# Natural birth in the hospital: is it possible? (Chicago/Evanston, Illinois)



## lady lorastina (Oct 6, 2014)

Dear mothers

I wonder whether natural birth in a hospital is possible.

I have been searching the net for a while, but I can't find a satisfying answer. I will tell you a little bit about my history, so you understand where my question comes from.

I recently moved from Europe to the U.S. and we will be living here for about three years. Before moving here, I gave birth to a wonderful daughter. I was lucky enough to give birth at home. Unfortunatly, we needed to be transferred to a hospital afterwards. I do not want to go into details, but being the hospital was a terrible experience for me. And for my baby and husband as well...

I discussed what happened (labor, birth, complications afterwards...) with my midwife (one of the midwives who was present during labor and birth), and she told me that I can never have a homebirth again. It's too risky. I trust here judgement of the situation. Although I have cried a lot over it :crying:

But I can't go through another hospital experience like the one I had. I would rather have my daughter being an only child, than to go through all of that again. And this is why I want to know the options for giving birth before I get pregnant again :smile:

I would like to have labor at home (assisted by a midwife), then go to the hospital, give birth as if I where at home (assisted by the same midwife, in the position that I prefer, with my husband actively involved, without any drugs... you know the drill :wink and then get out of there immediatly after. (Unless there are complications again, of course. But even then I would still want to get out of there as soon as possible.)

And I actually would also want that midwife to be the one who does the prenatal follow-ups.

I did not find anything like this in the while of Illinois. (I would be living in Evanston or Chicago, by the time we plan to be pregnant.) Is this because it is not possible, or am I looking in the wrong places?

Hope you can help!

All the best,
Lorastina


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## PitBullMom (Sep 22, 2014)

You are looking in the wrong places.

I am currently planning a natural childbirth, with midwives, in a birthing center that happens to be in a hospital. All those interventions and restrictions are possible, but it's also possible to say "absolutely not." You need to find hospital affiliated midwives and hire a doula who knows your history and will help you to have the birth experience that you are looking for. You should write a birth plan and decide what care you will and won't accept, and what care is ok with you under certain circumstances.

We are working on our birth plan with our doula currently, and it will be as specific as possible in regards to certain procedures that I will and will not allow. A big no-no for me is the "routine cervical check" that seems to happen endlessly from the minute you go to the hospital. Unless you are getting an epidural, you don't need one, they don't give any useful information before you are ready to push and can often cause problems with labor progressing... so we have said that we will not be having any. And because we are under the care of the midwives and not the hospital directly (nurses/doctors/etc) we can make that determination. We're also not going to be seen by anyone who is not a fully licensed provider. No students, no residents, no trainees.

There's a simple phrase that you need "I do not consent." If they want to perform any procedure on you, and you don't want it, you say "I do not consent" not "I don't think I want that." If they do it anyway it is assault. Period.

I interviewed more than one office before I decided where I was going to be seen for my pregnancy, long before I actually got pregnant.

Here are a couple you might want to call:
http://chicago.medicine.uic.edu/departments___programs/departments/obgyn/divisions/nurse_midwifery/

http://www.westsubmidwives.com/BirthCenter.php (they practice inside of a hospital)


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## lady lorastina (Oct 6, 2014)

Thank you so much! This is really helpful information. We will interview the people you suggested. 
Btw, the "routine cervical check" is also a no-go for me, so it's good to know that it can be avoided


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## PitBullMom (Sep 22, 2014)

Glad to help 

Just remember that I have zero personal knowledge of their care, I just found them online with a search. But hopefully it will give you a good place to start.


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## boscopup (Jul 15, 2005)

I had a pain medication free hospital birth with my first, and that was no problem. There were other issues with the experience due to my situation (PPROM at 29 weeks), but my labor was fast and it ended up ok. I had two out of hospital births after that and loved them, but this time around I have a complication that risks me out of homebirth, so I'm planning to do the hospital. I feel confident that I can have a pain med free birth, assuming my complications don't turn into something more serious. I chose an OB that lets women do what they want, and I plan to have my midwife with me if possible as a doula (I have fast labors, so there is a chance she won't make it). I chose a more natural birth friendly hospital this time also, and I know some things I want to say no to if they try to do them as a matter of course. I won't be leaving the hospital right afterward though, and I think you might have a hard time doing that unless you choose a birth center. You can leave ama pretty easily, but your baby can't. Vaginal births typically only stay 2 days though. I might have to stay an extra day because of my complications, but we'll see. My OB has not said anything about that, and I haven't asked yet (I hopefully have another 4 months before delivery).

