How natural can a hospital birth be?

[Emmea12uk]

I wanted a natural honme birth as my last hospital birth was so traumatic but that has slipped through my fingers due to small baby with very small head and gd. I have put my foot down and said if there is no clinical reason why I have to be on a labour ward then I will agree to be in hospital on the proviso I go no where that ward. They have birthing suits elsewhere in the hospital for low risk labours so I will have one of those.

In my heart I am frightened of that place and still traumatized from my son's birth. I don't want this fear to get in the way and I don't want to be pushed around. I don't want drugs in my face. I dont want them to whip her out, cut the cord and rush placenta delivery like they can't wait to get me out of there. I want things to go the way nature intended and at it's own pace

What can I do to stop things being overmedicalised and frightening?

 

[Tacey]

I had a very natural birth in hospital. I thought really carefully about my birth plan, and went in prepared to force it in the faces of anyone who'd deal with me. As it was, I was really lucky, and the midwives looked at it straight away and suggested ways to help me have a natural birth. They suggested going in the pool, which was amazing! They were also completely unfazed by my requests to delay cord clamping and have immediate skin to skin.

I suppose you never really know what will happen. The best thing to do is make sure that your birth partner is completely informed about what you want, and is prepared to make sure it happens. Staying at home for as long as possible is really important too. Hope all goes well!

 

[Mervs Mum]

A good, clear, precise, (aka demanding!) written birth plan and a birth partner who understands exactly what you want to achieve. They need to really understand what is really important to you and what you are happy to let slide so they can be ready to step in at any point while you are labouring and giving birth.

 

[kiwimama]

A good, clear, precise, (aka demanding!) written birth plan and a birth partner who understands exactly what you want to achieve. They need to really understand what is really important to you and what you are happy to let slide so they can be ready to step in at any point while you are labouring and giving birth.

Agree with all this. Could add that you need to get your birth partner to remember BRAIN when it comes to the hospital staff wanting you to have intervention:
B - Benefits (what are the benefits of this intervention)
R - Risks (what are the risks of this intervention)
A - Alternatives (what alternatives (natural?) can we use instead of this intervention)
I - Instinct (use your instinct, does this intervention feel right to you or wrong to you.)
N - Nothing (sometimes it is best just to do nothing. Ask if you can have 2 hours (or whatever) to see how things resolve if it isn't an emergent issue.)

 

[Mervs Mum]

I have adapted it to TBRAINS.

All of the above but with ....

T for 'Time - is there time to talk or is this a GENUINE emergency'

and finally...

S for 'Smile!'

 

[somedaymama]

In my experience, the most important thing is a care provider that understands and respects your wishes. It turned out that my midwife couldn't attend my birth, so I had a different midwife. She ended up having to leave half way through my labor, but she left very clear instructions for the nurses and doctor that would be there for my birth. I had no vaginal checks, only intermittent monitoring, and I gave birth in the position that I wanted (without drugs). I delivered my baby up onto my chest and was able to clean her off myself, then breastfeed right away.

Natural births in hospitals are possible! I did this in the US (Illinois, to be exact), and we aren't exactly known for being natural-friendly. The hospital I birthed at has a ~30% c-section rate.

 

[Bumpontherun]

I think it might not be as hard as you think I gave birth in a birthing centre (in a hospital) and I didn't have a natural birth (I had diamorphine at my request) and I needed a syntocin drip (I had been in labour for 72 hrs and it took 2 hrs of pushing on synto to get my baby out so I think I probably did need it) BUT as soon as I arrived midwives asked me what I wanted, including biological 3rd stage. They recommended the pool and didn't in anyway force analgesia on me. Also they knew how important not having an epidural and having a vaginal birth was to me and they really supported me in that even when there was pressure from medical staff.

I want a natural birth this time around around and I feel confident that I will be able to achieve this in the same hospital where I gave birth last time. I think a lot of midwives (maybe even the majority) want ladies to have natural births and if you are clear about what you want then they will do their best to support that. Hope I'm not proven wrong!!!

 

[Nyn]

Mine was all thanks to the amazing midwife that came with me to the hospital. She was like a tiger between me and the staff She even hid the pitocin injection for after birth (something that's done by routine here) so I didn't have that.