Comments on: Liberated From Prenatal “Care”

By: missmignonne

missmignonne — Tue, 26 Oct 2010 23:19:58 +0000

I feel the same way and though it was rather unplanned, I feel so liberated not having had to deal with unnecessary poking, prodding and testing. My husband is not nearly as happy with this as I am, however. We’ll be expecting baby 3 any day now. I’m looking forward to a lovely UCbirth. Though I’ll have to pretend it was unplanned… I know hubby won’t be happy to know I plan to have our little one at home, lol.

By: Jennifer Margulis

Jennifer Margulis — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 11:12:11 +0000

Dear Saoirse,

First of all, I’m sorry you came out of that visit crying and I can TOTALLY relate to how you feel. Those early pregnancy appointments seem unnecessary for so many reasons and I think you should follow your gut feelings and not be part of that negative energy.

Here is my advice, for what it’s worth. Since you are in early pregnancy, take some time for yourself and then — in a month or two or even three — start looking for a new midwife. No midwife will turn you down (I don’t think) just because you sign on with them late in pregnancy. That happens all the time because people move or change their minds about midwives.

If you lived in southern Oregon I could give you the names of midwives who would be happy to attend your birth even if you forego prenatal visits so I think you will be able to find someone where you live (where do you live? I would be glad to ask around if you let me know) but it may not be easy. I had to do a lot of interviewing and I talked to a lot of people before I found the right ones. And some midwives in my area are still upset with me for having the gall to have an unassisted birth.

But I think–hope–that most midwives would just want to be there in the capacity and way that you need them (though they may have some requirements because of their certification) and it’s really important that you find a midwife who makes you feel listened to and taken care of. It seems like the one you thought would be that person is definitely not it.

Does this help at all? I hope so. I’ll be thinking of you. Early pregnancy was so hard for me (I was so sick and exhausted and emotional). Hang in there.
.-= Jennifer Margulis´s last blog ..An Exclusive Interview with Frugal Kiwi =-.

By: Saoirse

Saoirse — Tue, 27 Jul 2010 05:21:31 +0000

A question for the moms who have foregone prenatal visits: Did you have trouble finding a midwife who would attend your birth without them?

I am early in my pregnancy and just finished my first prenatal visit with a midwife I used to like, and came out worried and teary (for no reason, nothing is wrong, but the focus was finding problems), and wanting nothing whatsoever to do with this negative energy. I’m not sure I’m willing to go for a totally unassisted birth, though, I would like someone there trained to help in an emergency. Advice?

By: Jennifer Margulis

Jennifer Margulis — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 15:49:26 +0000

I know what you mean about being tired of being over-tested, and it’s sad to me that so many midwives do this too (sometimes they are required to by law but so much of it is unnecessary.) I bet you feel much better now that you don’t have to deal with the stress of the testing. Are you planning an unassisted birth, Serena?

By: Serena

Serena — Mon, 21 Jun 2010 00:48:08 +0000

I understand this completely. I just fired my midwife a couple weeks ago because I was tired of being over tested even though I’ve had an extremely low-risk, healthy pregnancy.

By: Kris Bordessa

Kris Bordessa — Thu, 05 Nov 2009 04:15:19 +0000

This is so important, though I daresay you're preaching to the choir a bit on *this blog! I did some things during my pregnancies and early childhood years that in hindsight, I would have skipped, but the doctors, they like things their way. If only I'd been more pro-active and bold back then! .-= Kris Bordessa´s last blog ..News? Ha! =-.

By: Frugal Kiwi

Frugal Kiwi — Wed, 04 Nov 2009 05:15:38 +0000

While I've never been pregnant myself, I've dealt with too many arrogant and misguided health care providers in my time and can completely sympathise with your point of view. .-= Frugal Kiwi´s last blog ..Out of Pocket in Australia =-.

By: Meredith Resnick - The Writer's [Inner] Journey

Meredith Resnick - The Writer's [Inner] Journey — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 16:30:25 +0000

Fascinating – your observation that so many in the medical profession treat pregnancy as an illness. What a paradigm you expose. Wow.
.-= Meredith Resnick – The Writer’s [Inner] Journey´s last blog ..The 5-Question Interview: Christine Schwab =-.

By: Katherine

Katherine — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 12:39:38 +0000

What an awful experience! I can see why you want to be liberated this time around. We were fortunate enough to have very sensible and thoughtful doctors and nurses through my first two pregnancies, who went out of their way to consider my hormone-heightened feelings. .-= Katherine´s last blog ..The Melbourne Cup – Not Just Fascinators and Horse Raci =-.

By: Alisa Bowman

Alisa Bowman — Tue, 03 Nov 2009 11:38:31 +0000

Jennifer–I hardly ever double comment on posts. But I was falling asleep last night and I was thinking about your post (it stuck with me!) and one thing occurred to me that I wanted to share. I trained in prenatal yoga with Collete Crawford, who is pretty liberal when it comes to natural childbirth and also pretty fed up with the medical system. Once condition, however, that she always talked about as a “you need to know you have this and get it treated” was Placental Previa. It is a condition where your placenta grows over the opening of your cervix. If you have this, when you give birth, the placenta comes out first and the baby second. That means the baby gets no nutrition from the cord for a very long time during the birth process. Not only would the baby die, but you could bleed to death. Not trying to be overly melodramatic, but it’s a somewhat common thing, especially in woman who have had multiple pregnancies. It’s the one thing that I would definitely want ruled out if I were pregnant again–so I could go into the vaginal birth knowing that everything is completely as it should be. I suppose you are right–your body might tell you that something is wrong by bleeding, but I’m not completely sure that’s a 100 percent always true symptom. I agree with you on all of the fuss about size –too big? too small?… does it ever come into play?–but I think there are a few medical conditions that are important to get tested for and treated for, and this is one of them.
.-= Alisa Bowman´s last blog ..I Was Wrong =-.