1st baby at birthing centers - Please share your stories!

[ArcaneAscent]

Hey, all!

I am currently 30 weeks pregnant with my first child, and I am planning on having my baby at a birthing center. My significant other was wondering about how many other women out there have had their 1st babies at birthing centers though. Knowing that all your subsequent children are typically born quicker and quicker and usually easier, it would make sense that mothers consider going natural their 2nd or 3rd (etc.) times around as opposed to their 1st. Also, my significant other was thinking too that 1st-time moms might be more cautious and want the security of being in a hospital.

So, I was hoping to hear from others here who had their 1st babies at birthing centers (or even home births too), considering that's what I'm planning on doing. Please share what you thought of it, the good and bad, along with any encouragement! Thank you!!

 

[Dill]

I haven't had him yet (just 33w5d today), but we are planning on having our baby at a birthing center instead of at the hospital. He'll be our first child.

 

[ArcaneAscent]

I haven't had him yet (just 33w5d today), but we are planning on having our baby at a birthing center instead of at the hospital. He'll be our first child.

Very cool! Congratulations and best of luck to you with your first baby at a birthing center as well!

 

[Dill]

Thanks! It just made more sense to us to go to a facility focused on natural birthing because I have medical conditions which make things like epidurals a complete non-option. Plus, a water birth should actually speed things along quite a bit!

 

[Spudtastic]

I suppose it all depends on your circumstances too. Dhs cousin had babies one and two at home with a birthing pool BUT she lived five minutes at most away from the hopsital so if there was an emergency she could get there quickly.

I live a 3+ hour drive from the hospital. If I went to the birthing centre it is an hour nearer the hospital but we'd still have a two hour drive or an emergency airlift to get to the hospital if anything went wrong so for me the birthing centre wasn't really an option for my number one.

There are also other factors too you may want to consider.....what is your midwife system? Do you have a midwife that stays with you throughout your labour and is completely encouraging of your natural choices? Does your hospital have a birthing pool or a birthing room (on One Born Every Minute this hospistal had a cool set up with ropes, swis ball etc etc). How do you feel you would birth in a hospital? Can you do a tour of the hospital and birthing centre?

On the other end of the scale I have a couple of friends whose babies would have died if their baby didn't get emergency treatment or a caesarian. However.....if your birthing unit is next to the hospital then you can easily get there.

Just a few thoughts for you anyway.

For me my husband was quite nervous and really wanted me in a hospital (again related to our distance from the hospital from the birthing unit) so for his peace of mind I just went to the hospital.

 

[tallybee]

This will be my 3rd planned home birth. I've just never seen a reason to go to hospital when there was no benefit to it. Hopefully this one will go as smoothly as the others x

 

[MindUtopia]

I had my first at home, which was wonderful (no birth centres around here, just a hospital, though I still would have preferred to be at home). You can read my birth story, which is in my signature, if you like. What made me decide to stay at home was just that it seemed easier and safer and less painful to be at home where I felt comfortable and relaxed than to be at a hospital, which doesn't seem very relaxing at all (and actually, my daughter had to go into the hospital when she was very small, nothing to do with the birth, and it was in fact a really awful place to be, with really unsupportive, intrusive staff, so I couldn't have imagined having to give birth there!).

It was nice because it was so relaxed and actually I found it to be relatively easy because I was so relaxed (certainly it was easier than I expected it to be). I was really comfortable up until I started to push, and even then it was really just tiring and intense, but not painful (never needed any pain relief). It's just a weird feeling of your body doing something that you have no control over. I pushed for 4 hours! So if that wasn't painful or too much, nothing is. I liked that it was quiet and comfortable. No beeping things or alarms going off. When I was in hospital with my daughter, there was this alarm they would sound every time they needed staff to come to a room for an emergency (this was in the maternity ward, my daughter was in like the baby ped ward, which is all together in the same floor). And you could hear it everywhere. It would wake us up in the middle of the night! I was like, god, that would suck if you were actually in labour, just to be panicking every time you heard that alarm go off (usually it was nothing, they'd all go back to drinking their tea like 2 minutes later).

