Why did you choose unassisted versus assisted home birth?

Eva - posted on 01/06/2011

my first UC, the MW was late. lol 2nd was planned b/c it was illegal for a MW assisted birth here ( Wyoming) and the 3rd is planned UC b/c my MW can't attend and I don't want anyone else! lol My Hubby, a Doula friend and another friend will be here and I'm super happy with that!! I'm a Doula in Training and would LOVE to see an UC someday! lol

Amanda - posted on 07/21/2010

I chose Unassisted home birth half way through my second pregnancy. I had a bad birth experience with my first child, from my dr not showing up, getting yelled at by the dr for not coming in sooner, (my labour only lasted 3 1/2 hours) to my own dr not recognizing me the next day. i said i didnt want drugs and they tried to give me pitocin to speed up an already fast labour (which i had to decline three times), demural when i refused an epidural and laughing gas. For months i couldnt remember the moment passed me my daughter and i was sent home less then 24 hours later. When i was pregnant with my second daughter i tried to find a midwife and found you had to book as soon as you found out you were pregnant and so began searching for info on unassisted birth. I became totally intrigued with it and my husband was surprisingly complient when i told him my idea to go it alone. I gave birth to my second daughter after only an hour and a half of labour in the safety of my own home, with my husband and mother present. There was no scrambling ot get out the door, or screaming through contractions. My husband put music on for me, and sprayed water on my back while i laboured in the tub, my daughter slipped out into my hands after 2 1/2 pushes. I got to have a shower, put on pjs and crawl into my own bed with my baby to breastfeed soon after and recovered much faster than with my first. I trusted my body to do what its built to do and everything was perfect. My daughter woke up to a new sister that morning with no one but family and close friends surrounding her with love.

Allison - posted on 07/19/2010

@ Cierra - Wow, I can't imagine how awful it would be to have an unsupportive midwife. We also had a great one for our first, and I just don't know if she can be equaled! Since, I had severe complications, I really feel I must have a trained person there again next time...but they better be good!!! It's wonderful to hear everyone's positive UC stories :)

Kymberly - posted on 07/17/2010

money but also after informing my self about the birth having someone there would only be an interference that would cause problems.

Cierra - posted on 05/10/2010

I had a midwife assisted in Houston (she was the absolute best ever). I moved to Dallas and searched for a midwife there. I settled on one about midway through my pregnancy and she gave me such emotional grief and then dropped me as a client at 38 weeks. After much prayer, research, and calling to other midwives in the area, we decided to UC and found it to be so simple and peaceful that we will always choose UC now. I just had my third by UC last month and it was by far the best labor I have ever heard of.

Allison - posted on 03/18/2010

Hi Chelsea! Thanks for the info! Are you in the US? What state? I am SO frustrated with the laws regarding midwifery; I'm in CA and as I understand it, it is technically illegal for midwives to attend home-births here without direct physician supervision, as well, but of course no physicians can do that because of malpractice, etc... Anyway, luckily there are still a lot of midwives here who are willing to take the risk and trust their clients.

But it was VERY expensive out of pocket, ~$3500, because of course insurance will pay for 0 toward home-birth care. Still, our midwife did just sit and read and sleep through most of the labor, only came in when I asked for her, including during the pushing and birth :) My mother was also there and a huge help. We are moving to Colorado now, and my family is all in South Dakota, so I am exploring birth options in different places. The cost is definitely a big factor for us, as well - I wonder if we can save enough to pay a midwife when we decide to have another. Also, I had severe post-partum hemorrhage followed by VERY poor emergency room care after my son's birth, so it has left me with a lot of questions about what I want to do next time around!

Chelsea - posted on 03/18/2010

Well, it's actually illegal for midwives to deliver babies here. But the more I learned about birth, the more I realized that I didn't want anyone but my husband anywhere near me during the most vulnerable time of my life. And IF I was able to have a midwife, I would rather her sit in another room. I wasn't willing to pay someone to sit anf read or watch TV in my house, and I don't know of any midwives who would agree to that anyway.