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Childbirth

Hospitals, home births and birthing pools

15 replies

Indith · 25/08/2006 19:22

Ok I know there are a few threads covering various aspects but:

My line of reasoning so far runs something like this: (EDD Dec 28th btw)

I want a birthing pool
There is one in a hospital not too far away but not my local one.
That is only one, what if its in use? (but midwife says its not that popular so should be ok)
You go into hospital when contractions 5 mins apart. So am I going to end up doing a lot of labouring at home and not in the pool anyway?
then it can take 3 hours for the pool to fill
I don't have a car so while I can get an ambulance there I am the sort of person to get really anal and stressed if I don't have concrete plans for going home again (and given the time of year I can see my grand total of 2 friends with cars being unavailable)
Starting to think would be way more relaxed buying a mini pool in a box and having a home birth.
But then I worry about time of year and christmas/new year ambulance call out times being slow etc should anything go wrong.

So

If you had home birth why did you choose it?
If you have had both home and hospital which did you prefer?
If you have had use of a pool in home/hospital/both what did you think?

Thanks in advance people!

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coffeeandcake · 25/08/2006 19:30

Hi Indith,

i laboured in a birthing pool in a m lead unit last time round. Didn't find it particularly useful (especially since the mw let the water get cold, and my contractions disappeared!), although I liked the feeling of privacy(!) it gave me.
This time round I'm booked for a home birth, and have rented a birthing stool, which I actually birthed on last time.
Just my experiences, hope they are of some use.

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bubblepop · 25/08/2006 20:41

hiya indith, my last birth was in a pool in hospital. i WOULD RECOMEND IT TO ANYONE. as soon as i stepped into the water my first words were "bliss".
the midwife told me that water birth is not that popular and that they only get one in my hospital about every 3-4 months, so she was quite excited when i said i wanted to use it. i had the baby 50 minutes after arriving there and i would say it took about 25 minutes to fill up the pool. it was a bit like a very deep, kidney shaped bath type pool. when you telephone the hospital before you leave you could ask them to keep the pool room free for you before you get there, thats if no-one else is using it. maybe you should ask your midwife a bit more about the home birth situation, it could be just what your looking for.

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Thomcat · 25/08/2006 20:47

I chose home birth becasue I didn't want to leave the house while in ;labour, loved the whole idea of being at home, of my own bed, of all cuddling up in bed as a family straight after and not having to leave. Of DD1 being around. Just knew it was for me.

Furst birth was in an active birth unit and was lovely but would opt for the home option again if I ever have a 3rd

I was going to have a pool birth first time round but when it came to it I didn't ant to be moved and couldn't have got across the corridor to the pool room. I needed to be standing and holding onto the end of the bed and nothing would sway me.
2nd time I laboured in the bath and then again when it came to pushing stage just had to be on dry land and on all fours.
Water really helped the contractions though, it was mad how the pain just massively eased and D would pour water over my belly while I contracted which was fab as well.

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sallyrosie · 25/08/2006 20:51

I was really keen to go into a pool in early labour last time - but being in it was just horrible, I felt totally out of control and was desperate to be back on dry land kneeling with my head on the floor...I'd say take an open mind cos you never know what your body is going to tell you to do!

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TenaLady · 25/08/2006 20:59

I wanted a pool and rented one, sadly I didnt get to use it as the birth wasnt straight forward.
My waters had broken and although I didnt have him til 3 days later, because of possible infection they wouldnt let me use the pool.

Tbh,once I got to the hospital they did let me have a bath to try and relax but I hated the water completely (most unlike me, I do like a good soak).

Another mental note I made was the labour ward was absolutely heaving when I went in and the midwives were struggling to cope. tbh the birthing pool thing needs constant supervision and you cant bank on how busy it will be on the day and if they can man the decks (so to speak).

It was a dream of mine to have a peaceful birth, music, aromatherapy, birthing pool and as little intervention as possible but in reality other things took over.

Childbirth is so fickle and you cannot plan for anything cos the most unusual can happen.

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TenaLady · 25/08/2006 21:01

The best plan in retrospect is just to do as you are told!

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Thomcat · 25/08/2006 21:32

Sorry but I'd massively disagree with doing as you're told.
If you did that they might tell you to lie flat on your back and put your legs in stirrups.... ohhhh can you imagine, wrong, wrong, wrong.

Best plan, imo, is to have an idea of what you might like and then go with the flow, but your flow.

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Toady · 25/08/2006 22:02

Why dont you book a homebirth so you have 1 or 2 midwifes with you, have a pool at home so you can use it in early labour and then see how it goes, you will have support at home, water to help labour pains, ask for portable G&A if you want it.

I suspect if you start off at home and are relaxed you will probably stay and give birth at home.

If not - at any point you can say I want to go to hospital and your midwife will sort it out. Dont let her know this until you decide you do want to go to hospital otherwise you might be persuaded to go in earlier than you want to.

This is what I am planning to do when I have my 4th and final baby. (in about two years time I think)

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lcemum · 25/08/2006 23:05

I had homebirth for 3rd and last, no birthing pool though. It was just the best experience,so relaxing being at home wandering around and doing what I wanted, which seemed to entail sitting on one of those big ball things watching TV! I would definately recommend it.

