Carry on from the previous thread about birth I just wanted to say that I've had two hospital births and both were positive experiences.
DS was a normal delivery but it was a very long labour - 36 hours from start to finish. I was at home for the first 26 hours and spent the last ten at hospital, three and a half hours of it was second stage (the 'pushing stage') as he was face up with his head tilted, plus his head was massive (39cm).
I had the same MW with me for the whole ten hours, then her plus another MW for the last three as they had to have two in the room for the delivery. I wasn't left alone for so much as a second and there was always a MW in the room as well as a consultant doing 'rounds' every 3-4hrs, DH was with me throughout. When DS was born, once we were all sorted out, we were given time completely alone in the delivery room with him - I had him at 1:32pm and didn't get to the postnatal ward until 5:30pm. On the ward I was in a bay with three other people but there were plenty of MWs and they seemed to do regular rounds to check on us as well as answering call buttons. I was pretty clueless and when DS was sick in the night I ran into the corridor with him, there was a MW there like a shot to reassure me and change the sheets. Next day I was shown how to bath him, change him, feed him (he was bottle fed), look after the cord stump and dress him. I stayed two days.
With DD I had an EMCS. They realised at 40+3 that she was breech and so I went for a scan to see if she could be turned. The scan revealed a whole host of problems. Not only was she breech she had half the cord in a figure-8 around her hips and legs, the rest of the cord was under her - right over my cervix. She also had very little amniotic fluid, the only pool she had was 3cm deep and was right in front of her face. I went directly to theatre for an emergency section.
It was all still very positive. I asked if I could try for a breech delivery. They explained that it was my choice an they'd attend me either way but that once I dilated far enough, the cord would likely prolapse. If it didn't prolapse then as DDs legs descended the cord she was wrapped in would compress and possibly even snap. If this happened the placenta could detach. There were lots of what-ifs. I'm not trying to scare anyone, sorry. It was a unique situation and the odds of such a set of circumstances are very, very low.
I had a MW stay with me throughout the operation and I was awake for it. All of my questions were answered, DH was with me (looking very yummy in a set of scrubs - hello, doctor!), for all it was an emergency it didn't seem rushed and they look lots of time to make sure I was comfortable and that I was fully numb, the team was introduced to me by name and so on. They all chatted to me right the way through. The surgeon showed me DD as soon as she was out and once she'd been checked over by the paediatrician I was able to hold her. In recovery they stripped her to her nappy and put her inside my gown for skin to skin. I wanted to BF and a MW came to show me how, although she didn't need to as DD figured it out for herself while she was in my gown. I had the same level of MW care on the ward, including one who sat and hugged me at 3am when I couldn't stop shaking as it sank in that we could have died if I'd gone into full labour. I had lots of drugs to keep me comfortable and a lactation consultant visited the ward daily to help everyone. Even the Bounty lady was unobtrusive :o
Also, I did tear with DS but didn't feel it happen, it was stitched and healed really quickly - we were DTD just over a fortnight later. I even walked to the postnatal ward shortly after the stitches were done.
I'm not having a birth plan this time as I've never had one go to plan yet! I'm just going to play it by ear and see how it goes on the day. The best advice I ever got is that the delivery is one moment out of one day and its over with. The most important bit is all the years that follow.