To want a home birth?

[InMemoryOfSleep]

I’m not pregnant (yet), but chatting to my mum and some friends recently I mentioned I’d like a home birth next time. Their reactions weren’t positive, to say the least - despite me explaining that, for a 2nd baby, home birth is as safe as an MLU, and both are safer than a hospital. They’ve made me really doubt myself - having read the research and stats I was convinced it’s the best option, but am I missing something?!

[InMemoryOfSleep]

@ScrumpyBetty yep I totally get that, but I would never want to labour in hospital - can’t imagine anything more stressful to be honest! So, due to where I live, my only option is a home birth, 20 mins from hospital, or a stand-alone MLU, also 20 mins from hospital

[homeTIRF]

I thought the person making the assertion provided the evidence.

Chemo vs essential oils and home vs hospital birth; well, they're pretty dangerous things.

Do you know the mother and infant mortality rates from even 3 decades ago. There are ~60% fewer avoidable still births than in 1988. None of that is because of better living rooms.

I would rather be moved from hospital to MLU (wth correspondingly shorter times and trained experts) than home to MLU.

visual.ons.gov.uk/birthsanddeaths/

[Camomila]

Its a shame more MLUs aren't inside hospitals. I had a lovely water birth in the MLU, got wheeled along the corridor the the 'proper' hospital so I could get a spinal tap to get my 3rd degree tear fixed, then got wheeled back along the corridor to my own room for 2 nights in the MLU.

Everyone I know who gave birth in that MLU sung its praises.

[VioletteValentia]

At least in a MLU, you have professionals there.

Although personally I think those are risky as well.

[BoredOnMatLeave]

@InMemoryOfSleep that's interesting. It wouldn't change my decision for my other reasons but makes me a bit happier about others doing it if that makes sense.

[VioletteValentia]

Its a shame more MLUs aren't inside hospitals. I had a lovely water birth in the MLU, got wheeled along the corridor the the 'proper' hospital so I could get a spinal tap to get my 3rd degree tear fixed, then got wheeled back along the corridor to my own room for 2 nights in the MLU.

This. If they were attached to hospitals, I’d be more on board.

[UpSideDownBrain]

I don't know why you would take the risk.
It is your child's birth - why would you deliberately choose an environment where there is no access to medical equipment?
You want to believe everything will be straight forwards, but you must know that lots of stuff goes wrong during childbirth.

[QueenAravisOfArchenland]

Stats can be misintepreted. Yes home births are less likely to results in interventions and some of this is due to mothers feeling more relaxed. However most of it is due to only low risk births happening at home.

You don't think professional medical researchers might have noticed that tiny flaw in the methodology and analysis?! The data are based on matched samples, i.e. women birthing at home are being compared to equivalent low risk, full term healthy women who birth elsewhere. That's the only way to determine the effect of location.

It isn't because only low risk women are birthing at home. The data show location has an effect, and it's not surprising, because the presence of doctors and monitoring equipment will lead to more monitoring, which will lead to more intervention, some of which will end up being unnecessary and harmful. That is the paradox of medicine - seek for something not normal or worrying and sooner or later,
ye shall find. Fortunately the NHS and medical research have a significantly more sophisticated view of their own shortcomings than many on this thread. Many many lives have been saved through medical intervention in childbirth, yes, but others have been lost and blighted. Figuring out when to intervene is a very tricky business.

OP, as you can see a lot of people won't agree, but go for it if you stay low risk.

[LittleMysPonytail]

I like the idea of home birth but it wouldn’t be possible for me.

If it was, where I live I still wouldn’t do it. The midwives at my GP actively encourage home births but because of that I had three cancelled check ups because they were out with labouring mothers at home and it added a lot of stress as I was a complicated, consultant led pregnancy and I wouldn’t want to cause missed appointments for any other mums to be. (I was never offered replacement appointments because they didn’t have the capacity for that.)

[TwittleBee]

I am considering a homebirth for #2 (when I eventually fall pregnant!) because my birth with #1 was a horrendous ordeal caused by being in hospital.

