Doctor For Raw Pregnancy?

[Freshie]

I'm hoping to get pregnant with my third baby soon, this will be my first raw pregnancy. I don't feel right about going back to the OB/GYN I had with my first two, she told me she would not give me a VBAC for my third one because I had a c-section for my first two. My second child is now 2.5 by the way. My OB/GYN would also probably kick me out of her office if she heard I was raw!

I have no idea what kind of medical help I should seek during my pregnancy and for my delivery. Please advise me, thank you!

[ladyfiremedic5]

I would start by locating a MidWife in your area. They can probably set you in the right direction for finding an open to ALT lifestyle/Diet/birth options OB/GYN in your area. I know we have several Midwife groupd here in Tampa. Good Luck in your search. HUGS&PEACE Carrassa

[trinity082482]

I just go to my regular doctor.

[elfinbaby]

It's not something I'm planning on getting into with my mw - if I decide to hire one. Don't be shocked but right now I'm taking responsibility for my own prenatal care. I know that's controversial to some but I feel fine about it. This is my 4th preg., I've never had a single problem, I decline tests right and left, so there's not much for a careprovider to do anyway. I would literally be paying someone to go in, have her weigh me (I can do that), take my bp (again - ICDT), listen to baby's fht (amazon = fetoscope $11), and I can buy some sticks to pee on. So there you have it. If I need her, she's a phone call away and I can go see her.

It's not for everybody but I'm the boss of my body:) I don't want to worry about what someone else thinks when I know what's best. I take very good care of myself during pregnancy - it's my responsiblity yk?

If not, do call around about mws. That's your best bet if you are looking for someone who might understand.

Good luck!
April

[Ginger]

Nothing shocking in that at all, kudos to you. All animals are designed to reproduce and do it just fine most of the time unless they are interfeared with or on unnatural diets. I have a page on natural parenting on my site if you want some resources, it's not much though I need to add more soon. I found a great mp3 interview on raw pregnancies & raw births you can download or listen to there. I didn't see a doctor when I was pregnant either. I took responsibility. I feel like I know so much more about health then people with the doctor mentality of giving drugs and therapies over sound nutrition and excercise etc. Going to a doctor is too risky for me and playing with your life.

[Freshie]

Wow, I'm glad to hear other people aren't seeing doctors either, because that's actually what I'm leaning towards, sounds kinda funny to say this, but I wasn't sure if that was an option, like someone would find out and have me arrested, ha!

So those of you who took your pregnancy into your own hands, are there any books I could get that could guide me along? What did you do for the delivery?

[elfinbaby]

Hey! RVM, are you following me around?:D I will check out your site - I'm at the beginning of my journey.

Freshie, IKWYM. I think anything unassisted related to pregnancy and birth was a bit too much for me when I started having kids. I had sense enough to birth with a mw in her center (which was like Grandma's house) but I thought homebirthers were crazy. Minutes after my first was born, what'd I say? "Can I go home now?" So I did hb from that point on.

Now I find myself at a different point in my journey. It feels so good and right. I'm talking to the mw I'm supposed to hire in a couple of weeks. We haven't had any appts. and I've just changed my mind about what I want her role to be. I hope it goes well.

Anyway, I google unassisted pregnancy/birth, I spend time on www.mothering.com unassisted birth board, and this week I'll be raiding the library for books on pregnancy and midwifery. I'm going over kill here but I also want to birth unassisted. I'm taking my time mulling that one over. Plus, there's a good chance dh will be resistant and facts speak to him.

I'd start at Mothering. There are a couple of stickies with websites. These are some books that get referred to - Hearts and Hands, Ina Mae Gaskins stuff, Unassisted Childbirth, Unassisted Homebirth. They are available at Amazon and you can see what other people bought along with them. It helps me.

www.freebirth.com seems to be a popular site, too. I'm just diving in best I can.

April

[Ginger]

Yep i'm officially stalking you now! :D hahaha

My fav book is Unassisted Childbirth, they have a website http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/

I also liked the book Spiritual Midwifery.

Tons of links at the bottom of this page too
http://www.geocities.com/Heartland/Estates/9015/unassisted.html

[momma-rawma]

A couple of things...

You might want to check your state laws as well as hospital regs.

I wasn't aware--but we have a hospital locally that will not allow VBAC's (though I'm not sure how that is possible if you showed up at the door at 10cm dilated :p ).

There are doctors who won't do them and doctors who will.

Also--have you considered a midwife? They do not take the place of the doctor. They are obligated for their license to know when medical intervention by a doctor is necessary. (just watched a baby story where a lady had a home birth and it was deemed necessary that she had to go to the hospital for care after delivery b/c her uterus wasn't contracting enough and she could have had a serious serious complication without treatment).

