So I just spent about three hours researching online regarding the best places to give birth in/near Haifa, and the best people (midwife/doula) to do it with.
Exhausted. Momentarily discouraged, again. This search was triggered by the correspondence last night with yet another mother I was introduced to before we took our Italy trip. I had been pretty excited about meeting Allyson and her then-eight-month-old son...but then she said her family's moving a week after we return from Italy. Then, I was pretty excited about meeting Miriam and her three kids...until she told me last night via FB that she's leaving for Germany in a month. Her family decided it'd be best for her to give birth to their fourth child there than do it here in Israel.
And, after all the searches in the last three hours, I totally empathize with her decision. Still, one encouraging note for me is that I decided to take one last thorough read of Allyson's email--which is quite long and chock full of her prenatal and birthing experience in Haifa--and discovered that a lot of the options and names I stumbled across on my own and read about are actually already mentioned in her email. I had missed all these before, and happily, a lot of my own conclusions are bolstered by her own experience. So it's nice to know that my gut instincts and educated guesses are right on. I'm going to consider the past three hours time well spent then, even though I gained no real new names besides what I received from Allyson. At least now I know with great certainty that the information she provides is solid.
Laniado sounds the nicest, what with its friendly relationship with doulas and midwives as well as large bathtubs. But it's 56 km away in Netanya, and husbands aren't allowed to stay the night. Unless someone from Kirsten and Or's congregation would be nice enough to host Daniel for the typical two nights that my post-birth stay would require for him, Laniado is not a good option since we still have to pay for the natural birthing suite. No point adding a hotel fee on top of that.
Carmel Hospital sounds the second nicest, but it is fairly medicalized. I hear the food is good, and we can get there by a quick ride on the bus. Still, I'm not too keen about the mandatory six-hour-long separation between mother and newborn that's typical of an Israeli hospital birth, and I don't like dealing with paperwork and constant fetal monitoring as well as unnecessary vaginal exams while in labor.
Right now, my options are either Agoola, a birth center about 20km away, with a midwife that's been recommended by two separate sources. Or home birth, with said midwife. I can't believe I'm seriously considering a home birth, but there are some definite advantages to this option, if all goes well with the birth i.e. no complications. I might miss out on the hospital food (which, like airplane food, I really, really enjoy) afterwards and whatever new knowledge I might gain about medicalized birth in Israel as contrasted with my experience in the U.S. But I guess I would be so happy with a smooth home birth that missing out on hospital food and firsthand hospital knowledge is a ridiculous trade-off to consider even a trade-off. Should we need medical help during the home birth, Carmel Hospital is close by enough.
Option #3: There is a kibbutz about 20km north of Haifa that a recommended midwife works at... It's within a stone's throw away from the Lebanese border. I don't know how we would be able to check it out though. I guess, if my impressions towards the midwife I'm meeting tomorrow at Agoola are positive, that will be the end of considering the kibbutz at all. The remaining question would be whether to give birth at Agoola or at home, and hopefully the midwife can provide some words of wisdom for that decision. I plan to start interviewing for my doula after my birthing location is set.
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