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Angle where I live you can decide on either midwife prenatal care or your OBGYN. A midwife here schedules hour long appointments and talks to you about every aspect of pregnancy, emotions, fears, answers all the questions. Their goal is to educate and empower the woman and help them understand all the physical and emotional changes a woman goes through in pregnancy. AN OBGYM for the most part, just weighs you, takes your BP, and blood, tests your urine. You are in and out of their office in a matter of minutes. For my 1st I had my OBGYN and my 2nd and 3rd a midwife. Boy what a difference. I think my 2nd birth was so quick and easy as I really understood and respected the process of labor. Of course it was painful and somewhat scary but nothing compared to being in the hospital. The major difference was I was in control, I could do what I wanted. I could walk, bathe, cook something, open the window and stick my head out. I was comfortable in my own home with my own germs : ) and smells. Like Mc D's slogan, I was having it "my way." I think simply that in itself makes a huge difference.

Still dont understand how your 2nd DD was a home birth but shes not due until next month. I have an absolutely wonderful OBGYN. He spends over 45 minutes talking and explaining things every appointment. He does exactly what you describe your midwife as doing. So its not fair to sterotype OBs. And its the nurses who do everything you listed as the OBs doing so the OB has more time with the patients.

Newbaby I didn't sterotype I simply stated how things are where I live. Any maybe I was confusing but for the record: I have 2 daughters ages 4 and 2 and I am pregnant with my 3rd daughter due end of February 2009.

Okay I see where the confusion stems from I did say 2nd DD due next month...that was meant to say 3rd DD due next month. Oooops!

Oh ok. I thought you probably meant 3rd daughter due next month but wasnt sure. My 2nd daughter is due next month.

im also due next month lol! feb 14th but she will be here a few days sooner by the looks of things

sky: like i said, being induced saved my baby's life, so luna's holier than thou att_tude towards inducing can bite it. but as i said in a later post, i know the definition of "natural birth" and it is limited or no medication. same as my att_tude towards abortion, i don't believe in inducing for convenience, but if it saves the mother's or baby's life, why the hell not, right? seems like a pretty good reason, wouldn't you say? angel: yes they have to monitor the baby for 24 hours because even with antibiotics there is still a less than 1% chance of the baby getting the group b strep and they don't want to take any chances. trust me, you'll enjoy the rest lol. i was admitted on a monday and we were discharged on a saturday due to my 4th degree tearing and the baby being jaundiced. v: to me it doesn't just sound like they're being judgemental, they are being judgemental. iona: grats. you obviously didn't read a lot about group b strep and what it can do to your baby short and long term. hopefully you made the right choice. you could have refused the test, so why bother getting tested when you were just going to b__w off the result? tell me, does putting a mother and child in danger empower women? i think it's empowering that we have the choice to do what will keep us and our babies safe. THAT makes a good mother. not someone who would rather put their child at risk. and you can take that to mean what you'd like. i wouldn't call the pain i had unbearable, but it was more than i was comfortable with and it's a good thing i did take the meds because a 4th degree tear with no pain meds and then an episiotomy along with my tailbone breaking would have been a bit much. tell me iona, was your baby as big as mine? not many women like to push out toddler sized babies with no pain meds. and stop trying to scare angel. not everyone has a horrible experience giving birth in a hospital. just because your doctor apparently sucked doesn't mean hers does. oh and a midwife is medical intervention. why can't you just tough it out like the women that don't have anyone but themselves, the baby and the husband there? what you did isn't technically considered a natural birth either. "AN OBGYM for the most part, just weighs you, takes your BP, and blood, tests your urine. You are in and out of their office in a matter of minutes." you were stereotyping. you didn't say that yours did that. you are generalizing OB docs. mine is far better than what you describe and she is constantly busy yet makes time for every patient. angel: you are doing what your maternal instincts are telling you is right for you and your baby and i don't think you need to explain that to anyone. especially nitpicks like iona and lunamoo.

Teddy- I had a really bad tear with my daughter and my pain meds didn't work, it hurts sooo bad! I am so happy your pain meds worked for you:) Ioan: sounds like someone should look into getting those docs fired as no one should ever force a woman to do anything during labor, or scream at her. When I was induced both times my nurses were very kind and always asked me what it was I wanted. My first birth was kind of scary but only because I had no idea what I was in for, it wasn't bad though. My second birth was very comfortable. So when it comes right down to it, each birthing experience is different induction or not.

heaven: well, the epidural worked but they gave me vicodin and that didn't work lol. the ice packs were absolute heaven to me. what i thought was funny was i had torn and then they went ahead and cut me more. it was like insult to injury. my nurses were awesome when i was induced. the one i had overnight was so great. i was starving because i hadn't gotten a chance to eat before i was admitted and she gave me as much jello as i wanted until midnight and around 4am i woke up starving and she snuck me jello and a 7up. i guess the docs and the nurses make all the difference.

