Thursday, February 12, 2009

Starting the birth plan...

I thought I'd update with an outline of what I have been working on so far in terms of our birth plan. Initially, I was planning on a home birth. However, Tricare (in their infinite wisdom) will only pay for a home birth if it's attended by a CNM (certified nurse midwife). The wonderful state of Georgia is among the few states that does not recognize anything but CNMs (not CMs or CPMs or basically any kind of direct-entry midwife- in layman's terms, all midwifes recognized by the state must also be RNs). Additionally, there are NO CNMs that attend home births in GA anymore! On the upside: if you do have Tricare, don't live in Georgia, and want a home birth, Tricare will pay for it. Great, huh? Don't let anyone tell you different- make sure you talk to a supervisor. 

So what to do? I considered a birth center in Savannah, but I didn't want to have to worry about the drive. Then I got lucky- my Tricare rep and family practice nurse actually went above and beyond and found me an amazing CNM that works in an ob practice in Warner Robins! Carlene practiced home birth for 25 years, but since the laws in GA make it so difficult to practice, she moved to the ob. Now I get to see her exclusively for my appointments, and she will be attending my birth (in the hospital, unfortunately). She is amazing, I love her already, and she is dedicated to ensuring that I am able to have the birth setting that I want, pending emergency issues, of course. I am so happy to have such a strong advocate for natural birth on my side.

Additionally, I am working with a doula from the area. I am interviewing with her next week, but from talking with her on the phone, I am confident she will be great. She has also worked with Carlene in the past, so they have a good working relationship (from what I could gather- I'll ask more questions in the interview.)

Overall, the current plan is to stay at home as long as possible. I'll be helped by the doula, who will help me make the decision as to when to head to the hospital. Then the CNM will take over, with the doula still helping me, of course. I'm hoping to limit the time I spend there, and thus the chances for intervention. Fingers crossed (and many prayers) that everything will allow for the kind of birth experience I so want! 

4 comments:

Jenny said...

Sounds like you are off to a good start! I just sooo wish I had known a doula or a midwife before I had Suzi. I bet you will have a beautiful birth experience.

Denise said...

I'm sorry GA is one of the states Tricare won't cover the home births. But I hope you can still have a wonderful birth experience.

My advice is to just educate yourself as much as you can. Read, read, read and talk to other women who have had natural births. You will piece all that together and it will all help so much when the big day comes. One reason I was not intimidated by my body going slowly or by doctors trying to "scare" me into intervention was my preparedness! And Jonathan had read much of what I had, so he was 100% on board. Keep Brett in the loop as much as possible!

Your midwife sounds awesome! So glad you found her.

Denise said...

Please don't worry about not meeting Elyana yet! I remember how HARD things were during the first trimester. Jonathan went on a TDY then for 2 weeks and it was rough on me, especially the nausea. Don't even worry!

How 'bout I just come over to your house next week to introduce you (meaning sometime between the 23-27th)? That way you don't have to get out.

Also, the BG's are just as good as everyone says. It's cool how many things you like that I do too!

Kacie said...

Congratulations! I hopped on over here from Sally Ann's blog.

I, too, delivered with the aid of a CNM in a hospital. My baby boy is 8 weeks old now! Time flies.

If you'd like to read my birth story, (oh wow, it's a long one) feel free to pop on over: http://sensetosave.com/otherblog/2009/01/06/the-birth-of-jonathan-michael/