Maternity member grateful for CHM, By Rosanne Hostetler, Spencer, Wis.

We had a healthy pregnancy right up until the last month, when over my stretch marks I got a a hive-like rash (PUPPP rash) that can appear during pregnancy.

Our next issue was during labor. We’d planned on a home birth with a midwife. My labor started on a Sunday night around midnight, with my contractions slowly increasing all day Monday. We were in contact with my midwife throughout the day, so, Monday evening, when they were about five minutes apart, the midwife came.

During the night, my contractions slowed again. We tried different things to speed them up, but nothing worked. My midwife didn’t have access to Pitocin, so finally, Tuesday morning, we went to the hospital. Upon arriving, they gave me Pitocin but couldn’t give an epidural, since the baby had descended so far down.

After laboring for over two more hours, I was worn out and could barely push anymore. They used the vacuum to assist. Our little boy, named Caidyn, arrived at 2:30 p.m. I had third degree tearing and needed stitches.

We’d signed up for CHM after our friend, who had a great experience, told us about it. We knew we wanted to start a family in the future, so the Gold level maternity program was a perfect fit. Now that we’ve been through a maternity experience, we’re so happy with our choice!

Though we had some confusion with the hospital in providing the right information, CHM staff were super nice to work with. They answered all our questions and helped us get the correct information. It was such a blessing that they shared our maternity expenses. We’re grateful knowing we could start a family without having to pay enormous bills.