A baby, Midwives, OB's, OH MY!

One of the first things I had to do in moving to the UK is figure out the healthcare system here and find a doctor, seeing as I was 25 weeks pregnant when we moved here. No big deal, right? Well, we have learned rather quickly that things work a bit differently here...

- We were taken to the local surgery. As we drove up to the small office, I was envisioning delivering our child in one of the tiny examining rooms with whatever general practitioner was available, right alongside any other minor surgeries they would encounter that day. We soon learned that a surgery was a doctor's clinic, NOT where they operate!
- Midwives - In the states whenever I mentioned midwives were frequently used here, people immediately asked if I was having a home birth. This is most certainly NOT the case, not that home births are bad, I'm just rather partial to hospitals and especially nurses to take care of my every need! Yes, I realize I am not very pioneering. I cried when we left the hospital with Tan Man because I loved my nurses so much. The midwives rotate on shifts at the hospital and doctor's office, so you see a lot of different ones, but then one will stay with you during the entire labor process. They call in an OB if there is any kind of concern
- C-sections vs. Natural deliveries - Thankfully, they are very favorable of natural births here in the UK. I had a c-section with our first, but they were very happy to let me try to have this one naturally if I chose, in fact they encourage it! They do however, make sure I am hooked to an IV, being monitored, and do not labor too long. And they sent me to the hospital to see the OB just to make sure.
- The Theater! We were ecstatic to learn that they have a theater in the maternity ward (John was especially happy about this!). I know all of you moms would have loved to be lulled by the Big Screen during labor - doesn't that sound posh! Our hopes were crushed, however, when we learned the theater was the name of the operating room! Darn! And I had been planning on what movies to watch!
- Epidurals - Now, just as a disclaimer, I went into my pregnancy with Tan Man saying I would take one if I needed it, but after 3 days of back labor, I walked in asking for one...this is my excuse for having an epidural (I'm sure it couldn't be that I'm a big baby!) The other part of this disclaimer is that I know some of you are amazing ladies and faced labor all on your own - you are my heroes! Well, here they are not big fans of the epidural. The first midwife's words were something like: "That is not natural labor. Lying down is the worst position and just not natural." I did have to bite my tongue to not ask, "And when have you been in labor?" (She hasn't had any kids yet, I checked) I wanted to say, that I rather enjoyed not having any pain, not knowing when contractions were coming, and lying down...somehow I didn't think it would go over so well, so I kept my mouth shut!
- Inducing - Um yeah...so they induce only when you are 15 days late (yes, I said 15!) In fact, when I met with the OB she told me my next appointment would be on Dec. 23 (My due date is the 15th) if I hadn't had the baby yet! I think I just kind of stared at her with my mouth slightly gaping! I'm all about going into labor naturally, I'm just really hoping this is before I'm two weeks late and into Christmas!

And this isn't even to mention all the different names (dummys, pushchairs, nappies, just to name a few) I have to say, after hearing about giving birth in the Philippines and in Korea, I'm thankful that these are the ones we've encountered, and none of them are bad! I'm still a little bummed about not getting to watch movies...