should be considered by a careful consumer (in this case the pregnant woman) through a personal risk/benefit analysis. I, personally, decided that I did not want to deal with the epidural. I had a super easy (still painful, but short and uncomplicated) natural birth in the hospital with a midwife group. Personally, I would never deliver (intentionally) outside of a hospital, I *personally*think it’s too much of a risk should something go wrong that required interventions only available at a hospital. However, in my birth experience, the intervention of having an epidural would have introduced unnecessary risks, so I didn’t get it (it wasn’t a simple matter of fact thing though – I spent months researching alternative pain control, I specifically used a midwife group with similar ideologies, I did the bulk of my labor at home, and I’d been bouncing on a birth ball for weeks to get the baby in a good position). Now, I was in labor for 4 hours, my sister had a baby a few months before me and she (also went into labor not wanting an epidural) was in labor for 20+ hours. There came a point where she took the epidural, and it was a completely appropriate intervention for her – the benefit outweighed the risks. But I think it’s important to be able to have a frank discussion about those risks so that other women can go into birth better prepared.

    Birth was hard (and I had an easy birth but it was still really, really hard) and impossible to plan, but you should still try to plan and prepare and educate yourself as much as possible. You should recognize that you must be your own advocate, and that in order for your doc to best treat you (and I firmly believe that most docs are good docs and want what’s best for their patients), you should be prepared, educated, assertive, and honest about your priorities in giving birth. If your priority is having a natural birth, but you don’t express that to the doc, they may prioritize pain control (hospitals are rated and in a large part paid on satisfaction and pain control is a huge part of that). In fairness to yourself, your baby, and your practitioner, you should come to your own conclusions about birth and communicate your expectations to your doc so that when shit hits the fan, the doctor can (within reason) support your plans. Although not everything can be controlled, and some women will be dealt a crap hand in pregnancy, labor, and delivery, and through no fault of their own require interventions to bring their beautiful baby into the world. And in those cases there is nothing more valuable than a good doctor who you trust to make snap decisions for you.

    And also def find yourself a lactation consultant before birth if you plan to breastfeed. It is hard work and for me it was frustrating, nerve wracking (is my baby even getting anything??), and very painful at first. However, it was a priority of mine to at least give it my best shot, and we succeeded (after a lot of hard work, tears, and an excellent lactation consultant), but I don’t know that I would have if I hadn’t paved the way prior to giving birth.

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  22. I am in healthcare, and I am also a mother of a two year old. I tend to think we need to have moderation in our approach to these attitudes about what is right and wrong as far as L&D goes. I am a nurse, and nurses are TRAINED to look at the *whole* patient: spirit, soul, and body. We are TRAINED to pursue non- pharmacological treatments when our patients are having pain, anxiety, etc. When I was pregnant, I followed all of the recommendations about eating healthy, weight gain, exercise, and keeping stress to a minimum. I even had a doula who was an RN herself and we had a birth plan all nailed down. Mine was not initially a high risk pregnancy. At 12 weeks, I had some spotting and I was told I had a “low lying placenta”, not enough to be considered placenta previa, but my OB told me to “take it easy”. The rest of my pregnancy was absolutely normal and fine. I went for my 40 week appointment and it was discovered I had no amniotic fluid. I had previously had no frank loss of waters, neither did I notice loss of the mucus plug. I was sent straight to the hospital for induction. Needless to say, I wasn’t progressing hardly at all with cervidil, so they ended up hanging Pitocin. Baby girl’s heart wasn’t having it, so I ended up with an emergency c-section, the whole gambit. I did everything “right” and still had this outcome. Friends I have that are more on the hipster/hippy end of the spectrum, didn’t ask me how I was or if they could do anything when we told them the story of my delivery process, they said, “oh you had a c-section? I’m so sorry.” Like I was less a mother than anyone else, or like I’m less of a woman. These articles do contribute to people acquiring that chip on their shoulders and they pass judgment on those of us who literally.tried.everything. to have a natural birth and bring guilt. Guess what? I will have a repeat c-section when I have my next child, and I won’t feel one bit guilty about it because it is my choice and a well-informed choice. What we truly need is information, educated decisions, and everyone to keep their opinions to themselves until they have walked in the shoes of the one whom they are enforcing it upon. Try a little compassion and empathy. If you want to have your baby at home and take the risk, go for it. Women have done it for centuries. Of course infant mortality was higher then, but it’s not impossible, and I applaud you for your bravery. It can be successfully done. I will admit I’m not that brave. I’ve seen the bad stuff go down in the ICU firsthand, so that is why I’m making my decision. To each her own.

