Considering My Options

Let's recapitulate the steps I went through helping me choose the right hospital for giving birth.

In order, those were my preferences:

1. Midwife that would help deliver a baby in the confort of our house -> not available in my area
2. A birthing center -> not available in my area
3. BMP Hospital (a baby-friendly hospital 1 hr away from our house) -> they will not follow patients who reside outside their territory.
4. HM Hospital (a "regular" hospital with a more conservative, narrower approach, 20 minutes from our house) -> it's the hospital on my territory and I'm currently being followed by their team of gynecologists.

 Needless to say, I was less than happy with that option since it was my last choice. But then, I was told at 20 weeks, that my complete placenta previa meant I would need to be scheduled for a ceasarian birth.

- Oh!

So what difference does it make for me when I know it's going to be a scheduled ceasarian anyways? Not much really... I stopped my research and was satisfied that the closest hospital, which was already assuring my follow-ups would be right suited for the task.

But then, my story got an unexpected twist : 3 days ago, I was told I am no longer with placenta previa. Considering the distance separating the placenta and the cervix at this point makes the 20 weeks diagnostic very unlikely... As a result, my confidence in the staff is again shaky to say the least. What that means is also that I'm back on a normal pregnancy and there is no need to seek a ceasarian birth at this point.

- Oh!

Current situation : I'm 30 weeks and 5 days pregnant and feel again trapped with my last choice of a hospital for a natural delivery, but the first 3 options are no more available than they were initially. Only, the pressure to do something about it is getting a bit more intense as I'm getting close to my expected date of delivery (June 12th).

Yesterday, my prenatal class teacher told me about another hospital that was also certified "baby friendly" and was no further than BMP hosptial from our house. The reason she suggested I should look into is:

• They do not restrict their follow-ups to residents of their territory only
• She knows one of the gynecologists there she can refer me to and would probably accept to follow me

The hospital is Hospital Anna-Laberge, in Châteaugay. I got so excited about those news that I woke up at 4 am this morning and couldn't go back to sleep afterwards.

I'll tell you more about what makes this hospital so special in a different post...