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Best doctors and hositals for a natural birth
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Anonymous
| I am looking for recommendations for the best doctor/ practice in Northern VA/ DC who are pro-natural child birth, as in respecting my birth plan for no interventions. My husband isn't comfortable with us having our baby at home or in a birthing center (this is our first) and I've conceded to delivering in a hospital. I've heard good things about Alexandria Hospital and Georgetown, but need a good doctor/certified nurse midwife. Thanks. |
Anonymous
| We really love the Physcians and Midwives Collobrative practice. They are in Alexandria, and deliver babies at Alexandria Inova. We were incredably impressed that their sample birth plan included all of the things that I had planned to put in our birth plan for a natural delivery. We are currently at 31 weeks so I haven't delivered with them yet but so far we have really found them to be a great fit. |
Anonymous
| I had my first with P&M at Alexandria Hospital and had a decent experience, but I had an even better experience with the midwives at Birth Care. |
Anonymous
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Check the midwifery directory here:
http://www.birthoptionsalliance.org/ I too loved BirthCare, but they only do homebirths and birth center births, which is not what OP is going for. (Though if you want, OP, I know the BirthCare info session has convinced many a dad!) |
Anonymous
| We're also at P&M and are really happy with our experience so far (I'm 30 weeks). The midwives do all the deliveries unless you need a C-Section, and their intervention and C-Section rates are low. Alexandria Inova also seems very progressive and encourages immediate skin-to-skin contact, not clamping the cord until it stops pulsing, and keeping the baby in your room, etc. So far, it's the best of both worlds--natural birth with a midwife, but in a hospital with a Level 3 NICU available if necessary. |
Anonymous
I cannot believe that women leave this up to their scared husband to determine. How much reading has your husband done? How much research has he done? How many birth center/homebirth midwives has he interviewed? How many couples has he spoken with who have given birth outside the hospital? How many out-of-hospital birth videos has he watched? He doesn't get to have an opinion until he has truly, thoroughly done his homework. I just don't get how men, who usually know nothing about the birth process except that they are freaked out, wind up being the final decision maker. It is YOUR BODY. My husband was a naysayer. I made him watch The Business of Being Born and I made him read Marsden Wagner's book "Born in the USA". Then I made him write down every single possible question or concern he had, then took him to the info night at Birthcare. I don't know what I would have done next if he hadn't agreed, but luckily by that point he was very open to whatever I wanted. After it was all over (great birth, perfect baby) he swore that he would never want to do it any other way. If for whatever reason you just don't want to go down that path, then I highly encourage you to meet with Whitney Pinger. She is a solo practice midwife who works in DC (delivers at GW from July on) who is committed to natural childbirth both in theory and in practice. |
Anonymous
| What is wrong with considering and respecting our husband's opinion? Wives handle & respond to husband's point of view differently. Some of us like to work as a team with our husbands. A lot of time husbands are the key birth partners, so they need to feel comfortable too to support us. I would love to birth naturally at a birth center but my husband wants me to birth at a hospital in case any emergency situation occurs. I totally understand his concern and the strategy now change to find a hospital that is open or supportive to natural birth. We are now looking at MCA in Rockville. The midwives there deliver at Shady Grove Hospital. |
Anonymous
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I guess Dr Tchabo would be the closest OB to fit the bill. He's in Arlington, at Virginia Hospital Center. 703-558-6591
The people most experienced and supportive of natural birth are midwives. Here are the ones working in local hospitals. Whitney Pinger at Washington Hospital Center. wpinger@verizon.net DC Birth Center midwives at Washington Hospital Center (as well as at birth center)http://www.yourfhbc.org/ Karen King at Virginia Hospital Center http://www.arlingtonwomenscenter.com/about/midwives.php The Midwifery Care Associates at Shady Grove Adventist hospital (office at White Flint) – www.midwiferycareassociates.com 301-530-3300 Free monthly orientation sessions While I know that your husband's concerns are very common and normal in our culture, they do highlight a need for more education about birth. There are alot of good resources out there - Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, The Business of Being Born DVD, http://www.childbirthconnection.org/, http://www.injoyvideos.com/mothersadvocate/pdfs.html Best wishes for a great birth! |
Anonymous
I agree with you! At last time I checked, the baby was half his! |
Anonymous
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I, too, delivered at Alexandria. Both times no medication. I felt no pressure from hospital staff to do anything I did not feel comfortable with. I was also with P&M although by my second pregnancy I saw only the midwives for my visits. The doctors just said the stupidest things.