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    • Hey Tiffany, thanks for commenting. I feel like this blog post is just a small slice of what I write about and it’s not exactly fair to say that I’m passing judgement on women who have more medical births. Just like in my childbirth classes – each week we talk about something different and in the end it all ties together. I feel like if you read my whole blog (haha yeah I know that’s not possible) you would have such a bigger picture and better idea of my heart. Since that’s not possible, would you do me a favor and read this post? https://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2016/01/problemswithbirthaffirmations.html Of all people it’s not going to be me judging women for having varied birth experiences. Birth is HARD. Birth is UNKNOWN. Birth cannot be planned! I think you’re awesome for rocking a cesarean birth – that takes a lot of courage too – just like a vaginal birth. Please understand that when I am writing blog posts educating women about natural birth, that I don’t believe that is the only way they should birth. But I have to start somewhere, you know?

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  23. Great article! I would also recommend Hypnobabies as a great childbirth class. I had to have an induction due to pre-eclampsia and Hypnobabies got me through without an epidural.

    Next time I want to have a homebirth. I had my first baby in a hospital with certified nurse midwives. The midwives were great, but the hospital setting was not. The nurse that you’re working with can have a HUGE effect on your experience–and you don’t get to pick your nurse! The first day of my labor I had a nurse that was a TERRIBLE fit for me. We eventually “fired” her, and the second day I got a nurse that was wonderful. I really wish I could’ve skipped that first day, though.

    If I have to be in the hospital again, I will for sure get a doula. I need someone to be responsible for immediately firing any nurse that isn’t a good fit for me, and my husband just wasn’t up for that task. (And I was a little distracted, so don’t think that should be my job! :))

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    • Thanks, Meghan! YES, your birth team makes a world of a difference! Happy to hear you stuck up for yourself and got a nurse that was a better fit. Doulas ARE amazing. 😉

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  24. I have no idea where you came up with the notion that IUGR is common or that it can be prevented by consuming probiotics or a smoothie, but it’s offensive to the families who have had to deal with it. Obviously being as healthy as possible should be the goal of every pregnant woman. But to say your top three issues can be avoided purely with diet is ridiculous.

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  25. Hahahahahahahaha this article is hilarious and completely off base. Drinking a smoothie to help reduce risk of IUGR or gestational diabetes? Laughable. What scientific resources did you use? Which randomized controlled trials? Please don’t spread false knowledge. You are endangering people. And I can tell you first hand that doctors DO help you to stay healthy and low risk – what about that is something an OB/GYN doesn’t tell you??

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  26. Posting that preeclampsia is avoidable is so very frustrating to anyone who’s been there. In my experience, preeclampsia hit out of no where, and wasn’t at all influenced by my diet or exercise routines. I was extremely cautious and active during my first pregnancy and ended up being admitted to the hospital and had an emergency c-section. Our child passed shortly there after. To cite one source that says milk base probiotics were linked to decreased risk and would have prevented this is insulting to anyone who’s been there and lived through the “what ifs” afterwards.
    In a different article you state, “WebMD goes on to say that nobody knows the cause of preeclampsia. But, in my opinion, they are incorrect. I think we have a VERY good idea of the cause we know a way to decrease the chances of a women.” Just so we’re clear, an entire medical community, based in years upon years of medical research can’t determine the causes or exact ways to prevent a very serious medical condition, but YOU have read some books, coached women through births, had a few kids of your own and can now disperse your opinions freely as if they will save thousands of lives?
    My OB’s (and I realize not everyone is as lucky) saved my life and made it possible for me to have a happy, healthy pregnancy afterwards. Please be more cautious when stating, “Did you know that these three pregnancy complications do not necessarily happen by chance? There are simple things you can do to decrease your risk.” And “For example, by simply eating probiotic rich food or taking a probiotic daily, you can reduce the chance of ALL the pregnancy complications listed above.”

    SIMPLY EATING PROBIOTIC RICH FOODS?!?

    Anyone who’s been there hears, ‘your child could have lived if you’d just eaten more probiotics’…..funny because top medical doctors have said this was completely unavoidable.

    Be more cautious when touting your research as end all be alls to serious medical conditions.

