Talk to me about home births

[MyBreadIsEggy]

I'm excited
I had a very smooth, relatively easy induction and delivery when I gave birth to DD 11 months ago, and am now pregnant with #2.
MW has said that due to my obstetric history, I am a great candidate for home birth! That's exactly what I wanted to hear, as I had a really shitty time on the postnatal ward last time, and would rather not have to go to the hospital again.
So what I'm really asking, how does this whole home birth malarkey work??
And any tips for what to have on hand in the house (the non-obvious things) for the big event??

[ThePowerOfCake]

I had a home birth with my first. My usual midwife came to visit me at home at around 36-37 weeks to check if my house was suitable. No point in doing it before then as things can change and mean you're no longer such a good candidate. She wasn't judging the house as such, just making sure there was somewhere reasonably sensible to give birth, room for midwives etc.

I had a day time contact number for the community midwives and an out of hours number to phone if I went into labour outside office hours. I called them out, they came and checked me over, went away and came back later when I called again. I had two midwives and a student that I had consented to. They brought gas and air, scales, a container for the placenta, equipment for taking blood samples and probably quite a lot of other stuff I didn't notice! I had DD in the early hours of the morning and my usual midwife came to see us that afternoon and do the newborn checks.

At the pre-birth visit the midwife gave me a short list of things it was useful to have around. I did a bit of online research too. I had a box that contained lots of old towels, a plastic shower curtain, black bags, a torch and a decent lamp. I had a hospital bag packed with all the usual stuff in, ready just in case I needed it.

I absolutely loved my home birth. Feel free to pm me if you want to ask anything!

[Terribleknitter]

I home birthed my third and it couldn't have gone better
I will say though that you need a back up plan just in case - babysitters, a clear way to get to hospital and a bag packed just in case, if only to ease your mind.
We had an angle poise lamp, dust sheets, plenty of towels, a couple of bowls and some blankets as our basic hb kit.
What happened was my waters broke, I phoned the midwife and she came out with a student - i was asked first about that. She checked me over and ended up staying as I tend to labour fairly quickly! She brought gas and air and all of her own kit with her. They'll tell you what they need you to have in.
They cleaned everything up and took it all to be disposed of safely. A good part of having a student (it was her first hb) was that because she was getting a detailed explanation of everything I got it as well - I ended up with a guided tour of the placenta!
I couldn't have asked for anything better tbh.

[MyBreadIsEggy]

Thank you for your replies
I really hope everything goes to plan and I can have this baby at home!
The only slight issue I have, is I laboured very quickly last time - 3 hours from first pain to my baby being born, so I'm expecting even quicker this time round. The hospital is a 30 minute drive away, so that could pose a problem both if I decide against home birth, or if I have to be transferred to hospital during a home birth

[ohforfoxsake]

Three of my four we born at home.

DC4 was two weeks late so there was a higher chance of being rushed in, but wasn't in the end. She was a very quick birth and I was scared the MW wasn't going to make it - but she did. Make sure you call as early as possible would be my advice!

My HBs were very relaxed. Did a lot of pacing. The other DCs were in the house: the first was in the early hours so DC1slept through it, the second was at 7am so I got them up and they sat with the neighbour while I gave birth to their sister,. The last was slightly trickier as it was evening time so their dad took them out for tea, we put them to bed early and I had Dd2 about 7pm. I don't know how I managed to be in labour and sort the kids out but it wasn't particularly stressful. Oh DC2 had a stomach bug so I was cleaning up vom. The joys of a large family!

I do believe that all things being equal a HB isn't a stressful experience - I found hospital protocol more of a worry with the threat of unnecessary intervention. You have two experienced MWs who stay with you, and go to hospital if you need to be transferred. They are very discreet with their kit so will bring a resuscitator, gas and air etc. There is nothing like slipping into your own bed, with a brew in your own mug, toast and your new born all wrapped up.

[CheshireDing]

I'd go for it if mw is saying it's okay too.

DC1 should have been hb but contractions stopped and never came back - we transferred to hospital in ambulance (our hospital is around 40 mins ago - so I guess they use ambulance just so they don't get stuff in the traffic), hb mw came with us and stayed til DC born naturally at hospital once contractions were back on again.

DC2 - home birth, first mw got there just 1 hour before and second mw 10 mins before (and she was a newly qualified student and it was her first home birth)

DC3 - due in 5 weeks, aiming for home birth too hopefully.

I still pack a bag for me and baby anyway as back up and then it's easy to find the first baby grow etc you want baby to wear as it's ready in bag, small bottle of coke in fridge to give me a boost if I need it, cheap shower curtain and the pack the mw drops off a few weeks before.

Good luck :)

[Kapowdee4]

I had an unplanned home birth on Saturday due to a very short labour and my nearest MLU being full. I had two on call midwives come out (and an ambulance but that was because it wasn't planned) and they brought all the equipment necessary. They bagged up all the mess and had everything needed to deal with the placenta, checking the baby over etc.

If I had known I would be having a home birth I would have got in lots and lots of cheap towels and made sure I wasn't on my living room rug! Apart from that I just got DH to bring the hospital bags back in from the car and used what I had packed.
Even though mine was unplanned I would definitely recommend it, it was so lovely being at home with DS1 after everybody had left and being able to get into my own bed. DD1 slept through the whole thing as it was in the evening but my childcare was there if she woke up as I was planning on going to hospital. Good luck!

[coveredinhopeandvaseline]

I had a HB planned for my first in August last year...however he was back to back with brow presentation, it was excruciating so I ended up transferring into hospital.