I had an Unassisted Pregnancy - True Story

The trend of providing your own prenatal care is growing with a lot of Mothers who are tired of conventional and over managed pregnancies.

I was one of those mother's. No, I do not have a mental illness or a drug problem. I also had perfectly good health insurance. However, I felt I actually had very little in the way of options during my pregnancy, unless I wanted a highly managed pregnancy. I didn't. I also did not wish to
 do any prenatal testing or ultrasound's. In fact I learned to trust my intuition and trust my body to grow my baby the way it was designed to.

I know how unheard of this may sound to some. I assure you it is a growing trend with women taking back the most precious time in their lives and taking responsibility for their health.

I chose an unassisted pregnancy because my previous pregnancy was highly managed by a group of midwives which also resulted in the development of white coat induced hypertension. After that developed it was all downhill from there. I was subjected to unwanted interventions that spiraled out of control leading up to a cesarean birth. I don't know 100% that my cesarean was warranted, but I do know the health care professionals I hired (and paid) failed me miserably. After my cesarean I developed grave complications that took months for me to recover from and I could have very well died. I was not willing to repeat the process again with my second pregnancy. Being that I had a previous cesarean though, meant I was high risk right off the bat, under the care of any medical professional in my state. I really had very limited options, I wished to avoid it all and I did just that.

 
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Okay. Mortality rate for c/s is higher than for VBAC but the morbidity rate is reduced (this is for the mother). Also, the other part is about risk factors for rupture, one of which is a baby weighing more than 4 kg.

Posted on 06/03/2008 at 6:06:42 PM

Okay, here's the rest. Mortality for repeat c/s is

Posted on 06/03/2008 at 6:06:43 PM

AAAGH! 4000 g, or about 8.8 lbs), you have a multiple pregnancy, your uterus got perforated before (e.g. D&C), you had more than one previous c/s, or your last c/s was less than two years ago. You absolutely cannot have a VBAC if: your uterus ruptured previously, you had a major uterine repair previously, or you had a classical or inverted-T incision with your c/s. I know in the hospital where I work, our VBAC policy is: IV heplock (no tubing hooked up; we can put the IV in your arm so you can still use your hand), put the OR on call just in case, cross-match 2 units of blood (you won't necessarily need a transfusion; often these are never used), and continuous fetal monitoring because the most common sign of rupture is non-reassuring fetal surveillance. I still tell my moms they can choose any position and I can hold the monitors if necessary.

Posted on 06/03/2008 at 6:06:11 PM

Actually, April, here are some stats on VBAC that I found in the patient safety initiative information that we're doing for obstetrics now: VBAC success rates are about 50-85%. With a successful VBAC, the odds of a serious complication in the mother are less than 0.5%. With a failed VBAC, they're about 4%. The rate of uterine rupture or dehiscence is about 5/1000. Fetal mortality for repeat c/s is

Posted on 06/03/2008 at 6:06:41 PM

Bravo and hallelujah!

Posted on 10/17/2007 at 1:10:00 PM

Pat, was your daughter laying down? At home, women can sit, squat, and stand, which opens their pelvis farther--ideal for larger babies. Ultrasound weight estimates are rarely accurate and can be wayyy off, so having an ultrasound is rather useless as the technicians can be wrong about everything from defects to the due date.

Posted on 08/13/2007 at 5:08:00 PM

It's your body and your baby, and it sounds like you're taking precautions to do the right thing. It might pay you, though, if you have the option, to have an ultrasound done just before time to deliver to see how big the baby is. My tiny granddaughter, 5 feet tall and usually less than 100 pounds, had an 8 pound, 14 ounce baby recently. After a long, long labor, she had 3 long hours of pushing, after the doctor said it would take about 15 minutes. It really tore her up, inside and out, and the poor baby wasn't in that great shape either. She said that next time she will demand an ultrasound just before her due date and if that baby is as big as the first one, she'll demand a C-section. God's blessings on you and your baby.

Posted on 08/13/2007 at 4:08:00 PM

This is a great article, April. This is all about CONTROL, and you should retain that right with your health. Of course there were risks. There are risks no matter what route you take. I didn't have these options because I had pre-eclampsia with both kids. Now I trust my docs because I have a chronic condition, but I still maintain CONTROL. If I don't want a medication, a test or whatever, I say so. It's my body, my health, my insurance, my money, my future. Good job and good luck with that young'un.

Posted on 08/10/2007 at 5:08:00 PM

Good for you! I did this for my second son but I ended up being taken (non-helpful husband at the time) to the hospital for delivery (17 minutes). The doctors basically screamed at me for not having prenatal check ups every 2 weeks etc. Ridiculous.

Posted on 08/07/2007 at 4:08:00 PM

My first pregnancy was normal. Then I had 4 micarriages.I never had a d&c afterwards because I felt that it was extreemly intrusive and had heard that it causes scaring of the uterus, which later could prevent the emplanting of an embryo. After my 4th miscariage,my doctor insisted that I schedule a d&c and would not take no for an answer.So I scheduled it.I called her office the next day and cancelled the apt.I never heard from them. I went on to have child #2!!!

Posted on 08/06/2007 at 8:08:00 PM

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