I remember when I was having my antenatal course we were told that actually most of us would arrive in theatre (if something went wrong) at the same time whether we were in hospital or at home, due to how quickly ambulances respond and how long it takes to prep for theatre anyway (approx. 20 minutes for both we were told). So we shouldn't worry if we suddenly progressed quickly with labour at home, just to call the MW and have a homebirth.

We just aren't going to tell our family we want a homebirth because I know the comments will be like "what if something goes wrong!", well anything going wrong is unlikely, especially with #2 and also we can call an ambulance and we will have a MW with us anyway.

[JackietheBackie]

If you have had an uncomplicated pregnancy and you have already had a physiological birth with no complications, then homebirth is a perfectly safe option. Community midwives are trained to deal with emergencies in the home setting and generally have a low threshold for transferring in if things look like they may be going off track. It isn’t usually messy, and the midwives usually tidy up all the birth stuff and take away any blood or liquor soaked stuff.

Your local Trust should have someone who can talk to you in a bit more depth about it, when the time comes, and you mind find there are local homebirth advocacy groups.

Of course things can go wrong at home, but they can go wrong in hospital too. It is a choice for you and your partner, with advice from the team caring for you.

I would say, if it is recommended that you don’t have a homebirth fir medical reasons, that you take that advise on board. We are getting increasing numbers of women who want to birth at home outside of the guidelines, and it is very stressful. Midwives can’t refuse to attend (it is against our code of practice) but we are being asked to care for women who are really outside of our remit and it is scary.

[UpSideDownBrain]

I made this same decision. It was the worst decision I have ever made.
There were serious complications - so I put my child's life at risk and I still have day-to-day health issues cause by problems which could have been avoided had I been in a hospital.
I had done all the same research as OP, had all the same arguments.
But it was still a ridiculous choice and one I have deeply regretted ever since.

[Justanotherzombie]

A home birth sounds ideal and many women have fantastic experiences. I only know one friend who had a home birth and their baby died. It was horrific. So I have never considered it for myself for that reason. I also discussed it with my sister who is a doctor and she said she couldn't do it herself as she has 2 patients with brain injury during their own delivery in home births. One a teen and one a young adult.

When things go wrong, they can go very wrong.

[TwittleBee]

QueenAravisOfArchenland completely agree with you. I am petty sure the research would have been weighted to consider that! haha
Also, I was bloody intervened with at hospital! They decide to break my fricking waters nevermind the reason I was admitted because my waters had broken pre term (they had all fully gone just to clarify) and they ended up cutting me on the inside! Also got sepsis when I was in hospital during labour, probably where they constantly wanted to keep sticking stuff up there

[InMemoryOfSleep]

@VioletteValentia the same professionals - i.e. midwives - are present at both a home birth and an MLU, and in fact a hospital unless you need further medical intervention

[sycamore54321]

I agree with those who say it is needless risk taking. Lower interventions isn't inherently a good thing, it's a game of chance. For many birth complications, we cannot know for unsure exactly which mothers and babies will be badly affected and which ones will be just fine. Indeed for many complications where interventions are indicated, a large number of babies and mothers will be healthy and well if nothing happens. The problem is for x% of these, the consequences will be catastrophic and entirely preventable. You can hope you are not in the x% but really you have no way of knowing.

What's more is I would not want the type of midwife who is "really excited" about a home birth attending a home birth. What you need for safety is the most risk averse, conservative midwives who will transfer at the first doubt. But the most risk averse, conservative practitioners won't want to attend home births and so I see on here repeated stories of a viscious cycle of risk-taking midwives cheerleading on mothers to take ever more risks without ever explaining the risks properly to them.

I fully agree with whoever said this is an enormous issue of privilege and the "better living rooms" comment. And as for the person who said birth is not an illness, birth has always been a leading cause of death in mothers and babies at every time and place in history. And your child is significantly at greater risk of death on the day she is born, than on any other day of the 18 years of her childhood. Positive mental attitudes and ignoring the haters won't change this.

