I had both my babies at home. AMA

[disneylandlover]

Both my babies have been born at home - AMA

@Boooooot the difference is that the baby is less likely to be put into an emergency situation in the first place when birth happens in a calm and comfortable environment without intervention

The baby would have survived in a hospital! You are deliberately missing the point. A hospital has doctors, NICU and better medical care! 🤦🏻‍♀️

I think you are trolling us

I have friends who gave birth at home and it sounds truly wonderful 😍. My births were complicated and thanks to infertility I was a geriatric mother otherwise I would have loved to have done it ❤️.

@Boooooot could not have said it better. Sorry I don't know how to quote.

How do you know that the babies who died in hospital would have survived if delivered at home? There is no complication that puts baby at risk that can be better handled at home than by a actual doctors in an actual hospital.

The other way around is easy to deduce/verify.

my MIL gave birth to all 4 of her children at home. She can't drive. I imagine that played a role in her decision making. I can't drive either but thats not the main reason why i am sometimes hesitant about hospital births.

My sister was swapped at birth with a baby boy and we only realized when we were changing the nappies. my parents ran around the hospital in a panic and eventually located my sister with another mother (she had not realized or maybe even chose to realize; my mum and her were talking beforehand and she told my mum she really wanted a baby girl as this was her 4th son). I have an irrational fear that this could happen to me! It was at a private hospital too.

Loving that this isn't going the way the OP smugly thought it would

I can’t stand people who life in countries with safe hospitals and free medical care who advocate home births because it’s comfy and nicer.

You mean like the multiple midwives (and one consultant) across my two pregnancies who recommended it? It was one of my midwives at an antenatal appointment for DD1 who first suggested a home birth to me. I wasn't going against medical advice!

The vast majority of those transfers are at the labouring woman's request - quite often for pain relief - and aren't emergency/life or death situations.

Actually I think there is quite a mix of opinions on this thread. The difference is that home birthers tend to have respect for women's choice, while people who have had hospital births tend to be more close-minded and judgemental.

I didn't 'smugly' think it would go any way at all! You can always rely on Mumsnet for a good argument can't you!

Still waiting on that actual statistics @disneylandlover ...

"Statistically for complication-free pregnancies, home birth is safer than hospital birth"

Hhmm. Not sure on that.

Statistics aren't much good if you're one of the unlucky ones, are they?

I had a textbook pregnancy. No issues or complications, fit and healthy. It all went wrong when an issue with the cord meant the baby was in distress. When I was in certain positions, baby was getting no oxygen at all.

Baby was monitored and was delivered via forceps after a failed ventouse attempt.

It would have been a very tragic outcome had I been at home, and one that I don't know if I could have forgiven myself for.

my MIL gave birth to all 4 of her children at home. She can't drive. I imagine that played a role in her decision making. I can't drive either but thats not the main reason why i am sometimes hesitant about hospital births.

Surely she wouldn't have been the one driving anyway?

God people here really love a pile on, silly me for thinking this would be a nice thread. Homebirthing isnt a death sentence. I know several medical professionals who chose to have a homebirth.

I will try and find them after the school run, I looked at them closely during my pregnancy but that was 5 years ago, so don't currently have them to hand

her husband didn't drive either (at that time). They did live in London so i guess could have gotten a taxi.

I also had both of mine at home. I live minutes from Europe's largest maternity hospital and practically next door to an ambulance station.

I think accessibility to health services is a key risk mitigation factor. Had I lived more rural then I wouldn't have done it.

As it was, DC2 came within minutes of my contractions starting. Paramedics on site very swiftly closely followed by the on call home birth midwife. Paramedics sent away as was fine from there. DC2 just happened to be born at home but could just as easily been born on the school run or a train.

"Do you not understand how statistics work? The birth is statistically safer for mum and baby when the pregnancy has been uncomplicated."

Again, statistics are not much comfort if you are one of the unlucky ones.

Statistically I will not be in a car accident today. I still wear my seatbelt.

The way people are talking you would think I had suggested a mother with gestational diabetes birth their breech twins at home 😂

I had a totally problem free pregnancy. Not one single worry or issue right up to 2nd stage labour, actually trying to deliver ds. Had a whole lot of trouble then. If I hadn't been in hospital I'd have had a whole load more trouble as I lived over 30 mins away from hospital.

My home birth was so much better than my hospital birth!

I also had all my babies at home and it was the right choice for me; as you said above, I also accepted a different set of risks (because no birth scenario is risk-free). I know people who had horrifically traumatic hospital births, resulting from a cascade of unnecessary interventions that almost certainly wouldn't have happened at home. I would never dream of blaming them for not choosing to birth at home.

Yes, this is correct.

It's similar for midwife led birthing units (for first time mothers) unfortunately, as they can be lovely.

My local MU was not attached to a hospital, so would have been 45mins in an ambulance if something went wrong. So I was in a MU at another hospital for my first. When it went wrong, it was 45 seconds along the corridor and up in a lift.

I posted the statistics from the NHS.

For second time mums there is no difference in outcomes of they give birth at home or hospital.

For first time mums the risk of a life changing outcome changes from 5 in 1000 to 9 in 1000.

Giving birth at home with NHS midwives is not high risk and if it was it would not be supported or encouraged by the health services.

Lots of midwife led units are stand alone and have no additional equipment to what is available at a home birth but i never see anyone questioning their safety