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    • Hey Alysia. I am SO SORRY for your loss. What a tragedy. I am so, so sorry. There’s nothing worse, I’m sure, than losing a child. My heart goes out to you. I’m sorry that this article offended you and brought back unhappy memories and made you feel as if you were to blame. That was never my intention. Please know that. My intention in this article to to share the information in the research I have found, which says that eating milk based probiotics during pregnancy decreases the risk of developing preeclampsia and severe preeclampsia. ♥

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  27. All I can say is i wish i read this before my first child… and you are so right about epidurals and VBAC. I have experienced a C-section and a VBAC. it was so fulfilling to leave the hospital after a day with no complications when i had the VBAC.My earlier experience started from an induction and it led to an emergency CS.
    well.. thanks for writing this.

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  29. I did not read all the comments so this may have already been addressed.

    I think your #4 should be addressed and noted as “in your experience, at your birth place”. I had a vaginal birth, no epidural, and no doula. If I’d read this earlier in my first pregnancy it would have terrified me.

    My hospital nurses never pushed an epidural or any other drugs on me, it was always my call. In active labor my dr came by several times and I had a nurse with me through so much of the “hard stuff”. I had a team, my dr, my husband, and two nurses helped me through pushing.

    I know we are all different with different situations but don’t slight hospital care – it’s not all bad. People should do their research with moms who’ve delivered with their dr, and moms who’ve delivered at their chosen birth place.

    Baby 2 on the way and I don’t plan to change a thing.

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  30. I had an amazing epidural. It took the pain away and allowed me to enjoy the process of labor. With concentration I was also still able to feel when I was having a contraction to know when to push. Yes, I tore, but EVERYONE tears. It’s not a big deal. The body heals. It was expected. I had an amazing experience and people that say these things I feel like don’t REALLY know what they’re talking about.
    You say, “everything comes at a cost”. Well so does a home-birth. They can be extremely risky. Two friends of mine (one of them a super ‘al-natural’ kind of girl whose momma had 6 babies at home) planned theirs at home, everything was going well for both until suddenly the midwife finds that something is very very wrong. For one of them the cord was wrapped around the neck. She had to hold the baby in during the entire ambulance ride. Both girls had to have emergency c-sections.
    No labor, no plan, is perfect. They are all risky. And the fear of having a c-section btw seems to be so silly. Who cares if someone has a c-section? The object is to get the baby out keeping baby and mommy safe. I clicked on this link hoping I would find tricks of the trade for my next one. But instead I read just another post from someone telling me I’m doing it wrong. We should be supporting each other, not making one another question their decisions and feel like they are making the wrong choice. That’s not right. A friend wants a home-birth, then cool! A friend wants a scheduled c-section, then cool!

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  31. A briefing on my experiences.
    With my first two babies I was lied to by doctors, anesthesiologists, and a uncaring licensed midwife. Both ended in unnecessary c-secs.
    I chose to go with a traditional midwife and had my 11.2 lb (largest baby)was delivered at home and it was a wonderful experience!
    She educated me on my health, baby’s heath (our diets) and positioning for a good outcome. Even with a bad tear, recovery was amazing! I was on a cloud and riding my horses in just afew weeks where the surgeries left me an invalid for over a year at a time.
    Final note, glory be to God!

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  33. This was a great post! I have had both a Csection with an OB practice and a completely unmedicated VBAC with a midwife and doula. I know absolutely that your birth experience is directly related to the provider you choose. It’s all a trickle down effect from there.

    My midwife actually remembered who I was at appointments, she hugged me, cared for me, held my baby, and even switched shifts to come be with me during my delivery at the hospital (till midnight!) after a full day of working at the clinic.

    That’s not to say all OBs are evil, but I absolutely experienced the factory version of birthing my first time around and didn’t realize how personal and sweet it could be until I had that bad experience which made me do a 180 in my choice of care.

    Birth should be beautiful and intimate, and if you don’t feel your provider can make that a reality- find a new one!

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  34. I know a couple who had an at home birth with a doula and their baby ended up having undetected congenital heart issues that caused the baby to die within a day or two. This could have been prevented had they delivered at a hospital. There really was no way for the doula to detect that anything was wrong at the time. They are now divorced.

    I do not believe that this is the norm, however it is enough to scare me away from a home birth even though I also know of many more successful home births. I agree with many others that it really depends on your labor and delivery experience and medical/pregnancy history, but for me personally I feel that a hospital birth minimizes risks just a little more than a home birth.

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    • What a sad, sad story. I’m so sorry for your friend.