[DarkRoomDarren]

Yanbu, especially given that you are between the MLU and hospital.

I wanted one for dc2, but was told no chance. Had an ELCS instead so very medicalised and nothing like a home birth. It was just lovely though and I didn’t have to labour in hospital, (or anywhere), as I did with dc1.

[InMemoryOfSleep]

@TwittleBee - exactly that, I don’t want my labour to become a battle, and be constantly having to bat away unnecessary interventions. My first labour was in an MLU attached to a hospital, which was ideal, and would go for that again if I had the option!

[VioletteValentia]

My pregnancy was low risk. I was 20, and could’ve birthed at home. I chose a cesarean on maternal request. I had a scan 3 days before which said everything was fine.

My son came out blue and floppy. He’d breathed in meconium. He was resuscitated on the table, immediately put on CPAP, had a tube for feeding, was on antibiotics and was in an incubator.

He was also back to back and diagonal which no one had realised.

Had I attempted to birth anywhere else, he would’ve died. There was zero indication of this. I would’ve also been seriously injured.

THIS is what you risk when you have a home birth.

[doleritedinosaur]

My second was a home birth because my first was an induction with ventouse in which I was ignored by the consultant no less than 3 times.
I was on my back, I needed to push was told no way I was ready but I was.
The clip fell off the baby’s head so they pulled him out thinking his heart rate had dropped. My midwife apologised for this.

So after being told at 16 weeks pregnant with second my baby would be born dead if I had a homebirth, I still went ahead.
My midwife had me put in a complaint about that consultant.

I live 15 minutes away from hospital but I do better out of hospital & without medical intervention.

We had a plastic sheet on the floor & a shower curtain on the sofa.

In fact the midwives slowed me down & got me out of the position I gave birth in eventually.

I was asked several times if I gave birth at home on purpose. I don’t understand the negativity.
I feel hospitals are worse, you are far more likely to end up with intervention or a c section in hospital because they do not give situations a chance.

I understand why as it can be a life or death situation but my eldest did not need to be yanked out by his head because the equipment fell off.

Give birth where you want & people need to stop judging people on it.

[sycamore54321]

And the argument about getting surgical care if needed in the same time frame is dangerous and nonsense. In a hospital, if it all goes south and it's a true emergency, a crash section can have a baby born in well under ten minutes from the first moment the problem is noticed. It is simply utterly untrue to suggest that this applies the same to home birth. Dangerous dangerous nonsense to be peddling.

[InMemoryOfSleep]

@VioletteValentia I’m sorry you had such an awful experience, but I would say that was due to medical negligence rather than any inherent risks of home birth - no excuse for ‘not realising’ your baby was in a dangerous position, they should have picked this up at scans or you midwife appointments.

[doleritedinosaur]

Forgot to say I had 2 midwives & a student midwife who did the delivery.

1 sat on a chair keeping an eye & the other competed all her paperwork in the kitchen.

The risks are there regardless of where you are & my midwife said it just takes the same amount of time to prep a surgical room as it does transporting me from my house & from the delivery suite.

[Boredoftryingusernames]

Some people commenting seem to think you are planning to give birth at home with no assistance!
At least in a MLU, you have professionals there who do you think is present at a home birth? Trained midwife/midwives maybe?! What's more, they are with you and only you, not popping in and out checking on other patients, so complications may be picked up earlier.

Also midwives do carry medical equipment incase of complications so there are things they can do whilst awaiting assistance/hospital transfer.

Personally I actually would go back to hospital for my 2nd, but I think OP in your situation and location between unit and hospital I would seriously consider a home birth too.

[niknac1]

You can make your own decisions but I think we are extremely fortunate to have hospitals and despite thinking about a home birth I am extremely glad I have had 2 hospital births. I am very grateful for the care we received there, whilst recovering on the ward my baby went blue and I was so glad we were at hospital. I’m too old to have more children now but if I wasn’t I would stick with birthing at a hospital although our area is now fortunate to have a midwife led unit on the hospital grounds now.