Home birth ends in hospital stay

[velvetcandy]

Just interested what people think not really aibu as such...

I was watching a YouTube vlogger who had a home birth and everything was fine but then got an ambulance to hospital and stayed overnight to be monitored for 12 hours? Am I BU for thinking what was the point of the home birth if your going to end up in hospital? Or even the ambulance if your fine? Surly the husband could have just driven her?

I had a home birth and nearly ended up in hospital because of a retained placenta. The paramedics were standing in my hall when it finally made an appearance and it was decided (to my relief) that I didn't need to go in after all.

Missing - yes, but that;s much more dramatic that having 5 paramedics ( 2x2 ambulances (1 for me, 1 for DD) plus the car paramedic) and (eventually) the MW sitting round with DH, MIL and me and DD2 having cups of tea and the jelly babies that I didn't have time to eat during labour.

The only reason for an unplanned unassisted birth family being transferred in an ambulance after birth would be if no community midwives were immediately available (staffing shortages)

The only reason why I wasn't encouraged to go in after my HB was because I had private care (placenta took 2hrs instead of up to 1)

I had my first in hospital to avoid having to go in anyway and my second at home as I had not had any difficulties first time round.

I've had 2 planned home births. The first time I had to transfer in afterwards because the midwife was tired, had a bad back & didn't feel able to take responsibility for stitching me up. The second time I transferred while in labour because there was meconium in the waters & they wanted to be sure we were monitored in case of infection.

Both times, everyone was fine but we went in an ambulance in case anything went wrong on the way. I'm planning another home birth with the next one & really don't plan on transferring in again... I find I'm less anxious if I can stay in my "safe place" as long as possible. I'd be a lot more anxious if I planned on going into hospital & had to deal with the what-ifs of being sent home for turning up too early, leaving it too late to get there, not having my things around me/having to ask for things, etc.

Am I right to think that if a birth occurred at home unplanned, ie baby arrived early and "unskilled" person had to deliver, then a transfer to hospital after would be routine to ensure all was well?

I don't see a point in that being standard.

Obviously, if the unskilled person did something wrong, and caused damage, transfer to the hospital would be necessary, but I would assume as skilled midwife can see whether a woman is hurt without having been there for the whole birth.

Considering that hospitals are very dangerous places with regard to infection, it would make no sense to transport a woman who just gave birth to hospital merely to check her for injuries.

Not the point of the thread at all, but I wish I had stayed at home for DD2. She popped out so fast that I could have just stayed in my own bed, really, but then I assumed that I would have another eternal labour after DD1's leisurely arrival into this world. I was up and about right away, and home less than two hours later. Waste of a taxi fare, bringing me in.

On the other hand, an NCT friend wanted a home birth. Her doula was lovely at first but turned out to be very very heavily invested in the home birth and pushed her to stay labouring at home long after she should have gone to hospital, as the baby was stuck and in distress. Everything was fine in the end, but my friend later felt strongly that she had been an unwilling part of her doula's own personal crusade.

There are lots of reasons why a post-birth transfer might happen. There might be problems with the mother's observations (running a temperature, high blood pressure, low blood pressure), a postpartum haemorrhage, needs stitches that can't be done at home), delayed delivery of the placenta. Or problems with the baby (baby very small or very big, baby not maintaining body temperature, meconium staining, hypoxic during labour, low apgars).

A skilled midwife will know how to assess a postnatal woman and newborn and know whether they need to be transferred for further monitoring or tests. Interested to know if the vlogger was in the US? Their system is not great, and a lot of homebirth midwives (in the US) are not properly trained, and some of their outcomes are ghastly.