Homebirth Midwives?

[Marnita Causby]

I want to have a home birth with my next child. I'm trying to get some names of some midwives in the area. I live in Gaston county. Also, can some of you talk to me about your experience with having a homebirth and back up doctors and so forth. My husband and I saw The Business of Being Born recently and now my husband doesn't have quite as many reservations about it as he used to. So, we are looking at all of our options for where to birth our 2nd child. Also, did any of you have gestational diabetes or high blood pressure and still have a home birth? I would appreciate any information that you can provide. Thanks.

Marnita

[Gina Grothoff]

I had a homebirth with my third child this past January. It was my first homebirth. It was a great experience! I did not have maternity coverage and so I did not have a back up doctor. I did go to a family practice doctor early in my pregnancy and this turned out to be helpful for having proof of pregnancy in order to get his birth certificate ( I live in Meck County). I did not have any complications with my pregnancy. I was very comfortable with my midwife and if I had had complications, I was confident she would let me know what she could handle and what she could not. She has taken people to the hospital- or gone with them- should it seam that it would not be safe to stay at home. I met with another area midwife and am sure she is this same way. I suggest you go meet with more than one midwife and talk to them. It was very conforting to my husband to hear them talk ( and to me). We were both uncertain and that is why it took us to number three to have a home birth.
I love talking about it. Feel free to ask me any questions.

[Lisa Winstead]

Marnita,

Hi! First I would like to say how wonderful I think it is that you are choosing to have your child at home! I had both my boys at home, well the oldest at home & the second in a jacuzzi tub at a popular hotel chain! Water-births are AWESOME! But I used a Midwife(MW) for both because we didn't have insurance & we couldn't afford a hospital even if we had wanted one, but I don't think I would ever want one now!

I did not have my boys in NC however, I had them in TN which does allow midwife assisted homebirths. (If you know anyone in the Knoxville or surrounding area looking for a MW, I know the best one ever!) So I can't say anything about what to expect from the legal side of things here. Nor did I have any complications. But I did have a friend who had High blood pressure & possibly Gestational Diabetes who wanted a homebirth, in TN, but none of the MW's wanted to touch her. They told her to go to a DR. but she decided to have an UNassisted homebirth, which everyone told her was very, very risky! Fortunately for her our mutual friend, who is a Chiropractor, Bradley Method Childbirth instructor & has had 3 children at home, agreed to be there because things went badly! The ambulance was called & they went to the hospital because the baby & mother were in distress! Mother & baby survived & all is well now, thank God! This is why I think that MWs are PRICELESS members of our community! But if one tells you that you NEED a Dr. & a hospital, believe them!

I did have a Dr. for the first part of both my pregnancies for pre-natal care but once I found a midwife I started seeing her for all the pre-natal stuff & no long used the Dr.! It took me a while to find a MW because I had just moved to TN right before I got preg. & I didn't want to use the first MW for the second birth(she just wasn't the right fit for me, she was just the only one I could find on short notice!). So my advice to you is to make sure you know what YOU want to happen for YOUR birth experience, perhaps write out a "birth plan" in advance of finding a MW(if you haven't already done so), so you can find the right MW for YOU! Since this isn't your first child you should have some idea of what you do & don't like and what will work best for you. Which I think will make it easier to find the right MW.

If you have not yet found a MW I know of at least 2 people on this forum that may be able to help you find one. You can email me for the details.

Happy Gestating,
Lisa
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