Lastly--my diet never came up except in the beginning when my morning sickness this last time was quite severe. I don't think you will find a "raw" per se--but you are vegan (I'm assuming) and you aren't the first or the last.

Your primary focus is for the vbac...who will be able to do that--then secondary would be one who accomodates a more natural lifestyle. :)

Good luck to you!

Unfortunately--I don't trust unassisted for myself--how would you be aware of complications that arise during the birth (or how would your untrained partner be aware).

A friend of mine who is all granola about childbirth--has a friend who is vbac in that same predicament. Well--the vbac friend doesn't think it a predicament anyway. My friend is delivering at home--and who ordinarly wouldn't be troubled by an unassisted birth (she is using a midwife)--raised valid points as to why this couple should not.

My son was high birth weight and had low blood sugars when he was born. I shudder at the thought that his health could have been compromised without a simple blood sugar test.

Had I been raw, he likely would not have been born that way--but I wasn't and he was.

I did deliver unmediated though..that raises lots of eyebrows since he was 10 pounds 14 ounces. I've lost track of the folks who asked if I had considered a c-section. Well...there wasn't a scale in my uterus...and why would I have considered a c-section anyway...he was my first baby to come precisely on-time and without augmentation.

[sbaker]

being my first pregnancy i wanted to see a dr. but you are right..i almost stopped going in for my labs...i mean c'mon, i know i dont have diabetes and such, i know im healthy, but anyway....my dr. was really cool about everything. he knows people read things on the internet, he's delivered so many babies in so many ways, hes not concerned at all with HOW you do it, as long as when you go in things look right. I didnt even gain a pound until i was 7.5 months pregnant, but all my tests were ok and my baby was bigger than she needed to be on the ultrasound , and i was healthy so he didnt say a word about my diet. he basically asked ME if i had any questions every visit, and that was it. I was worried he would have all sorts of advice and tell me i needed this or that..i was relieved. Honestly I needed him more than i though because now i am 36 weeks and the baby is breech...she can't be turned because of where my placenta is, and she cant be delivered because she is diagnal..so c-section it is. it stinks but it's a situation thats rare..but does need more than i can handle on my own!

[elfinbaby]

Certainly ucing is not for everyone. At this point, I feel capable to handle what if's and the like. That also means that if I need to I'll call the mw. There's alot of research, soul searching, and thought that goes into most people choosing this path for birthing. And everybody is different and everybody has different concerns during pregnancy.

I think also that part of the "culture" of ucing is that women trust their bodies and believe that their instincts/intuition will guide them esp. if there is a problem/concern. I know for me, time and time again, I've heard stories about just how brilliant our bodies are. Two friends of my who were planning on unmed. births (one hb and one hospital) both ended up with a c-birth. They really gave it a good go, staying at home, getting labor started, walking etc. and tried to birth vaginally. However, their brilliant babies simply wouldn't descend. Turns out the cords were too short or wrapped around and the baby could not have come out safely. I love that our bodies are so smart.

Not everybody is a candidate for uc nor wants to be. It's funny - I'm not a risk taker. I'm more of a common sense kind of gal. I try to be as thoughtful as possible. All arrows are pointing to the fact that I can do this and my birth could be even better than the last (which was pretty great I have to say). I look forward to persuing the thought of ucing. I'm going to speak with a mw in a couple of weeks and I'm open to her thoughts. I have consulted a mw friend of mine already and she is very supportive.

April

[momma-rawma]

Good luck to you elfinbaby!

I wasn't trying to be anti--more so to present my opinion on the subject..something I find not to be one and the same. :)

The couple I was referring to---I am not sure they are consulting with anyone. Which I think is a mistake. I'm sure there are a lot of great resources...but her hubby simply doesn't take the place of someone who is experienced...kwim? The scoop is that they aren't preparing at all for an unassist--just that they would kind of just do that. I don't think that is responsible at all, but if you have done your homework and came to that decision--I just find it different.

I guess I equate it to someone deciding on a whim they will go raw..and then just eating iceberg lettuce and calling it a day.

For myself--I failed my 3 hour glucose, passed my 6 hour with flying colors..and pretty much it is guaranteed that I gave my self gd with what I was consuming (didn't dawn on me--I caved to a craving for coca-cola....in a big bad way!). So when my little man was grown after having miracle grow for about a month--I don't know why I was surprised that he was so big and had trouble with his glucose.

But my doctor never asked what I ate, so I never brought it up. I mean--good heavens what was I thinking?????