You dont have to do anything - its your body and your baby

[rfm08]

that my poor baby had to deal with my huge boobs.

that is so very disgracefull of a midwife (of all people) to say that! i hope you told her where to stick it

[SamiH]

without this being a public v private debate .... i agree with the OP sentiments - KNOW your body, KNOW your options, KNOW the risks, EDUCATE yourself, be FLEXIBLE if the goal posts change during your labour and don't be hard on yourself because you are doing what is best for you and your baby after all - what better could you do than that???

I have had all 3 in public system (1 in Vic, 2 in Canberra), and with all 3 had lovely care - third time round the best experience I have ever had - but I think cos the middies knew I KNEWwhat my options were ie my waters broke - I went in to have monitoring, talking induction and staying in the next lunchtime if no contractions - I said nope I am going home with anti's and will come in daily for the next 3 days for monitoring - lo and behold, everything kicked in 24 hours later and had a beautiful 6 hour drug free natural labour. Same scenario with my 2nd, but I didn't know I coudl push my way into going home and was induced - but I am not angry about it - i just DIDN't KNOW!

Hope bubs has arrived for your Megan

[MeganH]

Nope no bubs yet. Lol. but im sure he/she will know when the right time is.

I feel so glad my thread is being read and enjoyed by so many people. It really makes me feels good.

Im thoroughly enjoying reading the repsonses.

[dust]

My comment about being treated like a piece was meat was specifically directed towards the general hospital and their treatment of patients where I LIVE - not every general hospital.

my apologies Arimeh!!!!!

arfm08- i was in bit of a shock & took it personally For whatever reason some in the medical profession just aren't size friendly (at the time my BMI would have been in overweight)

Megan wondering if today bub decided to arrive?

[MeganH]

Nope no baby yet. But we still have 9 hours til midnight LOL! Im trying Im trying ;-)

[Mel4d]

Megan, thanks so much for your post.
I am 6wks with my 2nd pregnancy.
My first is 7 1/2 & I was totally pushed around from start to finish when I was preg with her & even beyond to the point where I had a early childhood centre nurse show me how to put my 4month old to sleep... Like I had never done that before. The worst part was everything she did was in contradiction with what I knew my baby preferred & so instead of her going to sleep she ended up screaming.
I am still working on the whole empowering myself but I know the second I can leave the hospital with my baby after the birth I will be outta there.
Now can you just tell me how to get my partner to be more assertive & not allow everyone to walk all over him?

[Cass72]

Great thread. I had DS (14) in a public hospital in Brisbane - the birth was fine, the midwife was wonderful. It was the aftercare that really sucked. Looking back I should have been more assertive but I was young and didn't know any better.

This time round I'm going private. Lucky for me DH knows exactly what I want and he doesn't let anyone push me around. He also asks way more questions than I do to make sure we both get an accurate understanding of what the doc is saying. Sorry, I do tend to go on about him....

[SamiH]

I am still working on the whole empowering myself but I know the second I can leave the hospital with my baby after the birth I will be outta there.
Now can you just tell me how to get my partner to be more assertive & not allow everyone to walk all over him?

get a doula - big difference - I did for number 3 and she worked brilliantly with DH

[MeganH]

get a doula - big difference - I did for number 3 and she worked brilliantly with DH

:yeahthat: A doula or an independant midwife are invaluable.

[MeganH]

Hi Girls, just thought Id drop by quickly and update you all.

Im sure some of you maybe have read the birth announcement and know some details already.

Anyway, Emily Ann was born at 6:20am on 8/8/09
She weighed 8lb 7oz or 3.8kg, 52 cm long, 36.5 head circ.

Emily was born by c-section so unfortunately for me things didnt go according to plan a or plan b but went according to plan c. Please dont feel too bad for me not getting my HBA2C as I am accepting and when you read my birth story (which I will post maybe tomorrow) you will understand too why plan c was the best for me. I am recovering well and breastfeeding is going really well so far (although right now my boobs feels like big watermelons coz my milk has come in).

I am still in hospital as I write this, although I could go home tomorrow but I have decided to stay 4 days rather than 3 to give me a bit of extra Emily/mummy time. So I will go home on Wednesday.

So I didnt have my HBA2C but I did have a Home/water labour with empowered c-section.

[Visitor8]

well done mumma! Can't wait to read your birth story!

[JellyBean]

Thanks for the great thread Megan. I agree with you wholeheartedly. It's frightening how little people know about the biology of birth- ie - that the baby releases the hormones to stimulate labour when he/she is ready - hence the reason so many babies become distressed when artificially induced simply because they are 'overdue' - according to a scan taken by a machine to predict what is only an estimate at best anyway!!
Hopefully one day the tables will turn and more and more women will become educated and empowered enough to trust in their bodies and their babies, and find their voice - instead of blindly succumbing to what the system or a person in a white coat says to suit their agenda.

Glad to hear you were able to labour the way you wanted, if not the birth itself.
And congratulations on number 3!!!

[helle]

I've said this before, but I think its sad that women choose to go private and with an ob simply because they've got the insurance, without considering the risks.

What is the risk of using an Ob?

[JellyBean]

The answer to your question is controversial Teagz, but in a nutshell, you wil find that proponents of natural birthing favour woman-centred, midwife-led birthing as it has much lower intervention rates than obstetrician-led care.
The general consensus is that Obs have a bit of a reputation for favouring artificial interventions (ie - inducing labour instead of allowing it to happen naturally) in order to fit in with their apparent adgendas, despite the risks this may pose to mother and baby. Consequently this can lead to a cascade of intervention, with Ob-led births having a significantly higher c/section rate than midwife-led births.
Of course that is not to say that all Obs are pro-intervention for no apparent reason. Of course they vary greatly.
There is great article here on belly belly which can help you to decide on a Ob if you are considering that route of care.
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregna...k-obstetrician

[helle]

The answer to your question is controversial Teagz, but in a nutshell, you wil find that proponents of natural birthing favour woman-centred, midwife-led birthing as it has much lower intervention rates than obstetrician-led care.
The general consensus is that Obs have a bit of a reputation for favouring artificial interventions (ie - inducing labour instead of allowing it to happen naturally) in order to fit in with their apparent adgendas, despite the risks this may pose to mother and baby. Consequently this can lead to a cascade of intervention, with Ob-led births having a significantly higher c/section rate than midwife-led births.
Of course that is not to say that all Obs are pro-intervention for no apparent reason. Of course they vary greatly.
There is great article here on belly belly which can help you to decide on a Ob if you are considering that route of care.
https://www.bellybelly.com.au/pregna...k-obstetrician

Thanks Jellybean! I was just curious to know why an Ob would be considered a risk. It probably sounds niave of me but I'm not having a birth plan. Other than our plan to have our baby come out of me alive, so we have already decided on the care of a Dr. If I have a natural birth with no intervention then it's a bonus. I have heard of too many people researching to the depths and coming out of the otherside disapointed with their outcome because it hasn't gone how they planned, and I don't want to feel that way when I have something so wonderful I could/should be celebrating instead.