The city loses another convenience

New York City is a city which offers an incredible amount of conveniences to its hard working , always on the go population.However with the recent closure of St Vincent's Hospital in the West Village one of those conveniences is in jeopardy- the ability to have a home birth. The reason being that the city's midwives who specialize in home births have lost the support of St Vincent's Hospital which was the only institution in the city which was willing to underwrite their services.
http://www.guardian.co.uk/lifeandstyle/2010/may/14/home-births-new-york-midwives

A friend of mine who who lives in the East Village , recently recounted the hilarious tale of the birth of her daughter which took place in her own apartment with her sister and home birth midwife in attendance. The tale was filled with hilarious anecdotes and my friend was thankful that she had had her baby at home and not in one of the city's cold , sterile hospitals.. I know this posting may not interest the men in this forum but I do think that there may be some women out there who perhaps hate hospitals as much as I do and may lament the fact that we in NYC don't seem to have assisted home births as an option any more..

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18 Comments

hhusted 2yrs+

The unemployment numbers were high last week. I believe the closing of St. Vincent's Hospital, along with the layoff of 3000 workers by Pfizer, is what caused the unemployment numbers to go up.

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Uraniumfish 2yrs+

That's actually really sad, though I'm far from needing a midwife. Hospitals are scary places and I'd surely want to avoid them when the time comes.

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JenMac 2yrs+

I completely respect a woman wanting to give birth at home with a midwife. As for myself, I want to be so doped up I can't feel my own face -- so, I'll stick with the hospital, thank you very much.

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish I hear you.. i hate hospitals myself and my friends tale sounded so fun as they laughed and cried through a wonderful moment with midwife in tow . I know many women who actually want the option to birth at home and in a city where every convenience can be home delivered to lose this important privelege is quite tragic isnt it?

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ajadedidealist 2yrs+

I'm paranoid - I want the drugs and the doctors, and a proper hospital birth...

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@ajadedidealist I dont want to scare you but my sis in law had her first child in NYC at a well known hospital on the UES. Well the birth process was fine and she seemed quite happy until she discovered that her new born had been kept hungry all through the night as the nurse had not bothered to feed him the milk she had extracted. Luckily my nephew except for being extremely hungry the next day was fine or they would have had grounds for a law suit!So even hospitals are not fool proof.

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NeverSleeps 2yrs+

I want the drugs and the doctors as well.... in Paris.

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Uraniumfish 2yrs+

They don't give you much drugs in Paris. Better stay in the US if you want to get too doped up to speak.

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BroadwayBK 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish That's interesting... and I thought our country was the one that was so staunching anti-drug.

@everyone I want to never have children - or never have to worry about birthing one, anyway. I shall adopt an adorable Chinese baby in need of a good home. Once I move far away from Bushwick, anyway. This is no place to raise an adopted daughter.

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DBlack 2yrs+

@Uraniumfish It's true about drugs in Europe vs the US. Even aspirin is sold in very low doses as compared to the stuff you find on the US market. American cold medicine is some serious dope, by the way.

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JenMac 2yrs+

Dude, how about the Claritan D! That stuff is like speed!

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DBlack 2yrs+

Unrelated question: does anyone know of a negative meaning to the word "Dude"? I recently used the term on some guy I didn't know who was from SanFran and got a VERY negative reaction. IE, "How dare you call me dude, you f*** f****" Just wondering. Here's as much as I could find on 'dude' all harmless:

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Dude

Maybe the SanFran guy was just a nut job.

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@DBlack I think the SanFran guy was definitely a nutter.. btw I think the inhabitants of San Francisco dont like it being called SanFran either!

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uptowngirl 2yrs+

@BroadwayBK I recently read on the adoption forum on the site Asia Expat that its quite easy to adopt a baby from China and it doesnt take too long either.

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DBlack 2yrs+

I know a lesbian couple who adopted a Chinese girl. It's a complicated process, but certainly do-able. They're also fairly well to do, so I'm sure being very financially stable helped a lot.

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BroadwayBK 2yrs+

@DBlack I personally don't especially like being called dude, since I am not a male. I wouldn't take it the wrong way, though. And I don't see how a dude could take offense to it.

@uptowngirl Interesting... I guess that whole one child per family thing isn't all it's cracked up to be.

@JenMac Benadryl overpowers me every time - it knocks me out and I feel horrible when I wake up.

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JenMac 2yrs+

I say "dude" like it's going out of style (which it never will to me, by the way). The only reason I can think of other than that guy being a total fruit loop is that, perhaps, he is one of those Norcal people who despises all things Southern California including the word "dude." Which, now that I think about it, would also make him a total fruit loop. Or, maybe he hates The Big Lebowski -- which makes him lame. . . :)

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ajadedidealist 2yrs+

Yeah, I've never had any problems with calling anyone "dude" - just the occassional Bill and Ted joking. Never heard anything offensive related to it - that's for sure!