      1) Doulas are not medical professionals. No doula should be in the business of detecting congenital heart defects. Were you thinking of a midwife?

      2) There is a simple screening for congenital heart defects that is now standard protocol for in and out of hospital births (where I live). This simple check via a oxygen pulse oximeter was not part of the standard protocol until recently. So, in or out of hospital, the babies where I live are receiving this screening. Yay!

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  35. I just wanted to respond to this for all the women who end up getting gestational diabetes, through no fault of their own: this woman has no idea what she’s talking about. Gestational diabetes is caused by the placenta, it’s not caused by anything you have done. This is my first pregnancy, and I came down with GD, and I was on copious amounts of probiotics because I have IBS, GERD, and chronic gastritis. I am of normal weight, and I eat a healthy diet. The ONLY reason why I came down with this problem is because I have a placenta that wants the baby to get more sugar than she needs. There’s no way I could have prevented this.

    Also, don’t let this woman talk you into not listening to your OB about how you should handle your pregnancy if you have GD! Despite having a mild case, and keeping my sugars strictly in check, my baby measured 7.5 lbs at 36 weeks! My doctor and I decided to induce at 39 weeks, because every day thereafter increases the risk of still birth in babies with GD! As it is, she is currently 9.5 lbs, and have one week left. My OB does not want me to have a cesarean, but because my daughter is very large (her abdomen measures in the 100th percentile), it’s in everyone’s best interest to be near a hospital if she gets stuck!

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  36. You can eat and drink with an epidural and don’t let anyone tell you otherwise!!! The nurse at the hospital told me “let me know when you’re finished with your lunch so we can get started. You can’t eat once the IV is in.” I promptly told her that my midwife allows eating during labor and delivery and she went and checked with her. She came back a few minutes later and said, “okay you can have LIGHT SNACKS and water.” A lot of well-meaning health professionals just go by tradition and policy and need gentle reminders that the evidence points in favor of eating and drinking throughout labor as you wish, even with an epidural!

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  37. As someone who has GD, I am irked by your suggestion that you can avoid it by staying healthy. Many of us get GD and are perfectly healthy with a normal weight and a good diet. Just bad luck or different genes. Also the complications come with poorly controlled diabetes. I wish the author would have done her research.

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  38. Hello, I read this article and wish I hadn’t. Can I can have my 10min back?

    Avoiding high risk is easy! Yep. Just don’t be 35+ or have diabetes run in your family. Also, shame on you if hiring a doula ($100+ an hour!) is out of your price range! God forbid you trust the nurses who spent years going to school (and are now saddled with student debt) and who deliver babies all day long. Yeah! What do they know?!? Lol

    Normally I would just pass this article by and file it under ‘ugh.’ But I felt the need to comment because I know there are other women like me who felt shamed while reading this.

    In a perfect world, where we are all of ‘appropriate maternal age’ with plenty of extra cash for doulas and home births – not to mention perfect family medical history records- this article would be spot on.

    To those of us who fall outside of that frame – guess what?! It’ll be ok! Nurses at the hospital DO KNOW what they’re doing! The choice to have an epidural is YOURS! And for all the other things you don’t know – there’s always the internet – I guess.

    Mommy over 35.

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  39. I was fit active and healthy before and during pregnancy and I still had gestational diabetes. You cannot prevent it. This article is crap

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    • I agree with you. I worked and walked regularly though out my pregnancy, had morning sickness so bad that I went from 230 pounds to 165 pounds after birth. I never took a single class on natural birth yet I had one. Its all about mindset. You have to ready your mind to get your body ready for what it’s about to go through. Not every one but some people are just naturals.

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  40. While there are some valid points brought up in this piece, it’s just pure folly to discredit modern medicine in this way. I know that most of us can rationally disseminate what to take from such a piece, but there are those who would take this and add it as gospel to their anti-doctor arsenal. What many fail to acknowledge is the differences in infant and maternal mortality rates between now and years ago when birth was primarily without assistance. For me personally, the chance of losing even one precious baby of mine because I opted to birth away from lifesaving equipment and professionals is just not within the realm of risks I will take in life. Why would my need of the “perfect” birth trump the potential safety of my child?

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  41. This article has made me feel so blessed – my OB/GYN team were extremely informative about all of my options, natural birthing, etc. I would choose absolutely to have any further children in a hospital because my daughter had a congenital defect and required a higher level of care that she was able to receive down the hall from me, but I support all birth/feeding options. Just make sure that whatever person you work with, be it a midwife, doula, doctor, nurse, or your anesthesiologist, that they are aware of your wishes and willing to work with you.

