I've had 3 homebirths. AMA.

[Chbebe]

Just thought it might be interesting to someone!

It’s straightforward research-based evidence. What are you arguing with? Women can choose what they want. That’s not what’s being called out. I couldn’t care less what women choose and will always support women making choices according to their own values and needs. But I do take issue when people say homebirth is unsafe and give any example of a medicalised birth as some sort of proof. It goes against all of the research and evidence and is misinformed.

And yes, you could find 10 women easily who had low risk births and had an unprecedented complication. I could also find 10 women who had inductions and experienced a complication/psychological birth trauma. But research doesn’t work on anecdote. Birthplace UK really is an incredible piece of research.

There are plenty of good quality studies on home birth risks, which are very low.

The reason the risk level is not comparable with the risks of births without medical assistance in developing countries is because dm in the UK who have hb get us which would let them know if eg there is breech, placenta previa etc and they then transfer to hospital before baby is due. Hb mw transfer women to hospital if the risk profile changes in labour eg long labour, failure to progress etc.

NHS at the end of the day needs to try to operate in a way that is efficient as possible, it may have changed now, but when I was giving birth our trust was making a huge push for home birth where it was appropriate because it was less intensive of a resource. The irony is it was the far superior to the cattle farm care I had with my first child which was hospital, I had nearly all my care at home, it was incredible for me and ultimately resulted in better outcomes for the trust.

No. They were always in bed/school/ with family.

I lived 45 minutes on a good day from hospital and had 3 home births too. I labour quickly so it was advised by my midwife to have them rather than being caught out on the motorway.

Yes same, we had to drive an hour to the hospital first time and I nearly gave birth in the car. Second time around we lived closer, but I would have still given birth on the side of a dual carriageway as the birth was less than an hour start to finish.

Sorry OP it’s your AMA and we’re all chiming in 🤣 a topic close to my heart!

The more the merrier :)

One of my homebirths was Christmas Eve too!

Perfect, just like a Hallmark movie!

Mine was just a few days before, and certainly one of the driving factors to wanting to stay home especially for my eldest!

December was the one month I was hoping not to give birth in as it’s so near Christmas but a Christmas Eve baby does sound quite magical!

I thought having a home birth was pretty standard and not unusual though not something I would ever go for myself. It’s the idea of free birthing that freaks me out personally, I don’t know how anyone in their right mind would do that.

I don't believe this. If you did, it was against medical advice and you put your life and that of your babies.

I imagine that may be a sarcastic post. I really can't imagine that being sanctioned?

Arguably safer given the current state of maternity services. I also had three homebirths- second two with independent midwives. People who knew me, listened to me and whom I trusted. Absolutely the best money I ever spent. People don’t actually look properly at the stats - planned homebirths ( the stats don’t differentiate between planned an unplanned so that skews things) are a great option if they’re staffed properly. Unfortunately that can be a postcode lottery like so much else.

When I was pregnant with my second I can across author Laura Kaplan Stanley who gave birth unassisted to all 4 of her children!

And why on earth did she do that

But that's exactly what the anti home birthers are doing when they post their judgment on this and similar threads.

She had educated herself and decided that this was what she wanted.

If I remember correctly. her husband was with her for the first and after that she gave birth alone to the next three as she preferred the peace and quiet!

In the Netherlands it’s still the main place for giving birth. Those who choose home birth - because they are going against the tide tend to be more informed and educated. As for the entitlement- it’s one of the most important things in life - we should be entitled to choice and good care. Your comment is pretty ignorant.

well that’s just idiotic really

Not to her! This is what she thought - birth is a natural process for which a woman's body had been well designed. Therefore, she saw no need to involve the medical establishment.

The NHS offers home births. Should people now decline to take up offered medical care because of NHS staffing concerns?
What about a c section - that takes more staff than a vaginal birth. But it would be insane to suggest that because of staff shortages in the NHS, women are selfish for electing for one.

She talks a lot about "mindset".
I think like some of the women on here who talk of their straightforward births, no pain relief etc - she's been incredibly lucky.

it may be natural but it’s also very risky and I for one am so thankful for medical advances that have made it safer for women . I have been reading the guardian articles on freebirthing and it’s shocking how women are being influenced by these kind of people. So many deaths that could be prevented

https://www.theguardian.com/world/ng-interactive/2025/nov/22/free-birth-society-linked-to-babies-deaths-investigation