home birth(?) after 3rd degree tear 3 yrs ago

[rubyredslippers]

I had 3rd degree tear with first babe 3 yrs ago in hosp and now fairly determined to have homebirht this time. Had brief first visit wi Dr and she say this is a risk that may preclude homebirth. I disagree for what its worth. Anyone any experience or knowledge in this area. I see midwife for first time on thur and don,t want her to red flag me as nutty if i say what i still want. ie homebirth.....

[hellsbells76]

I had a homebirth following a 3rd degree tear - no problem. Knee deep in children at the moment but will be back when I get a chance to dig out the research I armed myself with (salient statistic is less than 5% chance of recurrence of tear)

[rubyredslippers]

Wow thanks.... that risk sounds insanely great to my ears. Appreciate it.

[hellsbells76]

ok, here's some bedtime reading for you! risk of recurrence is 4.69% and a previous tear is not considered a significant risk factor for recurrence.

some other thoughts:
-do you have any idea what caused the tear the first time? i'm convinced mine was caused by a combination of being pretty much forced into the flat-on-your-back stranded beetle position and being yelled at to push when i had no urge (and now realise i was having a 'rest and be thankful' stage and should have been left well alone). second time round i listened to my body, pushed when i felt the urge, and gave birth on all fours, which gives the baby lots more room. and i just had a tiny tear (no stitches) and a graze.
-one midwife raised my previous tear as an issue but she was very anti-hb anyway so was just looking for excuses to make life difficult for me. i moved area mid-pregnancy and had a wonderful pro-hb mw who told me previous tears were not an issue at all, even if it did happen again they'd just get me into hospital to be stitched up, but it was absolutely no reason not to do the birth bit at home.
-doctors are notoriously anti-hb (with some notable exceptions!) - is there any particular reason you need to see the doctor or could you opt for mw-only care and avoid this sort of rubbish altogether?
-that study shows instrumental delivery increases the risk. hb reduces your chances of needing an instrumental delivery so presumably reduces your risk of a tear still further. hb also means you're more likely to have an active birth and to adopt positions which feel right for you which can also help avoid tearing.

sorry - bit garbled but hope it helps! and good luck...homebirths are just fab

[PinkyDinkyDooToo]

I had 1 a 3rd degree tear with DS1, then a homebirth with DS2. Until I spoke to mw's I thought they might be against it, but mw's said that there are a number of reasons you could have a tear like that and they wouldn't know if it was going to happen again until it happened. I ended up with a 2nd degree tear this time. I think I'm just one of those people who will tear. However I was lucky enough to have a mw who was confident enoguh to stitch me at home.

Agree with HellsBells, Home Births are fab.

[Pannacotta]

I only had a 2nd degree tear with DS1 (HB) but didnt tear at all with DS2 (also HB) though I was worried about a repeat tear.
I had a water birth second time roudn and gave birth kneeling, I also felt the baby's head coming out, these were things recommened to avoid tearing and they worked for me.
Don't know stats etc but looks like other posters can help on that front.
Personally I think a home birth is fab and I recommend them to anyone who will listen, second birth was esp good as I was more relaxed and the water was fantastic pain relief. WOudl you consider a water birth?
Also google Mary Cronk, she is a MW who specialises in HB and I found her suggestions/advice v reasurring.

[Pannacotta]

www.homebirth.org.uk/homebirth1.htm

[Pannacotta]

If you could afford it an independent MW would be a good option, that way you dont need to persuade anyone.