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AIBU?

Share your dilemmas and get honest opinions from other Mumsnetters.

Original poster

To consider having a home birth

294 replies

EmUntitled · 27/01/2019 13:42

DD is nearly 2 and we are TTC number 2.

With DD my labour was really quick - 4 hours from first twinges to birth. 90 minutes from waters breaking. We only just made it to the hospital in time and if it had been rush hour or roadworks I'm sure we wouldn't have got there in time. The car journey was by far the worst part of the whole thing.

As I have heard generally second babies are born quicker, I was considering that a home birth might be the way to go. However I have always thought there was no way a home birth would be for me. Am I mad to even consider it?

OP posts:
GreatestShowUnicorn · 27/01/2019 13:43

Well worth doing your research.

kw1091 · 27/01/2019 13:44

Speak with your midwife about it your thoughts both the positives and the negatives. I’m a student midwife and have attended a couple of home births and they have honestly been so beautiful. Remember every birth is different and you can opt for home birth but if nearer the time or during labour you decide you would like to be transferred to hospital you can. Nothing is set in stone with birth. I think it’s a lovely idea though.

Seline · 27/01/2019 13:46

I wouldn't. I would've died had I been at home however I was high risk so very different circumstances.

namechanger2019 · 27/01/2019 13:47

Statistically speaking if you are low risk the safest place to give birth is at home. I have had home births and am pregnant now planning another. All have been amazing. I have precipitous labours so for me makes sense. Obviously a personal choice and you need to do what is right for you and your baby.

Original poster
EmUntitled · 27/01/2019 13:48

@Seline Sorry to hear you had a difficult time. I would definitely only consider it if I had a low risk pregnancy with no complications

OP posts:
Naschkatze · 27/01/2019 13:48

Have a look at the Birth place study. If your pregnancy remains low risk then statistically it is just as safe to have a second baby at home. I've had two homebirths, really enjoyed both. In my area, midwives are very supportive of them and they are relatively common. Only you can decide what you feel happy with though, some people feel safer in hospital.

ILoveMaxiBondi · 27/01/2019 13:49

Personally i think you’re mad. Childbirth is the most dangerous time in a woman’s life. You wouldn’t opt to have a tooth extracted at home or your appendix removed. And yet you will choose to risk not just your life but that of your precious child. Baffles me. My mum was a midwife for 40 years. I’ve heard about everybody single possible outcome. None of them I would be happy to go through at home without any medical staff.

Platypusfattypus · 27/01/2019 13:49

Not mad at all, I had my second at home and loved it. As a midwife I loved attending them

MyBreadIsEggy · 27/01/2019 13:51

Not mad at all.
I’ve had one in hospital, one at home and will be having this one at home too.
I would have to be at deaths door in order to willingly give birth in a hospital again. For me, my hospital birth was a hideous experience that I wouldn’t repeat unless me or my baby were in serious trouble.
My pregnancies have been low risk, and births uncomplicated though.

Seline · 27/01/2019 13:53

em my biggest question would be how far do you live from the hospital? My situation very quickly turned into running with the bed to theatre and they very nearly didn't make it in time.

If you live within 10 minutes from the hospital this would be less of an issue.

MyBreadIsEggy · 27/01/2019 13:54

ILoveMaxi there are medical staff present at most home births.
The nhs guideline state that 2 NHS midwives should attend - so I my experience, I had more one-to-one care during my home birth that I did during my hospital birth. At home I had 2 midwives whose attention were solely on me and my baby. In hospital I had one frazzled midwife who was trying to look after multiple other labouring women, and I didn’t feel remotely safe.

Seline · 27/01/2019 13:54

You wouldn’t opt to have a tooth extracted at home or your appendix removed.

Those are my personal feelings on it too.

Binkybix · 27/01/2019 13:55

I knew someone would say you were mad, not paying any attention to the actual evidence. If you’re low risk, near a hospital and feel like it would be the good option for you then defo consider it.

WorraLiberty · 27/01/2019 13:55

I had my 3rd at home and it was bliss.

So comfortable and stress free.

DramaAlpaca · 27/01/2019 13:56

Discuss the possibility with your midwife & weigh up all the pros & cons to help you decide. It's not for everyone, but my home birth with DC3 was one of the best experiences of my life. I was very low risk, lived close to the hospital, had had two uncomplicated births before, no issues in pregnancy - my midwife actually suggested a home birth to me, I hadn't considered it myself. I still did loads of research & didn't decide until I was 34 weeks. You also need to make sure your DP is completely on board as well. Good luck with whatever you decide.

O4FS · 27/01/2019 13:58

Same as MyBread.

One in hospital, three at home. Two qualified MWs. They bring kit round beforehand, and bring a resus kit/gas and air on the day.

Excellent care, excellent post-natal care. A very positive experience every time.

MyGastIsFlabbered · 27/01/2019 13:58

I had a home birth planned for DS2. Unfortunately he had other plans and we ended up being blue lit by ambulance to hospital with a crash c-section. So I'd say go for it but be aware things don't always go according to plan!

Seline · 27/01/2019 14:00

They do have medical equipment bit that's not going to do much if you have a huge PPH and your baby needs ventilating at birth with adrenaline and dextrose is it?

Not scaremongering, just balancing the views here. That doesn't happen that often but when it does happen it's catastrophic.

Original poster
EmUntitled · 27/01/2019 14:00

@Seline we are 15 minutes from the hospital

@ILoveMaxiBondi
What you said is interesting. If there was an option to have a toorh extraction at home rather than at the dentist I would definitely prefer that! I would find it much less stressful than going to a dentists surgery.
I wouldn't want to have no medical staff present but there would be at least one midwife assigned in a home birth situation.

OP posts:
Original poster
EmUntitled · 27/01/2019 14:00

Thank you all for your advice and opinions so far Smile

OP posts:
confused8 · 27/01/2019 14:00

As others have said...as long as you remain low risk then it is statistically as safe as hospital. You are not mad to consider it at all! You always have the option to transfer in if you want to! NICE guidelines that have just been released state that the majority of women are suitable to deliver at home and this reduces the risks of unnecessary intervention.

Seline · 27/01/2019 14:01

15 minutes isn't too bad so I can see why you'd consider it if you remain low risk, just make sure you definitely are low risk

O4FS · 27/01/2019 14:02

OP my advice is prepare for a HB with the knowledge you can change your mind at any time. If it happens that you are rushed in, your MW will stay with you.

Talk it over with your MW team, if they offer and support HBs.

MyBreadIsEggy · 27/01/2019 14:02

Another big difference between home and hospital is that community midwives seem be able to spot the signs of potential emergency quickly, so either remedy the situation before it really begins, or can get you the help you need very quickly.
Even when things do go wrong, the infant and maternal mortality rates are not that different to hospital figures, and csection rates are still lower than they are for planned hospital births.

WorraLiberty · 27/01/2019 14:02

Blimey, I'd much rather have a tooth out at home than have to travel to the dentist, sit in the waiting room and then have to travel home again while feeling sore.

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