Many women in the US have natural births in the hospital. It just takes careful choice of provider and supportive personnel, research to know what things to avoid, etc. There are some hospitals and OBs that I wouldn't touch with a ten foot pole, and some are so nice that if they were closer, I'd have no problem choosing them! Talk to local crunchy moms and homebirth midwives. They'd know which hospitals and OBs or CNMs are good choices for a natural birth.


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## JamieCatheryn (Dec 31, 2005)

An easier thing to find would be a doula to stay with you at home and then hospital while you labor and a fairly respectful and natural minded CNM or OB who attends at the hospital. Birth with no pain meds there is totally possible. But the procedures they have are set up for medicated births, you need it changed to allow you to move around and to labor peacefully.

You'd need to discuss choices early on like induction/waiting if you go past 40w or 41w, IV/heplock/no port, eating and drinking, moving and walking, belt monitors/handheld doppler monitoring, cervical checks regularly/at certain points/not at all, pitocin vs waiting in a long labor. Get agreement from your care provider ahead of time about the way you want to do it, they can sign off on you breaking with procedure on many things, there may be other things they are firm about. You and your husband can be even more firm about refusing if they insist, sign the waivers and keep insisting as they nag, but it is a huge distraction in labor. 

After birth the minimum stay a hospital care provider will insist on is 24 hours. Usually 2-3 days. If you want to leave sooner you will have to sign AMA forms. I can understand their reasoning, in 3rd world countries with little staff and less supplies they kick out the moms to walk or motorcycle home instantly after a birth and many die. They never know if you'll stay stable and cared for after you leave so the standard of care is keeping an eye on you and keeping you close. But you and your family can realistically be responsible after you've sat a while, cleaned up, used the bathroom, and changed, that's all I did before going home from the midwife's house with my last baby 2 hrs old- we and our sons needed sleep and to beat a snowstorm.


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## home birth educator (Oct 16, 2014)

*natural birth definately possible*

I am a natural childbirth educator with the Bradley Method in northern Chicago area. I just had a student who was originally from Germany have a wonderful home birth in July. It is definitely possible to have a natural birth in Chicago or Evanston. There is a wonderful midwife group in Evanston who do births in the hospital. I have had several students use their services and have great outcomes. Keep looking!


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## ciatingcars (Oct 23, 2014)

good, They'd know which hospitals and OBs or CNMs are good choices for a natural birth.thanks


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## wanderinblues (Aug 14, 2011)

JamieCatheryn said:


> After birth the minimum stay a hospital care provider will insist on is 24 hours. Usually 2-3 days. If you want to leave sooner you will have to sign AMA forms. I can understand their reasoning, in 3rd world countries with little staff and less supplies they kick out the moms to walk or motorcycle home instantly after a birth and many die. They never know if you'll stay stable and cared for after you leave so the standard of care is keeping an eye on you and keeping you close. But you and your family can realistically be responsible after you've sat a while, cleaned up, used the bathroom, and changed, that's all I did before going home from the midwife's house with my last baby 2 hrs old- we and our sons needed sleep and to beat a snowstorm.


I left 3 hours after birth and didn't have to sign anything  I'm in Canada though.


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## neonalee (Nov 20, 2009)

I gave birth to my son at Swedish Cov in northern Chicago with their CNM/midwife group. I had an inexperienced doula. I ended up induced & a CS. I do not blame the midwives or my doula, but they did played a part. I have heard many, many good things about the birth center west of Chicago. Maybe it was in Oak Park? We didn't go there because we lived in a northern neighborhood of Chicago (near to Swedish Cov) and traffic between the 2 is very unreliable. It could take 20 minutes, or it could take 2 hours.

In all, I found that there is a strong community of crunchy mamas in Chicago (I miss is so much!). You should be able to find what you need. I very much recommend an experienced doula & being ready to advocate for yourself as well.


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## sillysapling (Mar 24, 2013)

There are definitely people who've had natural hospital births. Some hospitals are more in favor of it than others, but it's very possible.

I don't think it's as likely that you'll find a midwife willing to assist you at home while in labor. There are liability issues, especially if it progresses too quickly and becomes an unintentional homebirth. You can certainly find a doula who'll do it, though.

However- some of it does depend on your condition. It sounds like you won't have a low-risk birth, which changes the playing field. It's certainly still possible, and birthing centers _in hospitals_ are a really good place to look- I've seen some that are able to do c-sections as naturally as possible, they're able to offer all the care of the hospital just with a more natural-friendly environment.


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## lady lorastina (Oct 6, 2014)

Hi!
I just wanted to thank you all for the input and information. Ultimately we decided to postpone getting pregnant again until we leave the U.S.
We just don't want to risk being involved with inconsiderate health care workers in case something doesn't go as planned etc.
Thanks all for helping us to get the information we needed to make this decision!


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