I had both my babies at home. AMA

[disneylandlover]

Both my babies have been born at home - AMA

So my understanding then is that you are more likely to end up with a dead baby if you have a home birth then?

Is my understanding correct?

I guess it depends if you factor in the also incredibly small risk of having an car accident on the way to the hospital and the baby dying. Or them contracting a hospital based infection and dying.

With the increased risk being a tiny 0.5% I think those factors could mpact on it.

I mean 0% of babies born at home die in a car accident during labour

@Spanglebob im sure it’s possible to factor those stats in - have you done so?

@Spanglebob .5% is 5 babies out of a thousand babies isn’t it? Am I doing the maths wrong?

mine is a factual question? Stastiscally a baby is more likely to die in a home birth is what I understand from the the thread. Is that correct?

if that includes accidents on the way to hospital would be helpful to include those of course.

I can only find the risk of under 3s being killed in an accident. I can't find a way of separating out the risk of that happening either on route to give birth or on the way home with a newborn.

I know my consultant told me for most people the car ride to and from the hospital is more risky than giving birth.

5 in 1000 babies die during labour in hospital

9 in 1000 at home.

Yes giving birth at home is more risky but the overall risk remains very small.

No those figures do not include fatalities on the way to and from the hospital or death due to hospital contracted infections. I think if they did the gap would be even small between hospital and home

I’d be interested to know whether that stat includes all babies born at home however it happened or those who were born as part of a planned homebirth? Because eg if you went into labour early/were high risk and didn’t make it to hospital in time/gave birth without medical staff present then I imagine the outcomes would be worse than if you were someone with a low risk pregnancy who had planned a home birth and had midwives present. I know someone who gave birth at home when she didn’t even know she was pregnant and her baby (born at 28 weeks) was very lucky to survive.

I am very glad I had a planned home birth for my second. It was so quick that if I hadn't I am pretty sure LO would have been born in the car or at home without midwife support.

As it was the midwives arrived just in time and gave LO support with breathing as the speed of the birth meant fluid was trapped in his lungs. The midwives had exactly the same equipment rhat would have been used at the hospital and LO was fine and we remained at home after the birth.

A hospital birth requiring a lenghy drive would have been much more risky for a quick 2nd birth wirh no existing complications.

I am quite sure that the chances of a car accident on the way to hospital in labour causing stillbirth are much lower than 0.5%. I don't think it needs to be factored into the comparison!

It is a good example of a risk that exists for hospital birth that doesn't exist for home birth though but not a very good one if we're looking at neonatal deaths.

I also had my 3 children as planned home births. I was very fortunate that everything went well and was straightforward. I do also feel that I was also a little naive with hindsight as to what can go wrong and I don’t know if I had been aware of all the complications out there I would have made the same choice. However it was the right choice for me and my family at the time and thankfully all went smoothly. All 12+ years ago now.

Hospital contracted infection not being included is alarming though, I'm sure that must be higher than the chances of a car accident.

omg a disney adult and a homebirth advocate in one. Should have known lol

Ok, non-risk based questions. If you have a home birth, where do you give birth? Isn't it messy? If you have a pool, how do you empty it afterwards, what if you don't have a massive house? I'm confused by the logistics TBH.

I had an ELCS with all the drugs the consultant could legally and ethically give me for DC1 and I'm planning the same with DC2, so home births are fascinating to me.

Well I planned to deliver in a pool, but DD came so fast I didn't even make it downstairs and the midwife wasn't there in time. If I'd tried to have a hospital birth with her I'd have delivered in the same place as we'd seen a midwife an hour before and she said we had hours and hours to go!

I was given strict instructions to have another homebirth in future as labours were likely to be even quicker, but as the next was DTs it was not to be. Hospital birth was crap in comparison to the first. Shame they happened that way round tbh.

Oh, and despite the speed of it all, not a single mark remains (thanks to DH's quick towel gathering!). I've got more stains on the carpets from fucking calpol than a birth.

Sorry you’re getting such a judgemental pile-on OP. I had my two at home. It was the right choice for us and I never felt anything but very safe. The focused attention of the midwife (plus the second who comes for the actual birth) was amazing. Both born in a birthing pool in our tiny flat. DH cleaned up both times.

I completely get why people wouldn’t want to do it though. Isn’t it great that we get a choice (although maybe less so now with the NHS so stretched. Mine were 7+ years ago).

Me too OP. I had 3 home births, all water births. No complications and a positive experience - for me. I just wanted my home comforts so it was great to be at home just afterwards.

I didn’t really think about complications either. my pregnancies were all straight forward.

Okay fine so there need to be a slight reduction in the risk because of a potential car accident on the way to hospital (!?)

but bottom line your baby is more likely to die at home than in the hospital- all else being equal.

why on earth would you take that risk. It baffles me.

I gave birth 1) on my bed after lots of time in bath and shower 2) in birthing pool but standing as no midwife present and husband and I delivered baby 3) in birthing pool.
My husband cleared up and drained the pool with a hosepipe both times into the drain outside.

We had the pool in our dining room. All the mess was contained in the pool - DH cleared it all out (with a sieve!). The water was emptied directly into the drain outside.

Shoulder dystocia is the complication that scared me enough not to consider a homebirth, although I sure there are others just as, if not more serious.

I understand that if the baby has shoulder dystocia the obstetrician has 5 mins to get the baby out or they will die. The baby has a chance in hospital, they have basically no chance if you are at home.

Very scary.

‘If something had gone wrong, i would still have been comfortable in my choice. As I knew that I had made the safest choice for my baby and myself’

op you are chatting crap. You’re telling me had your baby died whilst giving birth at home or brain damaged all as a result of your choice to have a home birth- you still would have been comfortable in your choice??

you're the first mother I’ve heard say that and wow.

I agree. But I had this and it was clear things weren't progressing a good half an hour before it happened. Midwives at home only let you push for a relatively short time before moving you. But yes, it's a sobering point.

Only for FTM

There is no increase in risk for STM

Student midwife here.

Congratulations on two lovely-sounding births. I'm sorry about some of the reposes you've had on this thread.

At our maternity unit we LOVE home births, we see no more complications in our home births than we do hospital births.

For uncomplicated pregnancies, birth does not have to be a medical event. It is a normal physiological process.

When given the green light by health professionals, having a home birth is not selfish/more risky etc.