The only tip I’d add is “don’t come to the hospital too early” and note that timing will be different for everyone. I am convinced that the reason I was able to have an intervention and medication free birth was because 75% of my labor occurred in my own home, rendering most of my birth plan moot points!

My second, great nurse with me during delivery, fairly oblivious afterwards.

My experience has made me want to become a nursemidwife though-since I’d rather try and be part of the solution. Sadly, all I need to do is move to another province for that. :(

Pens… fat, easy glide, with clickers instead of lids. Apparently, her hospital-supplied pens leave something to be desired.

Lotion… because she’s washing her hands all day.

Chocolates and candy are a big no. Nice fruit like Jessica mentioned are a yes, along with organics, etc.

On the subject of gifts for the nurses (from an above posting) my husband and I had one of those “Edible Arrangements” delivered while I was still in the hospital- a big bouquet of flower shaped fruit. They went nuts for it. Said they always get sweets and candy but said that at least 2/3 of them were always on a diet so fruit was much appreciated.

Fruit for thought.

My wife has witnessed home births gone wrong (handled as emergencies when they arrived later at the hospital). I wouldn’t (and she wouldn’t) point to those as examples of why not to choose a home birth. And my wife has witnessed physiological issues where a birth goes bad that clearly cannot be blamed on anything except fate. For example, a uterine rupture will certainly cause two deaths at home while the mother might survive at a hospital.

Is it a far-fetched example? Sure, just as is your scenario of a pitocin-induced rupture. And yet, I’m sure you and my wife have seen or heard of both occurring.

What it comes down to (for me) is that hospitals, birth centers and home birthing are all valid settings. There’s a place for everything and not everyone needs a hospital. It’s an issue of where you are most comfortable.

Incidentally, my wife originally wanted to be a midwife, until the realities of living your life on-call set in.

- A woman’s labour is progressing slowly. There are many possible causes, but for our purposes let’s say it’s decided that she’s dehydrated.

- Choices for hydration include oral fluids or an IV. But hospital X’s policy is no fluids by mouth in active labour. So she gets an IV. (whereas in a different hospital, or other environment, fluids by mouth might be OK).

- IV restricts mobility. She stops walking around and lies down. The woman is also quite upset about needing an IV as she hates needles. Progress slows further.

- To address the continued problems with slow progress, pitocin ( a drug to stimulate contractions) is added to the IV. The woman is quite worried that labour will be unbearable with Pitocin, and requests an epidural (not in her birth plan).

- Severe fetal heart rate decelerations are noted, and the woman’s uterus is hard as a board. It is determined that a placental abruption is happening. This is a life-threatening situation for mom and baby. A “crash” C-section is ordered.

Now, there’s a clear link in the research between pitocin augmentation and placental abruption, even under the most diligent care. We also know that provision of fluids by mouth is safe in moderation (despite the widespread & long-standing policies against it).

Would this PARTICULAR abruption have happened if oral fluids had been given, and the IV avoided? Who knows. Could have happened anyway. But we do know that statistically, across a large population, a less interventive setting produces far fewer emergencies. Hence my comments earlier.

By the way, my midwifery training included obstetric rotations in very poor and disadvantaged communities. I’m aware that not everyone is low-risk. But even the moderate to high-risk folks face extra risks in an intervention-happy environment.

I don’t want to bore anyone here (too late, maybe???) so am happy to continue the discussion off-line if you’re interested.

Cheers

However, (my wife says) no one in their right mind has ever mistaken white coat syndrome for an emergency.

I’ll add that a hospital serves *everyone*, and you’d be surprised, shocked and saddened by the folks who fall on the unfortunate end of that spectrum.

There are some emergencies that have nothing to do with the practitioner or environment. However, these are (thankfully) few. Evidence strongly supports the position that most obstetrical “emergencies” are in fact iatrogenic, i.e. either caused by, or aggravated by, the practitioner/care environment. A very simple example is the “white-coat” response to procedures, e.g. blood pressure going up in a clinical setting, as compared to the lower pressure found in a less clinical setting.

I would argue that obstetrics is by FAR the most iatrogenic of all the health disciplines. As a former midwife, I admit my bias here. But the evidence really does speak for itself.