My Story: How I Survived a Homebirth Assisted by an MD by Jody VanNess
When I was expecting my fourth baby, I wanted to have a home delivery as I had done for my other children. I believe for mothers and babies considered low risk at the start of labor, home is the safest place. To all those who say "You are so *brave* to have your babies at home--I could never do that," I can only respond, "you are so *brave* to have your babies in a hospital. Between the supine position for the benefit of the fetal monitor, the curling up in a ball on your side for an hour for the benefit of the cranky anesthesiologist, the Pitocin you will almost certainly be given, you will be lucky to get out of there without dangerous dips in the baby's heart rate and a C-section."
I asked a female MD who works in an emergency room to attend my homebirth--the midwife who was supposed to have attended my third birth missed it because she lives three hours away. This would be the doctor's first homebirth and her first time to give prenatal care. She was pretty laid back during our prenatal visits at her home, although I didn't agree with the long glucose tolerance test she insisted on. But I went along, "passed" the test, and we made it to the big day.
My previous "miss" in mind, I decided to call her when I was pretty sure I was in labor and not wait until I was absolutely positive. She arrived in the middle of the night with her husband (he didn't want her traveling at 1 a.m. over back roads alone) and her apprentice daughter in tow. When she checked me at 2 a.m. and found me only 2 centimeters dilated, I was offended that she acted like I had called her too soon. She knew my history and she knew my plan to call when I was only "pretty sure" I was in labor. She said, "Well, if you are in labor, it is very early, and it will be a long time." My husband told her he had seen me in labor enough times to know when I was, and this was it.
I went outdoors with my friend. We walked for two blocks including up a hill, returned home, then repeated the trip three more times. At 4 a.m. the doctor checked me and I was 4 cm. I walked my route five more times, and an hour later I was 7 cm. The walking had done the trick. I had an urge to push soon after, and the doctor said it would be OK if I did it gently. She said the pushes didn't have the right sound (maybe I was holding my breath) and to pant through them.
I got into a hot shower, partly to control the pain and the urge to push, but after about 20 minutes, to push without her knowing. When I came out at 6 a.m. she pronounced me fully dilated and I was allowed to push. She was patient, gentle and encouraging during the second stage, which took 30 minutes. (Baby number one had a second stage of five hours, baby number two had a second stage of five minutes, and baby three had a second stage of about one minute.) My beautiful baby boy was born at 6:30 a.m.
The moral of the story is that although she was there for me and I felt safe having my homebirth, she knew little about normal labor and nothing about labor support. Happily for me, I had already delivered three babies at home and given labor support to my friend on three occasions, so I knew what to do. I got a lot of support from my husband and from my friend, who had had natural, midwife attended births. I believe if it had been my first baby, I would have had a terrible experience with this care provider. My family is complete, so I don't have to worry about finding a midwife in the future, but I hope for a day when women everywhere will be able to choose a midwife attended homebirth.
Reprinted from Midwifery Today E-News (Vol 1 Issue 29, July 16, 1999)
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