So, I seem to be having a very difficult internal struggle with my decision of Midwife/Birthing-Center vs. OBGYN/Birthing-Inn/Hospital. For the longest time, I've really reaaaaaally wanted to do water birth - the whole thing, in the little pool. I'm a fish. I love water. I'm most comfortable and relaxed in the water. Aside from that, I've done rather extensive research on the benefits of water birthing vs. on a table flat on your back, legs in the air. I've also done plenty of research that leads me in a no-questions-about-it decision of wanting natural vs. drugs for the delivery - which also leads right back to the awesomeness of water birthing. (Scary factoid: 40% of Northern Va hospital births end up in cesarean section.)
The dilemma here is threefold:
1) This is my first pregnancy and I have no idea what to expect. Everything is going normal as of now, all of my bloodwork and tests are "boring" according to the OBGYN I'm currently seeing. However, I still have 6 months to go...well, 6-7 depending on how long I incubate this little sprog. Anything could happen. I have no past experience to go off of to determine if my body will react normal or weird to this whole pregnancy thing.
2) The OBGYN I'm seeing currently is really awesome; however, they work with the Loudoun Birthing Inn which is off of Loudoun County Hospital - which does not allow full water birth. They allow you to sit in a nice warm bubbly tub for the laboring part, but then you have to get out and lay on the slab to actually birth the child. So you get part of the benefit at least, but the whole idea is that water birthing allows for a less traumatic transition from mommy-belly to real-world, plus less risk of tearing. The facilities are nicer than a hospital, yet still look semi-hospitalish (the same uncomfortable bed and the "sleep-chair" for the spouse looks less-than-comfy), but you are expected to stay over-night - which I kind of like for monitoring the first 24 hours. They also have people to assist with first-24-hr feeding so new-mommy can rest, and they have a super secure facility and nursery. Also, if anything does go wrong, the hospital is right there, and there's a nic-u for baby-emergencies. If an emergency arises, I know minutes mean the difference between safe and not.
3) The Birthing Center/Midwife: There's only one full-on birthing-center in this area - Chantilly. They have 4 rooms with real furnishings: Queen sized bed, couches in the rooms, chairs, your own bathroom, a birthing tub IN the room where you can do the full complete birth and after-birth relaxation in the tub. You're not separated from your baby after birth, you're allowed to have whomever and as many people as you want with you (friends/family - I'm sure there's a limit, but they mention 4-5 people like it's nothing - not that I'd want an audience), you are encouraged to bring your own snacks/drinks and to ingest fluids throughout labor and move around rather than being strapped to an IV and continuous monitoring system (they do incremental monitoring). All of this is supposed to help further the natural process of childbirth. It sounds perfect for me. But I'm still scared....it's 8 min from the hospital, it's my first pregnancy....granted, it's my first pregnancy and a hospital-setting is the farthest thing from relaxing & happy to me...and I should be comfortable and this experience should be magical...but is the risk high enough to warrant forgoing comfort? Oh, and the whole process leads to the mommy not staying overnight - you leave within a few hours of birth (which I'm not too sure about - I like the idea of monitoring for 24 hrs before release).
I would definitely welcome any educated advice from mommies out there on this decision. (Please don't read that as needing advice on natural vs. medicated child birth - I've already had more people than not try to push me and tell me I dont want that...no, no...I'm pretty sure I know what I want and why - I just don't know where.)
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