And I also feel very lucky that because I was at home, I had a really positive first birth experience. Too many women think they have to have their first babies in the hospital because it's 'just what you do'. And then it turns out to be a really negative experience because of unnecessary intervention, and then they do decide to have birth centre or home births next time out of fear of that happening again. I think it's really powerful to be able to make that choice the first time, and not out of fear, but because it's what seems sensible and best to you. There's no reason to go through something really awful before you make it better the next time around. You can and should do it the way you want the first time.

So I think that sounds wonderful for you!

 

[Spudtastic]

I'd actually love to birth at home if only the hospital were nearer.

 

[Dill]

I originally wanted a home birth, but realized that it just wasn't a wise move. I'm a minimum 1-hour's drive from the nearest hospital that time of year (and it's a hazardous drive), and my condition has the potential to create added complications. The birthing facility is just down the street from the hospital, though, in case any sort of an emergency arises.

 

[jstarr]

I think it's s great thing for first time moms, the only thing I would say is to spend as much time at home as you can because they tend to kick you out if you're in there much longer than 24h

 

[HopefulEm]

I went to a birth centre with my first because I wanted to have a natural birth but since it was our first we wanted to be closer to medical care just in case. (Otherwise I would have gone for a home birth.) The birth centre we went to was actually attached to a hospital, though that wasn't a necessity for me. Honestly, I feel safer giving birth away from medical intervention, so a hospital wouldn't have been right for us.

My first birth was fine, bar some arguments with the midwife on call. We were able to switch midwives though and then it was fine. For this baby I'm going for a home birth.

To have a good labour, you need to be able to relax, so whatever environment gives you that, go for it.

 

[minties]

I was too overweight for the birth centre otherwise I would have gone to one with my son. I instead went to a birthing suit within a hospital, that had pools etc.

You have your own chosen midwife through pregnancy and birth here, and they can attend to you at home, hospital or birthing centre which is pretty cool.

 

[DaisyDreamer]

This my first and I also chose a birth center. Ideally I'd want to have a home birth but given that we are living in a travel trailer there's not much of a place to do it. Took a tour of it the first prenatal appt I had with my MW. There's a bed, bath, yoga ball and plenty of space to walk around. Very cozy!

Before I had heard other mothers' perspective on hospital v natural birthing I knew that I did not want to be in a hospital! Generally I just disagree with their protocols and having 50+ people rushing around while I'm trying to deliver just seems stressful.

The hospital is 5 min away from the birth center should anything emergent happen. The MW at the center will pop in and out until I start crowning leaving alone time with DH and I. We are planning on using the tub and a massager obn my back to relax and speed the process along.

Mostly I am nervous about the pain--the worst I've experienced thus far was acute appendicitis leading to an emergency appendectomy. But all in all, birth is a beautiful natural thing and as long as I understand what my body is doing then it should take a lot of the perception of pain away.

 

[lynnikins]

I had my first two in a midwife led unit attached to the main maternity unit at my hospital, the other three have all been homebirths

 

[BunnyN]

I had my first and second at home with an experienced independent MW. We also live close to the hospital. We are planning our 3rd home birth in June. We didn't start off planning a home birth with our first but after visiting the hospital I realised they were not supportive of natural birth and their intervention happy attatude scared me.

 

[icegurl470]

I had my first at a birth center attached to a hospital. I just had my 2nd and first labor was definitely longer and more tiring but not more painful if that makes you feel better. I labored in the tub both times and I highly recommend just make sure you have a support person ready with some cold compresses. I have a crooked spine.. scoliosis kyphosis and lordosis, so I didn't want a spinal. I labored for 12 hrs including an hour and a half of pushing, by the time the pain got unbearable it was almost time to push, so drugs wouldn't have been very beneficial and would have likely just caused things to drag out. I definitely recommend staying home as long as you can and sleeping if possible. I loved the support I got from the birthing center. Having your first natural is possible and totally worth it, just make sure the center and ur support team support your goals and don't offer you a bunch of unnecessary interventions.

 

[thexfadingpat]

I'm a ftm and am really hoping to give birth at a birth center as long as my pregnancy stays complication-free. Right now I am a perfect candidate, and hope I stay that way.