Having an 'active birth' in a hospital - anyone done it?

[Imbimba]

Hello,
DC3 is due in a few weeks. DCs 1 & 2 were both born at a stand alone midwife led unit (12 mins by ambulance to hospital). For both births I was upright, walking around, active etc throughout and this really worked for me.

This time I am going to give birth in a midwife led unit attached to the hospital since there have been some complications this pregnancy and I just don't feel comfortable at the thought of being in a separate unit this time.

My question though - are you allowed/encouraged to be mobile and active if you give birth at a hospital? For DC2's birth I wasn't even examined internally - the midwife said she could see I was doing fine and just let me listen to by body...can you refuse internal examinations in labour at a hospital? (Obviously I would let them do it if there was any hint of a problem with the baby).

Pushing stage - I do not want to be lying down - I was kneeling and upright for DC1 and 2 - do they try to make you lie down at hospital?

I am having a tour of the unit next week so hope to ask some of these questions then, but I just wondered what other people's experiences were.

TIA

I would hope so. We only have a hospital here although I think there are different wards for different levels of support e.g. midwife led ward and consultant care ward.

The only bit of advice from my mum was don't let them put a drip in you as you're better off moving around and that you don't need to lie on a bed to give birth.

All the hospitals around me encourage active labour throughout.

Hi, my second birth was at the main unit as the night I went into labour they had to close the midwife one due to staff shortages at the Main (so the midwife had to go to make numbers up there) the main unit had 1 pool which I was lucky and it was available. The midwives didn't interfere with what I wanted to do walk about grab dh kneel........ They readied the pool for me, And only checked me internally when I asked them to.
From my experience it was great.
Good luck with your 2nd birth.

In my experience active labour is encouraged even on consultant led units. The only reason your statically less likely to have one in hospital (something often quoted as a positive for independant midwife units), is because people giving birth in hospital are usually higher risk pregnancies anyway and complications can sometimes mean its not possible.

Sorry 3rd birth!

All 3 of my births were induced (my choice) in hospital.

During all 3, I was able to be upright, move around, eat and drink as I wished (although I didn't want to), use birthing balls etc. I was only examined when the midwife thought I was fully dilated, just to check that I wasn't going to be pushing too soon.

No pain relief, no tearing, no interventions aside from gel/tablets to start the labours.

I don't think this is an uncommon experience if there are no concerns/problems during the actual labour.

Thanks all, really encouraging.

3 active labours, 2 in MLU attached to delivery suite, 3rd consultant led as high risk. No bed in the room in the MLU ( pool, beanbags, mats, rocking chair etc) and in the delivery suite they pushed the bed out of the way and got me some mats out. All three delivered kneeling (my preference). You don't have to be flat on your back on a bed, legs akimbo!

Yes both my labours were in a MLU in the hospital and I had active labours. The last thing I wanted was to be lying down, I was standing up both times as the babies came out!

All 3 of my vbacs were in hospital.

Dc2 I was made to lie down on the bed (monitoring used as the excuse).

I arrived too late to go near the bed so birthed standing up with dc3.

Dc4 was monitored but I refused to stay on the bed and this wasn't a problem. I gave birth kneeling on the bed head and again, this wasn't an issue.

Definitely possible. Just be firm!

Depends on the hospital I think.
The first hospital I gave birth in had a very clinical approach, I was encouraged to have an epidural early on so spent most of my time in labour stuck to the bed.

Next hospital had a very holistic approach. The strongest drug offered was meptid unless you went to the high dependency ward.
I had a lovely water birth with only 1 internal examination at the beginning.

For my last birth my midwife insisted I stay active and wasn't very amused when I told her id rather just lie on the bed and feel sorry for myself lol

My hospital births I was strapped to the bed with the straps across the tummy. It was excruciating. The mw's refused to take them off though even though there were no complications of signs of distress. My home births subsequently were much more relaxed. I think it depends on the hospital. I'm terrified of having s hospital birth this time round. As my local hospital is awful.

If you're in a midwife-led unit at the hospital, your experience should be hardly any different from being at a standalone midwife unit. I imagine the midwifes will encourage active labour. Also, my antenatal teacher has taught us that if we must have an internal examination we can refuse to lie down (if we feel it interrupts our active labour), and, for example, ask for it to be done while we are on all fours. This was a new idea for me!