Thoughts on HMC birthing facilities?

[YurtGirl]

Aloha Punawebbers~
I am trying to gain some insight on HMC birthing facilities. I have my own thoughts on the rest of the hospital and wouldn't leave a loved one there alone, but I have heard the birthing facilities are different. On the other hand, I have heard some very concerning things as well. Anyone had any personal experience? Read anything pertinent? Do we need to move to Waimea for a few months?? [:I]

Thanks for your input.

Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[Rene Siracusa]

There is a new thread on just this topic on Big Island Chronicle. I urge you to check it out. The comment is by Jill Raznov.

[YurtGirl]

I saw that, it's what spurred me to open a conversation about it. Seems not many are commenting there about it.

Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[csgray]

I would email Tiffany and ask for her input and if she has any friends who would be willing to share their experiences. She is in that prime childbearing demographic and is well networked with other women in that same demographic. When my daughter who lives in Mexico was looking at having her first baby here, so she could be near family, we discovered that the HMC offered fewer options and less maternal control than she could get in Mexico for less than 1/4 the price.

Childbirth is an intensely personal experience, and it is a natural process, not a medical condition to be "cured". Women need to be able to have their babies in the environment they are most comfortable in, with the support of people they trust. Anything less is a form of malpractice and does not make for good outcomes for either mother or child. Good luck, I hope you can get the care you (and your baby) want and need.

Carol

[YurtGirl]

I'm meeting up with Tiffany Wednesday

That was SO well said, Carol!!! My blood started to boil a bit when my Dr. said that I needed to be careful not to come in with a list like I did... First time with a list of questions and I was told that I should be careful that it doesn't come across that I have a 'List of Demands'. ?!?!? It has taken me a while to process that, but I'm so turned off that I don't know if I want to go back.

My initial response was to basically explain my philosopy; "You as my doctor are a part of a team. I am a very big part of that team. I am ultimately the one in charge of my care and my infant's care. I may or may not take your recommendations, please don't take it personally. I have my own reasoning that works very well. I will always consider your recommendations and trust that you are giving your best recommendation. Nonetheless, we may not always agree and I don't want stress about that."

Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973

[csgray]

Melissa,
You can always just wait and pull out the trump card of "I'm the one in labor here and if I want/need to get up and walk around, or kneel, or squat, or whatever it takes to get that baby out, that's what I'm going to do!" once you are actually in labor. The delivery nurses are who you really deal with during most of the labor, and they are usually far less rigid than the Dr.s who pretty much monitor the labor from a distance, and then pop in and play hero when they catch the baby, after you have done all the hard work.

Are there birth classes here, either Lamaz or Bradley method? or any classes for couples who want as natural of a birth as medically feasible, so they know how to control the process themselves, as much as possible? It just seems from my perspective as a grandmother in my early 50s, who had two "easy" drug free deliveries with midwives, one at home and one in a birthing center, in two different states, that I had better options in 1982 than you ladies have here in 2012. How can it be that you young mothers are being left stranded trying to have their babies in a safe way with the minimum of medical interventions? Where is the support system that helps families build and deliver healthy babies? I'm sorry if I am ranting here, but we fought a lot of battles way back when to allow women to be more than passive participants in the birth of their babies, and now it seems like your generation is not reaping any of the benefits of those battles. Young families should not have to keep reinventing the wheel on something as basic as successfully making more new people in a medically safe and personally comfortable way.

Good luck and remember that it is your baby, and your birth, and you and the father really do have the right to control your experience as educated prepared parents who know what to expect.

Carol

[dmbwest]

YG,

You are in probably the most intense and narcissistic state of your life.

IMO, don't take it personal or be offended by Dr. or staffs responses or attitudes towards whatever you presented them ( I don't know ) with. Please know and factor in these people have delivered 1000s more kids than you on a real world, practical level and as such, know what can and might happen + have also 'dealt with' folks like yourself. Plus, I ASSume here that they have to maintain 'standards' set by powers higher than they might be able to answer too. And as such, are 'tied' from answering yours.

Edit to add ... No matter what YOU feel .. Its just another day at the office for most everyone else ... A job to do , then go home.

Don't know how much time you have, but if you don't like what they have to say, its your choice ,,,, move on and don't complain.

That said .. What Carol said ... Once you are in labor ... Lots of the 'rules' fall by the wayside ... NEVER FORGET, everyone has the child in mind.

When my wife was in labor, we walked into hospital to sign in. There was an older woman who asked me right then and there in a gruff tone " So ..... would you like be to having this baby instead of your wife ? "

To which I answered " hell no "

" THERES ANOTHER ONE !!! " was her loud reply a she mock ( I think ) checked her survey box.

aloha,
pog

[YurtGirl]

Pog, I'm sorry, and with as much respect as I can muster after your ill thought statement, you don't know what the hell you are talking about. I am probably in the LEAST narcissistic state of my life. Everything, Every. Thing. Is now not about me. It is about this little child. It is a blissful state and intense, but I'm not a raving lunatic pregnant woman. I hope that's not the slant you were trying to give there, I will ASSume you were trying to say something else but it just didn't come through well. I went in the last appointment with my husband, with several very common questions and a few common things that we wanted our doctor to know regarding our preferences. I do not mistake the likelihood that everyone I am working with in the process has the good of the child in mind, nor do I plan to discount their vast experience and recommendations except when it goes against my core. Sometimes what they think is best and what ten others think is best are scattered across the board and it is my role, ultimately my responsibility, to make informed decisions on the babe's and my behalf. That should not be discounted, and I should not be stereotyped into a role of lunatic, control freak, hormonal, narcissist, demanding, etc. just because I am asking questions and making decisions.

Melissa Fletcher
___________________________
"Make yurts, not war" Bill Coperthwaite, 1973