Hello All,

I am new to this group and stumbled upon it because my mother was reading an
article in Today's Zaman that mentions this group and midwifery today (which
mentions Dr. Hakan). I am an American citizen and my husband is Turkish. We are
at 40 weeks right now and are expecting the baby any day now. We are big on
natural birth but this is our first baby and we have both recently relocated to
Turkey (so, we have been used to the American medical system and resources
there).

So far, all is normal in our pregnancy and the due date is June 25th. I am
wondering if there are any tips and suggestions you might be willing to share to
help us prepare and advocate for a natural birth at the state hospital here
(Muğla Davlet Hastanesi). I would like to deliver vaginally without the use
of any painkillers and hopefully without an induction or any other interventions
if possible.

I really wish I had seen these resources sooner because I swear I had been
seeking out advice wherever I could find it. We wanted to go the slightly
inexpensive route so, because we have state insurance, we see a private hospital
doctor occasionally because she is my Gyn but have been mostly meeting with a
recommended Ob/Gyn at the state hospital and making occasional visits to the
Sağlık Ocağı as requested by them. We personally supplement
this with prenatal yoga, lots of online research, and an Our Bodies, Ourselves
and Dr. Sears pregnancy books. If I had known of midwife and home birthing
options and doulas here in Muğla, I would have jumped at that opportunity.

Again, any tips you can share about how to go about a natural birth (we are
about 10 minutes from the hospital) from how long we should stay at home during
labor to once we get to the hospital are very much welcomed. Also, after
delivery, what do we HAVE to do? I was told the baby will be given to us and
they will try to do tests (blood and shots and so on). The sağlık
ocağı says to insist they wait on those and come visit them a couple
of days later for that kind of stuff. We are a bit confused on what to do.

Also, we are big on not doing unnecessary surgeries. Neither of us are
practicing Muslims or Jews so we feel no cultural pull to have a circumcision
but we know that is practice here. Anyone else who decided not to do this have
any thoughts or suggestions/tips?

Thank you so much,

Rasheedah