Au Naturel

So a while back soon after we had found out we were pregnant we sat down to watch a documentary I had wanted to see for a while created by Ricki Lake called The Business of Being Born.  For any of you who have Netflix, it's available on instant.  The movie is basically Ricki's interest in learning more about midwifery and her eventual decision to have her 2nd child via midwife at home (in her tub!).  She tells the story of other pregnant women and their midwives.   Definitely not for the squeamish it shows babies being born at home and in birthing centers, talks to professional midwives and doctors about the practices and history of childbirth in the U.S., and mentions some pretty crazy statistics on how many natural child births vs c-sections are done in this country compared to other countries every year.

It's all a matter of personal preference.  I want to try and go the natural childbirth route, but more importantly  I want to be in a setting that promotes and encourages natural childbirth, that focuses on providing a setting that is most condusive to natural child birth.  This means letting things take its course, allowing you to move around and have the baby in whatever position you want (versus on your back, which is really only optimal for the OB).  In the end Obstetrician's are doctors that specialize in surgery while Certified Midwife Nurses are trained in natural births and that to me is a no brainer.

We thought a little about having an at home birth.  But what if this nugget decides he wants to show the world his booty first and require me to have a c-section, we would have to then get to a hospital and of course prior to all that have found an OB who would be willing to be on call in case something went wrong and work with my midwife.  I'd still have to go elsewhere if i wanted ultrasounds and blood work done.  Plus in the state of NC insurance will only pay for midwives that are certified and affiliated with a NC hospital.  And having the baby at home seemed a little too granola for our taste.  At home was out.

The stand alone birthing center was another option.  Luckily there is one in Chapel Hill.  We went and took a tour, the rooms i have to say were nice, sort of a hotel room with jacuzzi!  But there were still some issues - ultrasounds had to be done elsewhere, if something went wrong they would still have to call an ambulance and have me taken to UNC hospital which is 25 minutes away. A little to risky for the husband.

So that left us with one more option, UNC Midwives - they seemed to us the best of both worlds.  At their clinic just like at any OB/GYN we come in for our monthly, then bi-weekly and then weekly visits with their mid-wives.  Rotating all six with every visit so we can get familiar with them and vice versa.  They have a separate floor at the UNC Hospital where i get a room that has a shower - no jacuzzi :(, an ipod sound system, tv, and what seems like a much more laid back atmosphere.  Unlike the OB floor, i can walk around because they use a wireless fetal monitoring system and they actually encourage you to eat and drink and bring in your own food (i'm leaning towards raw oysters and prosecco).  And most importantly, if something should go wrong all they gotta do is wheel me upstairs and there are trained OBs to step in.

In the end I really have no say as to how she'll be born.  But I like the idea that right up until that moment I'll be surrounded by people who want the same as me, to go au naturel.