"Prenatal care"

I was registered with Community Midwifery Program (CMP) for a homebirth. As part of that care, I had to go into hospital twice a week for CTG, scans and meeting with a Dr from 38 weeks as I am considered a geriatric pregnancy. 

I do not have to do any of these appointments, however, there is always a risk of the homebirth being taken away from me due to them not signing me off for my homebirth as I may be deemed 'high risk'.

At 39 weeks I had a scan and CTG. Everything was perfect! Yet the Dr who came to review us, I felt very forcefully, told me that because I was geriatric that we need to get the baby out. I recall they told me that my placenta would be 2 weeks aged in comparison  to a say 25 year old. So my placenta was now acting like a 41 week pregnancy and told me that I would have to be induced at 40 weeks. I believe there is absolutely no evidence of this! It's come to my attention that it seems no health care provider, working in field of delivering babies, has heard of this either! 

I felt the Dr was extremely pushy with trying to get my partner and I to agree to all sorts of intervention. I kept telling them that we will work very closely, along side our midwife and if we need additional care then they will guide us, but it seemed this needed to be said 4 times before they backed off. I felt the Dr was very patronising by saying just because I'm healthy doesn't mean that I will be able to push past 40 weeks cause of my age. I recall they also suggested more and more ways for hospital intervention and would follow with, are you also going to decline that!  

It seemed to me they also, which has happened to us before, threw what I now know to be called 'The Dead Baby Card' at us, I feel trying to instil fear of us having a still birth.

I am so sick of hearing these absolutely disgusting stories of women's births being manipulated away from them through hospital staff who I believe are instilling fear that women will loose there babies. As I understand it, how completely and utterly unacceptable from our 'trusted' medical establishment.

I had the most perfect, natural and successful home birth at 40 weeks and 5 days. My placenta came out naturally after 30 minutes and I've had no issues of any sort for me or my little baby. 

I had to get a Dr to sign me off till 41 weeks as the first Dr, mentioned above, said that I had to be induced at 40 weeks. We are educated and knew to fight for our birth but I believe others do not. It makes me so frustrated and horrified that this is the pre natal care that it seems women receive. If I allowed them to induce me, 5 days before my baby was ready to come, I believe I would of, more than likely ended up having a section, like it seems to me so many mamas that do. 

I am grateful that we dodged what I believe to be the intervention bullet!  But have zero trust in the medical profession after having 2 babies, as home births, and both times having to fight, in my opinion, for my right to having a natural birth due to what I feel were Dr's pushing fear and lies on me.