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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To ask how many women who were classed as overweight when pregnant went on to have a homebirth?

35 replies

windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 18:50

Im planning to have a home birth. I was a healthy weight before I became pregnant but rapidly piled on weight to where I am now classed as overweight.
My midwife has not seemed too concerned and my baby is not measuring big. My choice to birth at home has been supported by the midwives and nothing about my weight has been brought up apart from that I have been referred for a glucose test.

However I have been reading up about home birth risks and being overweight seems to be an issue? Maybe I should not have been googling it but I am now quite worried about it.

So I just wanted to hear from anyone who was classed as overweight who went on to have a home birth. Or anyone who decided not to have one because of their weight. To get an idea of whether my concerns are well founded or not.
Thanks!!

OP posts:
misskatamari · 31/03/2018 19:07

I did. I think my bmi was 29 when I got pregnant with my second child, and midwife wasn't concerned at all. I'm tall so don't appear very overweight, I'm about a size 16, if that helps to give context to my size. Had a lovely home birth to a massive 10lb baby with no issues at all.

SprogletsMum · 31/03/2018 19:09

I had a homebirth booked when my booking in bmi was 34. Midwife had no concerns at all.

YourWanMajella · 31/03/2018 19:09

It's being very overweight that is the issue, there are significant risks.

OddestSock · 31/03/2018 19:11

I didn’t have a home birth, but with both my girls started pregnancy with a BMI of about 29, and had the option of a home birth both times.

mayhew · 31/03/2018 19:12

When I was a homebirth midwife, I wasn't concerned at BMI 25-30 (overweight). Outcomes seem similar to the general population.

At 30-35 (obese) I would like to know that normal glucose levels were being maintained by doing a GTT. Unstable blood glucose can lead to a baby whose condition can deteriorate quickly during labour and the immediate newborn period. There's also the risk of a baby bigger than the mother can easily deliver.

Higher BMI, especially over 40, I would have additional concerns about mum's mobility in an emergency and being able to clearly hear the baby's heart rate through a fat tummy. Though we don't all carry the weight there.

There is also some evidence that the higher your BMI, the greater the likelihood of slow labour needing intervention to get the baby born. Obviously that would require hospital transfer. A first baby after 30 years also can lead to slow labour.

However, I've had some great home births with high BMI births, so it's not at all a no-no. Each person needs to weigh up the pros and cons.

HeyRoly · 31/03/2018 19:15

I don't understand. So you were a normal weight pre pregnancy but are now classed as "overweight". Says who? I'm pretty sure NHS BMI calculators aren't relevant in pregnancy.

I put on over three stone with each of my pregnancies and no one batted an eyelid.

Shednik · 31/03/2018 19:15

I did.

pigshavecurlytails · 31/03/2018 19:15

Honestly, as a GP I don't even notice BMIs between 25 and 30. Those over 40 are so common (and over 50, and the odd one over 60....) that I really wouldn't worry

CleanHankie · 31/03/2018 19:15

I was overweight, prob classed as obese in fact , and had a homebirth. Midwife had no concerns, although it was my second pregnancy. The Hospital Trust I was under though had a policy (Is that the right word?) that mothers with a bmi over a certain level were given an extra scan at 28wks I think it was. Midwife was almost apologetic over it but nothing concerning was found and home birth went smoothly

Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 19:21

okay thanks! Im 5ft 7 and a size 12/14. My BMI was written down as 30 so that would make me obese then? I am 30 years old.
This is my second baby. My first was delivered 'naturally' in hospital and was 10lbs.
Ive just been winding myself up reading horror stories on google!!
I guess I should not be concerned unless my midwife is concerned. I see that people with a similar BMI have had home births so that has put my mind at rest thanks!! x

OP posts:
Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 19:23

HeyRoly I did not find out I was pregnant until nearly 12 weeks so the first time they weighed me I had already put on a significant amount of weight. No one has actually seemed worried I have just been winding myself up about it by reading online and also because I have been referred for a glucose test.

OP posts:
ISaySteadyOn · 31/03/2018 19:25

2 home births all smoothly.

MadRainbow · 31/03/2018 19:28

It's a personal decision at the end of the day and midwives/consultants will give you the best advice they can. If you must Google for information try to get as broad as you can in your search to at least try to get a balanced view on things.

Being overweight is a risk most certainly, though at your BMI I'm not surprised your midwife is unconcerned, but childbirth is a risk to a mother of any weight/age and so on.

Just as an example my BMI for this pregnancy has gone up to over 40. I was automatically high risked because of it and yet my midwife said it's not really an issue as I have no other health complaints. She still has recommended I give birth in hospital but she has also stressed that if I want a home birth then the care I will receive I'd exactly the same.

Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 19:31

madrainbow thats good to know thanks! I have not been classed as high risk am just under care of midwives.
I should not google these things, I was thinking that having a BMI of 30 would make me very likely to have gestational diabetes at the test im booked for. But from what people are saying here that is not true?

OP posts:
mayhew · 31/03/2018 19:39

You are not "very likely" to have gestational diabetes. But you are a bit more likely! There are other risk factors too, which you might not have
: over 40 years
: parent or sibling with type 2 diabetes
: ancestry from Indian sub continent or Africa
: previous baby over 10lbs

Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 19:42

The midwife said she was sending me for it because my uncle has type 2 diabetes. However I was not sent for the test in my previous pregnancy, so it has just worried me. I really would like to at least try and have a home birth. Hopefully I am worrying about nothing as clearly quite a lot of people have managed to have home births despite having a higher BMI.

OP posts:
sycamore54321 · 31/03/2018 20:05

Was your pre-pregnancy BMI in the normal range? And what had been said to you about your history of large birth weight? Babies over 4kg are considered macrosomic and the risk increases further with babies over 4.5kg, which I think 10 pounds is, and this increases the risk of certain complications for both the baby and the mother. Gaining a large amount of weight quickly in pregnancy as you have said is also a risk factor for gestational diabetes. I would be concerned if nobody has discussed these risk factors with you when considering a home birth. You want to take medical advice from people who will give you the full facts, not just what they think you want to hear.

TattiePants · 31/03/2018 20:15

My BMI was low 30s and I had a pretty quick, very easy homebirth with DC2. I'd never considered a homebirth and it was my community midwife that suggested it and had no concerns about my weight. To be fair, I was so sick during my pregnancy that I was 2.5 stones lighter the day after giving birth than my pre-pregnancy weight.

Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 20:19

sycamore yes it was normal but top end of normal, before i got pregnant. However I was very sick in the first trimester which conversely made me eat constantly as that stopped me from feeling sick for some reason. So I did quickly pile on weight.
No concerns were mentioned over the home birth no. It was even my midwife who actually suggested the home birth to begin with.
She has sent me for a glucose test though so we will see if I have gestational diabetes of not for sure.
My last baby was a boy and this one is a girl and is not measuring large. I have had both my scans and the measurements tallied up fine with the dates.

OP posts:
PoppyCracker · 31/03/2018 20:47

I was. I had one. It was actually safer than a hospital birth as I had 2 midwives with me for the full 12hrs checking me every 10-15 minutes. At the local women's I would have been checked every few hours.

OohMavis · 31/03/2018 20:52

I did. The way they guilted me and told me every five seconds that I'm pretty much guaranteed to bleed out and die didn't help much, but I did it. Waterbirth in my living room.

And it's a good thing I did too, because I was in labour for 1hr 34 minutes before she was born in the just-inflated pool in my living room, attended by a rather wide-eyed paramedic because they didn't actually get there in time Grin

mindutopia · 31/03/2018 21:10

There’s a difference between being ‘overweight’ and being high risk in pregnancy. I’ve had both my babies at home. With my first, I was classed as overweight (bmi of 28) and second time as obese (bmi of 30). No one cared at all. I wasn’t weighed in pregnancy and it didn’t make any difference to my care. Second time because I was over a bmi of 30 and older (I’m 37) they did offer me the GTT, but I declined as I didn’t see any point to doing it just because I was a few pounds heavier than last time. Midwives were perfectly happy with that. Both lovely straightforward births. Normally, they aren’t bothered really until your bmi is above 35 and especially above 40, but they have to support you no matter what anyway.

Original poster
windchimesabotage · 31/03/2018 21:46

Yes I am thinking it will be safer that was part of my reason for wanting it. Both because I had a bad experience in hospital last time and because our nearest hospital is being closed and all maternity care being directed to another one. Which although it doesnt actually effect me in terms of distance I have been hearing reports of terrible overcrowding as they are essentially having two cities worth of people coming to one hospital for maternity care.
Personally I feel that it would be safer for me to remain at home if that is at all possible, where I can have two local midwives from my towns team attend me constantly.
I realise I may end up in hospital anyway but I hope not!

OP posts:
TheOriginalEmu · 31/03/2018 21:48

i've had 3 and would have been overweight all 3 times. my weight wasn't even mentioned.

MadRainbow · 31/03/2018 21:55

I didn't get a chance to add earlier and a PP has now mentioned it, there are plenty of other factors which can increase the risk of GD.

I have had the GTT twice and both times come back normal (once I was BMI 39 and now 42) so by no means does weight indicate a definite case of GD.

I also know being high risk with my first I had absolutely no complications and was home 4 hours after giving birth; the low risk lady giving birth in my local unit (I wasn't allowed because of risk) had to come up to the delivery unit with blues because of complications. So weight alone is not necessarily a deciding factor

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