Teddy you sound so defensive and agressive. Listen I did a lot of reading and discussing about Group B and you should too. Just don't listen to what one doc says, really do your research! That is why people seek out 2nd and even 3rd opinions about many things, not just health related. Anyway it is not even proven that antibiotics prevent a newborn from contracting GB. In fact there can be inherent complications for a fetus taking antibiotics not to mention a risk to the mother such as an allergic reaction. Who do you think profits from all this new hype about GB?!?! Pharmaceutical companies make billions on this. Yes, it is a business as well--medicine that is. In many countries one is not even tested for GB. Heck the NHS doesn't even routinely test for this--meaning you can have it done on your own initiative and pay for it. And that's simply not nice to say I am not a "good" mother because I do not follow YOUR precautions. Anyway...I just say be informed.

iona no the NHS dont routinly test for group B but if you have ANY swab in pregnancy for instance just for thrush like i did they test for it and you do not have to pay for it thats how they found out i had it...............why they dont do it routinly i dont know i think its very stupid, and no matter how many opinion you get group B can cause death in a newborn! obviously beacsue you ahd a tramitc birth with your first which was in hospital and then had a nice birth at home it doesnt mean hospitals with give you a bad birth experiance..............im sure there are women who had a lovley birth because of pain mends! im going to use teddy as an example ( hope u dont mind lol) if she went completly natrual im sure her birth would of been alot more stressfull ect for her im sure with the epi she was able to enjoy it alot more

Angelmonkey- as I said before, I had planned a natural birth but it didn't end that way. The thing is, if you are really a b___thole to doctors and nurses then they get an att_tude with women like that. Well, I let them know what I preferred and at times insisted on things, but was never a b___thole, so when they had to force the issue of pain meds on me, they did so kindly, and we found ways to compromise. I had a wonderful birthing experience though it was full of fear because things were going wrong. But it was my body's fault not the hospital's. Iona-I really truly understand you p.o.v and I'm happy you found something that works for you. I would love to try a homebirth some day. Everyone is different, and we must respect all...well..most opinions. I believe Angelmonkey is going to have a great birthing experience just from the way her midwife sounds, and her att_tude going into. I also believe that will affect her labor and the well being of her baby.

Teddy- They cut me more when I tore as well, my doctor kept saying "so so sorry!" But my daughter had a big old melon head :-D

Teddy- they cut you after you tear if you have 3rd or forth degree tearing that extends into the deep tissue and muscle. They did the same with me.

i am still deciding on wether to accept to be induced..........i mean her weight is no longer an issue she seems to have evened out lol, but because of the severe itching rash that keeps me up all night makes it difficult to go places as clothes irritate it ect they said they will book a date to induce me on my next appoinment ( 10th) i will only be a few days of my due date but it kind of means i,ll be induced for my own sake but then again the stress its causing can be bad for the baby? im in 2 minds about it at the moment as its not really a big medical reason but it kind of is, also here they dont give you piciton they use a hormonal gel twice if the doesnt work they use a drip with another hormone in, i cant remember what there called but i know there what your body produces to make your body go in to labour

a___l, dont quote me on any of this because i am going off of memory, you might want to google it.The gel you are talking about is prostaglandin gel i am asumeing....that is alot better to induce labor then pitocin, or cervadil, which is mostly what we use in america....the prostoglandin gel is alot more natural, because it is the real hormone along with oxytocin that gets produced to start labor...Oxytocin is what a woman produced when they orgasm causeing the uterus to contract and prostaglandins are what is in the male sperm that causes the cervix to soften and even cause contractions...So in my opinion (but like i said google it) it is the safest and most natural way of induction....keep in mind to that it being your first child they may have to induce you anyways. So i dont think induction is a bad path to take....THE DOWNFALL: i believe with the prostaglandin gel it will cause you even longer labor because it is slow setting. they insert it then make you not move for a few hours to make sure it stays in place, then it can take 5-6 hours for labor to actually start...and thats if it does start...make sure you talk to your dr about the other method they will use if the prostaglandin gel doesnt induce labor for you