I'm a midwife, ask me anything

[MidwifeAMA]

Midwife of 20 years, currently specialising in home birth.
Ask me anything :)

Thanks @MidwifeAMA. My sister was the same and accidentally had her second at home with only her husband there! I actually love the idea of a home birth but I was consultant led (due to BMI) so didn't want to for my first. Will definitely consider it for my second (if we are so lucky!)

But you had two vaginal births, so whatever your body does it does it just right. Everyone is a bit different, sometimes it's baby's position, or luck. Third one could be the same, or so quick you almost blink and miss it. Who knows x

Downstairs is most people's choice- big kids in bed upstairs, easy to wander about.
We leave no mess usually.
You'll need to have a clean space, it doesn't need to be amazing, but you need to have a room where there's floor space and we can all move around in a safe way, clean hand washing facilities. Toddler mess doesn't phase us but a really dirty/messy house should be given some attention for all of your well-being.

So sorry to hear about your baby. Some times life can be terribly unfair. I hope you are healing.

It's really unusual at 19 weeks, almost unheard of. I think the earliest I've seen is about 24 weeks.

See how baby goes, you never know the growth may be fine. Make sure you're not smoking if that is a contributing factor.
You'd need to have a good debrief and make a plan with your team. There is a small additional risk to induction after 2 CS, but it's not impossible and everything is a choice. It would be worth reading your notes to see exactly why they suggested the CS and whether they were situations that are likely to recur or not.

"I wanted a home birth there, but wasn't allowed due to the PPH at my first.

Child had different ideas. As they have done all their life since. Headstrong, stubborn, knows exactly what they want. All started the day they insisted they were born in a moving car!"

Clever baby knows there's no such thing as being 'not allowed'- it's always your choice.

Could be speedy birth and big baby made it a bit more likely, or could have been bad luck. It's common and very treatable do I wouldn't let it put you off. There's preventatives they can put in place.

How much do you earn? Do you work full time or part time and how many hours?

What are your pension arrangements? How much per month does your employer contribute to your pension?

"I find it really sad tbh, I just want to be supported to have my baby at home. I shouldn’t even be in the position of potentially having to choose between free birth and hospital birth, both of which come with their own different kinds risks.

I live in a city (not London) the area that my home birth team covers isn’t actually that big geographically and especially at night traffic isn’t a problem. It’s such a shame they cant guarantee the staffing."

Could an independent midwife be an option for you? It's an investment for sure but if it removes huge potential risks to your baby it would prob be money well spent.

"Thanks for this. The info is ringing a bell for me which I think is why I decided on balance to wait until 42 weeks (longer than is standard where I live, they like to do it at 41 weeks) but no longer.

On a related note, what's the longest gestation of a baby you've delivered?"

Probably about 42+1. It's unusual to go past 42 weeks these days, the docs are keen to induce from 41 weeks and often earlier. The increased risk alone of being 'over dates' but otherwise healthy are really very small and so worth some research before commiting to induction.

No one could possibly know without going through your notes and seeing exactly what happened. See if your hospital have a birth reflections service to look through and get some clarity on what happened and why.

At home it would present as a retainer placenta, so we would transfer in, cannulate, treat any blood loss and then go to theatre.

It's an emergency at the time. Most babies are freed easily and come to no harm but sometimes when they are stuck their oxygen supply is reduced and this can after a few minutes become critical.
It's a bit more likely to happen again if it happened before. Reducing the risk by staying upright and off your back and mobile is helpful.

We would have done the same manoeuvres at home as they did in hospital so the outcome would likely have been the same.

Potentially if you're very stressed you can have lots of adrenaline which reduces the oxytocin which help
You to labour, but it's pretty unlikely for your body not to at some point decide the time is right and for things to happen.

No idea, it's appalling. Women need to challenge it, and vote with their feet.

It's never too Late to make a complaint and get some answers from senior people.

Carpel tunnel syndrome, supper common and a pain in the bum. Google it, you might need to see the maternity physio.

Stop squishing your bump, time to get a giant pillow and get used to sleeping on your side.

Not usually, but it can depend on how quickly you're progressing and whether the anaesthetist is available.

Yes lots of second babies decide to be home births

Check out nhs employers website for all the details on pay and pensions, it's all standardised.

DD has just been diagnosed with uterine dydelphis - I understand it isn't that uncommon - does it cause a lot of problems during labour. I feel so sorry for her as its bad enough having 2 periods a month.

It's quite a big deal and will need careful monitoring in pregnancy. She will be more likely to have her baby early and more likely to have a CSection. The doctors will make careful plans with her.

Hi when I had my first born I was expecting all pain in tummy, period type period getting worse, all my pain was in my back I didn't even realise it was contractions at first. My labour was really quick (3hours) I don't remember what pain relief I had as was in far to much pain but my mum tells me they give me 2 needles in the leg 1 then another 1 hour later plus gas and air, I'd never heard off back to back labour or been told I had it but often wondered if it was, second born was the same all back pain but even quicker (30mins) no time for pain relief.