I've had 3 homebirths. AMA.

[Chbebe]

Just thought it might be interesting to someone!

But I wasn't at risk either until I suddenly was that day. It can happen to anyone. Placental abruption happened out of nowhere when I wasn't even a high risk pregnancy. That's my point. There's nothing snide about my post at all. It is all down to luck.

I find this really quite patronizing-

"It’s that women often don’t recognise that them being on a medicalised path increases the likelihood of exhaustion, epidural, fetal malposition, instrumental birth, haemorrhage and 3rd and 4th degree tears (not to mention more complex perineal trauma classed as ‘second degree tear’). They then say that their experience of these things would have meant they die at home. Rather than seeing that these things are disproportionately related to intervention."

You've no idea how much research they done, or what qualifications they have, or what situation other mothers are in. You talk as though you are in possession of wisdom others don't have, maybe through their own failure of research or resilience.

Just letting you know how you come across. The OP has avoided sounding superior, so it is possible 👍🏼

Living just a few minutes from the hospital might seem like no time but in an emergency you really feel the drag of every second. I remember waiting to go into surgery for my emergency c-section and feeling so desperate to make sure the baby was ok.

It’s obviously an emotive subject for some. I do wonder about the stats as they can be misleading if the full context isn’t understood.

Oh fgs.

"A hospital birth is associated with screwing up the fundamentals of a person’s health before they are even 1 day old."

Utter BS. Just stop.

I chose a home birth for my second as I had no family to look after my eldest child. I also had a very quick labour and delivery (1hour 20 minutes) so I probably wouldn’t have made the hospital in time. It was lovely going to sleep in my own bed afterwards with my baby next to me!

As is anything in life. You can die in hospital from poor care, over intervention. Birth is never risk free. Should we start calling women who have subsequent children after a difficult birth selfish? As I said below you’re more likely to die in a car accident than a low risk woman is to die in a home birth. You don’t know what you’re talking about, any woman who has given birth at home does, she has thoroughly researched and talked to her medical team. The NHS provides home birth teams for a reason, if it wasn’t appropriate, they wouldn’t do it.

9 is amazing 🤩

I had 4 home births. 4 kids

Thank you 👍

Did your child witness the birth?

12 years ago when I had my second it was actually safer to have a home birth in low risk pregnancies than it was to go into hospital - I was 38 at the time and she was my second.

My next door neighbour’s son had cerebral palsy caused by the hospital due to a missed displaced breathing tube, it was a tragic and freak accident, that wouldn’t stop me giving birth in a hospital (if I needed to) because that’s not how risk works.

It’s hilarious how people talk about risk on threads such as this and yet seem to have no idea how risk works. Admittedly it’s my entire livelihood, but still the superiority complex is bizarre.

Hear hear👏

I used the word ‘often’. I see it all the time women saying ‘I would have died if I was at home…’ and they then go on to give a story involving an epidural/IV syntocinon etc. That is therefore a misinformed statement. They didn’t have a physiological birth, and therefore no statements can be made on possible outcomes in a physiological birth setting.

I’m sorry if it’s superior to call that out.

Yes he did as I was giving birth when it was his bedtime and my partner was with me so he saw his sister being born! He went into nursery a couple of days later telling his key worker all about it!

Its completely unnecessary to 'call someone out' on any of their birth choices or incidents, and you have absolutely no way of knowing if you're right or not in any given situation.

Totally agree

Inductions and medical intervention of any kind, even just an internal examination can send things wonky, which in turn creates a need for more intervention.

A hands off, physiological birth is Totally different to a medically managed one where they put you on the clock and want things to 'progress' within a certain time frame. Birthing mothers have better outcomes when left alone.

I've had three home births and two hospital births. I think everyone has to weigh up their specific risk factors.

For me the three Hb's were safer than the appalling local hospital. Their shockingly poor staffing levels combined with poor care meant my first was actually delivered by my ex MIL while my ex was trying to find help. Thankfully it's now closed and women don't have to risk themselves there anymore.

For my HB's I had a midwife there from early on and a second there at the latter stages. Also factored into my decision was the fact that in an emergency I'd actually be taken to the nearest hospital, which had a maternity unit (and the HB team were based there) but as it wasn't actually our area you could only opt for there in certain circumstances at the time, not the aforementioned shambles hospital.

For my last birth I could choose that hospital due to boundary changes and as I was a bit older and had a niggly pregnancy (nothing major, just not sailing through it) I opted for hospital.

I really have no idea why people get so rude and judgemental about other people's choices.

Just nonsense.

You have no way of knowing whether a specific intervention sent things wonky or not. They may have subsequently gone wonky that way, another way, or not at all. Unless you have a telescope into infinite universes? You're just offering your best guess. As is the birthing mother.

'Some birthing mothers have better results being left alone, some do not. Thats it.

Complaining about lack of midwives and care in hospitals while having midwives in your home …..

If birthing mothers are best when left alone then there would be better outcomes in countries where women don’t have the option of medical intervention in developing countries. I’m doubtful that’s the case.

"I have no idea why people get so rude and judgemental about other people's choices"
Indeed, @MannersAreAll .
Quite a bit of that on here, not the OP, it has to be said.

The examples you use aren’t like for like though. If any of us go out we could be hit by a car, so the alternative would be never to leave the house which of course isn’t an option. Regarding a hospital acquired infection example, that’s a moot point as you could get an infection anywhere anytime.

It’s your choice to give birth as you like and it worked out well for you so that’s good news, but it’s the not knowing if it will end in disaster or not.

Community midwives don't work in hospitals so not having a HB wouldn't have made any difference to the staffing in the local hospital. The MW they delivered my third had never worked in a hospital after completing her training - she'd been a community midwife for 22 years. The HB team didn't even work for the same trust, their team had an agreement with our trust to cover Jabs.

And in the hospital in my post in particular - many midwives wouldn't work there because it's shambolic safety records.

Not remotely the "gotcha" you think it is that one.

This is a fair point but it depends on how you measure that. We seem to set the bar of success at survival of mother and baby (not saying that’s a bad place to start!) but the truth is a huge number of these women have traumatic births, awful for the mother and these births can also contribute to long term health issues for the child, whilst we might have tackled the mortality rate with higher intervention I think we’ve stopped short of aiming for healthier health outcomes for mother and child (not just physical). We might be succeeding in defying death through over intervention, I think we’re increasing other issues, which we should be looking at.

It really is.

Very few topics can be discussed on here now in a remotely decent manner.