Would you rather have a natural birth or a hospital birth?

1. 62

   Michelle Jacobsposted 11 years ago

   Would you rather have a natural birth or a hospital birth?
   
   

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2. 36

   ChristinSposted 11 years ago

   In our state we are not allowed by law to do home birth, so I took the next best route, a midwife who did a water birth in a hospital. It was an amazing experience - no drugs, no one screaming at you to push, 50 different people in and out constantly, painful episiotomies etc. She was all about natural and I was SO grateful.
   
   I was able to move, eat, drink whatever I wanted to do within reason and it was a much more pleasant experience than the "by the book" hospital birth of my first child. We are not built or meant to give birth lying down on a bed, it makes gravity work against you.  Squatting, kneeling etc is much easier on the body! Water makes labor SO much easier without the need for narcotics and epidurals and all that stuff.
   
   My midwife was amazing and she was very good at allowing me to do things my own way and having as little hospital interference as possible.  In fact, the nurses were a bit peeved that I was up and walking around 20 minutes after his birth .
   
   If it were legal here and I was inclined to have another child I would do a home birth with a certified midwife in a heartbeat. Unfortunately, our state seems to believe pregnancy and birth are a "disease" or medical emergency instead of the very natural process it actually is.

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3. 79

   Onlinemidwifeposted 11 years ago

   I really think it depends on the hospital you are booked at, and whether they give you any choices. There are some maternity units that have birthing pools in them so you could have a natural delivery in a hospital, the one I work at has 3 birthing pools but we also offer a home birth option too to low risk women from the community midwives. I actually work on a very busy high risk delivery unit, we try to keep things as normal as possible ie. keeping mobile, using the birthing ball, pool, mats etc even if there are some complications, a woman can be monitored closely and still have a natural birth if that what she wants. I work in the UK so I dont know what the stance is in other countries such as the USA, all I know is from some of the programmes on Television in the US you see alot of women having epidurals and being stuck to the bed!

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   1. 62

      Michelle Jacobsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      Thank you for your great answer; I am completely unfamiliar with the system in the UK; there are no hospitals like that where I am from, and it's great to hear that such establishments exist and are available to women!

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4. 61

   duffsmomposted 11 years ago

   Having had problems births, I would prefer a hospital.  The last time my daughter gave birth, something tore and she almost bled out--they called for a resuscitation cart.  My point is that usually nothing goes wrong with giving birth but when it does it is fast, furious and deadly. I would not risk it.

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   1. 62

      Michelle Jacobsposted 11 years agoin reply to this

      I definitely understand your concern. Thank you for answering my question!

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