I took a Bradley clas the first time around with a very strong-willed teacher who reminded us constantly we did not have to do any of the routine things ie. shots, eye drops etc., although I did. My husband went with our daughter to the nursery when they weighed her again. |
Anonymous
| I had 3 natural births at Gtown. The only OB practice who delivers there is the one associated with MedStar Gtown. It is a very big practice but if you want to do your own thing they let you. |
Anonymous
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I had a natural childbirth with Dr. Tchabo at VHC. The nurses and staff had seen my birth plan and my wish to go med-free. I got no guff about it. My nurse was actually very supportive. I also was not pressured into any other interventions (other than intermittent external monitoring - and even with that, after the attending Dr. had seen two or so normal looking strips, the monitoring was much less than the advertised 20 minutes per hour).
I was able to labor where and how I wanted, I pushed in different positions, I drank as much liquid as I wanted (didn't really want to eat anything), lights were low -- it was a relatively relaxed and low-key atmosphere. I decided to deliver in a hospital for several reasons: 1) I was too cheap to pay out of pocket for a home birth. 2) I was nervous about getting lousy treatment in a hospital if I indeed needed to transfer. 3) My spouse was fairly uncomfortable with the idea of a home birth. 4) I am not afraid to state my needs and what I want/don't want. It is pretty hard to bulldoze me -- even in labor. 5) Did I mention that I am cheap? |
Anonymous
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I agree that it is really worthwhile for women and their partners to be on the same page, to the greatest extent possible, about where and how and with whom to give birth. But I do agree with PP that a lot of men (and women) are uninformed about the safety of non-hospital birth. Most people who assume it is dangerous (and that hospital birth is safe) have not done a lot of research of the kind PP suggests (reading studies, talking to midwives who attend these births, etc.). They are just going on their assumptions and society's perceptions of these choices. I feel lucky that my partner agreed that midwifery care and home birth were safe choices, but I know that that is not always the case.
I think it's possible to find common ground and find a place of birth and provider that feels comfortable to both partners. A hospital based midwifery practice might be a good choice. And the midwives at Family Health and Birth Center work at Washington Hospital Center too, so that might be a good compromise. I had my first baby with midwives in a hospital and had a great experience, so it can be done. Hiring a doula with experience at your birthplace or with your provider may also be helpful for you and your partner. Good luck! |
amymard
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| I would strongly consider checking out the midwives at the Family Health and Birth Center. You can choose to deliver at the birth center or at Washington Hospital Center. Who knows, after hanging around the birth center for prental visits, your husband may be more comfortable with the idea of delivering there. If that doesn't happen, then you have fantastic midwives who will attend your birth at WHC. If you plan to go the hospital route, I would scrimp, save or barter for the services of a doula. It will make all the difference in the world. Good luck. Trust birth. |
Anonymous
See, this is what I mean about people doing their homework. Homebirth is covered by almost all insurance plans. You don't discover this until you actually interview a feww different midwives and ask them directly if they are able to bill your insurance. They could also answer questions about transferring to the hospital, as well as allowing the husband to ask all the "tough" questions. Obviously you made a choice that you were extremely happy with, and of course at the end of the day that is all that matters. It just drives me nuts when people make all sorts of assumptions about homebirth and then base their decision on that, without actually knowing the facts. |