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  42. The statement of “if you want a natural hospital birth and avoid epidural, you MUST hire a doula” is false. I did so with my second birth: arom induction 40+9, 4 hours of labor. Bring your birth ball and a support person who knows what you want. I wasn’t sure I could, but I DID! 🙂

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  43. I am a practising anaesthetist and I’m afraid your ‘facts’ on epidural risks are dangerously misleading and incorrect.

    Current evidence shows that:

    epidurals do NOT increase the chance of caesarian section, nor of foetal distress.

    They also do NOT increase the incidence of long term lower back pain compared to pregnancy/labour alone (a widely held misconception worth sharing).

    They slightly increase the risk of an assisted delivery.

    1 in 10 will not work perfectly on first go- but you will always be offered a re-site, which has a 90% chance of working perfectly.

    There is a 1 in 100 risk of a bad headache after insertion if the epidural is inserted slightly too far, which can be treated.

    Serious risks such as permanent nerve injury are extremely rare, around 1 in 250,000.

    Mis-information for expectant mothers is both fear inducing in a time of already great anxiety and a failure of responsibility and I implore you to update your article.

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  44. Furthermore, you absolutely CAN drink whilst you have an epidural. In addition you will be given intravenous fluids to ensure you stay well hydrated, a vital basic requirement of care of labouring women. To suggest that a woman will be left to languish without is deeply misleading.

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  45. I would NEVER EVER EVER recommend having a home birth!!!!!!! I had a healthy pregnancy with my son and a healthy labor everything was simple and as one might call “textbook”. When my water broke they found that there was meconium in the sack. Upon my sons entry to the world, he breathed that in and was not breathing air upon entry. This was unavoidable and we thought everything would have been normal. My son was blue! He was intubated immediately and raced to another hospitals NICU. He recovered just fine and is a perfectly healthy toddler. If I would have a home birth or not been in the hospital my son would have died from a completely curable thing. If you want to go 100% natural, ok I can respect that. But please choose to deliver in a hospital!!!

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    • While I totally respect your story and opinions, it really has nothing to do with the article. This article is focused on finding a quality care provider, paying attention to those internal nudges that something’s not right, etc. No matter where a woman has a baby, these skills in finding a highly skilled, knowledgable, compassionate, etc. care provider is critical.

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  46. Great article! Wow, reading all the comments really opened my eyes to how personal we sometimes take things that aren’t a personal attack on us.(I’ve done this before in the past)

    While I understand where everyone is coming from, (To some extent, although some of the comments were kinda rude) I don’t find it at all necessary to say mean things towards the writer.

    Yes, there are some things you can’t prevent. Sometimes **it happens and there’s nothing you can do about it. However, there are instances where there are things we can do to prevent certain outcomes or atleast be prepared for them. Cancer is an example of an illness anyone can get, some if the healthiest people get it, but there are also things we can do to hopefully prevent it.

    I’m not going to stop taking measures to prevent it or be well-informed aboutbit just because its’ envitable in some situations am I??? No. Same goes for childbirth. Yes, some things are inevitable and it seems no matter what you do it happens. (such as GD or preeclampsia) However, that doesn’t mean we stop doing things to prevent it or make ourselves well-informed about it.

    I am currently pregnant with baby number #5. I’ve had two hospital births and two homebirths. Three natural unmediated births and one with an epidural. One birth with a Doula and the rest without. All iof my births were unique and special in their own way. I enjoy birthing at home for my own personal reasons and enjoyed birthing naturally for personal reasons. When people ask me about my experience I share MY experience. I tell them I think homebirths are great because mine were. That doesn’t mean I’m against hospital births (because I’ve had two) it’s just my preference.

    Do what works best for YOU. Don’t take others opinions so personal or criticize them for sharing what they know. Take what resonates, throw the rest out, and find an article that better suits you.

    I’d like to thank the writer for sharing this!

    No one should ever be made to feel guilty for sharing what they know based upon their knowledge, experience, and expertise.

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  47. This article is a bunch of BS! No one can control if they get preeclampsia and you are one of those people who make the ones who have it feel like shit! Also where are all the risks of having a child at home. At least in a hospital if something went wrong you would be in good medical hands. Your OBGYN doesn’t tell you these things because none of it is true! Maybe you should get some medical advice

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