Even my hubby who was totally against it enjoyed the experience. Good luck whatever you decide

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Indith · 26/08/2006 11:05

Oooh things to think about, thanks people.. Definitely getting more into the idea of home birth.

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agalch · 26/08/2006 17:38

Indith

I had homebirth booked. Had tens hired,entinox and pethidine as back up.Also bought a pool to labour in/deliver.
Didn't have homebirth,during sweep mw thought i could have a vasa previa so had to go into hospital.
Used the pool in hosp,didn't take long to fill.
Pool was good because it def speeded labour up,needed gas and air as soon as i got into pool.Got into pool at 11.45pmish and got out of pool at 12.40 and delivered at 1am so was good timewise.It did make it more intense for me so be prepared lol.
Would recommend the Made In Water La Bassine pool.Didnt use it for labour but practiced filling it up and had a few soaks in it and it's really comfy.

HTH and good luck!!

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LaidbackinAsia · 26/08/2006 18:15

Hi Indith

I had hospital birth with 1st DS - I was 22 and didn't even think about the other options . Everything went OK - the midwives were great - I found it a bit grim and only stayed in a few hours after the labour.

DS 2 - when I was 30 - planned home birth -mainly chosed as I sometimes worked in the hospital I would have been in and I knew I would be more relaxed at home. I had a midwife and midwifery student there from fairly early on in labour. Student midwife gave me fab aromatherapy massage. Spent time in the bath, walking up and down stairs, making cups of tea and generally doing my own thing. 2nd midwife arrived and I gave birth to whopping 10 lb 4 oz babe. Unfortunately tore as he was such a brute and had to go to local hospital for some stitches - but the labour at home was fab. They put an ambulance on call as soon as you start your home birth - so even if it is Christmas - you should be able to go in quickly if the need arises. My thoughts were the same as yours ... might as well try at home !! Preferred the home birth.

Expecting no 3 in March and hope to do it at home again - this time I am living in Sri Lanka though !!

No experience of birthing pools myself - some friends have used them and thought they were fab and some really went off the idea when they were in labour. If you can afford to rent one/buy one and not be too annoyed if you dont use it - then go for it !

Good luck with your decision making.

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motherinferior · 26/08/2006 18:25

I have had one very medicalised hospital birth and one home one in a waterpool. My first labour was pretty vile anyway, and it's likely I'd have ended up in hospital, but I did feel that I'd sparked off the whole spiral of intervention by opting for an epidural relatively early on (ie I'd been in pain for about, oooh, 24 hours but I was 'only' 5cm dilated and I had about 16 more hours to go, as it turned out); as I say, I think it would have been horrible and pearshaped wherever I'd been, but I did find the whole hospital experience pretty vile. I also knew that I'd nearly been C-sectioned relatively early on in my labour solely because the monitors had picked up my heartbeat instead of the baby's - if I hadn't had stroppy community midwives who'd said 'check your equipment' I'd probably have been wheeled into theatre.

So I opted - with much discussion on MN (it's how I came here!) and elsewhere - for home, and after much encouragement I invested in a pool.

My second labour was much, much more straightforward - I honestly don't think this was simply because it was at home, as I laboured for about 24 hours at home before going to hospital the first time. But it was absolutely fabulous giving birth at home, and in water, and I felt that I had made completely the right choice and all powerful and womanly and similar hippyish things (which were probably the effect of masses of gas and air, but were very nice). Even my DP, who was highly anti the idea, ended up realising it was the right place to be.

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sarahlou1uk · 27/08/2006 19:43

DS - Born in hospital in their birthing pool. 2 mw's present at all times. Quite relaxed but because of health & safety issue re electricity & water, didn't have tv or plug sockets for cd player. Think I was advised to get in too early as I was only 5cm and it took 8 hours in water before he came along. Discharged after 2 days but then re-admitted with infection from somewhere (could have been their pool but not sure).

DD - born on Monday this week (21st) at home in Made in Water pool. Contractions started at 6am, put TENS machine on at 10am. Mw arrived at 10.30, assessed me then left me to get on with it while she did some more visits. Called her back at 12.30 as contractions were very strong and painful. DH started filling pool - 2 mw's arrived with gas & air. Got in pool at 1.15pm, dd born at 1.38pm. Had glass of champagne and called family. DS was out for the day with my mum & dad but came home when I called. MW's made sure I was OK and dd OK and then tidied up and left us to it.

Looking back, I'm glad I had a hospital birth with my first as it was all very scary. My choice of a home birth for dd was the right one for me. In familiar surroundings and then getting into my own bed with my new baby. Plus the mw that delivered her was the one I had seen throughout my pregnancy at the clinic so I knew her and felt comfortable. With hospital, I had never met any of the mw's so felt a bit unsure, especially when one of them had to go and ask another mw for advice.

Hope this helps.

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Indith · 27/08/2006 22:56

Thanks for all the experiences! I'll chat to my midwife more about home birth next time I see her but pretty sure thats what I'll be going for if poss. After all I can always go into hospital if it all goes wrong but the reverse doesn't apply!

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