Birth facility

I went to a prenatal yoga class today. The first thirty minutes of class was spent in conversation, with the teacher telling the pregnant women things that we need to be sure to do to navigate the treacherous terrain that is a hospital birth. For instance:

"Be sure to make friends with the nurses. They're the ones who'll be with you the whole time. You won't even see the doctor until right at the end."

And, "Don't come in with a birth plan, because that makes the nurses angry, and you really need them to be on your side. One nurse actually told me that they figure if you have a birth plan, you're destined for a c-section."

And, "Give your husband a list of everything you want to have happen in the hospital, because he'll have to advocate for you. If you and your husband know what you want and it's clear that you're on the same page, the doctor is more likely to go along with you."

And, "You know that doctors are trained for the worst-case scenario, and they're going to want to treat your birth as if it is the worst-case scenario, even if it's not, so see if you can get the nurses not to call the doctor in at all until you're crowning."

I found this all quite validating (if a little annoying--didn't I pay to come in and do yoga?), because here is the outstanding facility where Biffle and I plan to have our baby:

I am very happy to announce that just last week my medical records made their way to the hands of Dr. Moore, who is willing to sign off on me giving birth at home (in SC a doctor has to sign off on every home birth or the midwife will lose her license). I will have a midwife who will be there throughout the labor, not just at the end. Biffle and I are not going to have to trick her in order for her to respect our wishes--she knows what we want and she's ideologically on board with us. She's trained to treat birth as a normal, healthy process, not a crisis waiting to happen. I'll be able to walk around, I won't be strapped to any machines, I can eat or drink throughout my labor, and I'll be in a space that feels incredibly comfortable and safe to me. And the animals will all be here.

It's funny--several people have commented on how "brave" I am for planning a homebirth for my first child. It seems a little odd to me--if we all know how fucked-up a standard hospital birth can be, then why is my choice so "brave"? It really just seems like common sense.

(For those of you who are concerned about safety, let me point you to the excellent summary of homebirth safety studies on Nashville Midwife's website.)


(Oh, and one more parenthetical comment: for those of you who don't live in Charleston and are wondering what I look like at 19 weeks pregnant, here you go. I'm in my yoga clothes, which I think makes it pretty evident that something's going on.)