Has anyone had a home birth for a first baby?

[HBStowe]

And if so, what was it like?

I don’t know if IABU to even consider this...

(Also not actually pregnant yet, just trying! So have no idea how I will feel when actually pregnant)

I had a home birth. It was well risk assessed by the home birth team. There are 2 midwives present - one for mother and one for the baby. They monitor you very carefully and at the first sign of distress in the baby or complications you are blue lighted to hospital where a theatre is being prepared for your arrival - if anything had gone wrong I would have been in theatre in minutes from my home.

I had a wonderful birth with relaxing music, birth pool etc in the comfort of my own surroundings. I had a very fast labour and I think bring relaxed at home helped this. Several friends have had similar experiences- one friend tried for a home birth but did experience complications in labour so was transferred to hospital and birthed there with more medical intervention.

Fetal not feral! Bloody autocorrect.

I tried for a home birth but ended up with a c section! The point is, you can always change your mind.
Plan for a home birth, have the midwives round & if it isn’t working out for you they will transfer you to a hospital.
We had an ambulance straight away (not an emergency transfer, they just told me they come quickly for pregnant ladies) and as a bonus we saved 4 days of very expensive hospital parking!!

I'm a doctor so I used the statistics to guide my decision-making, principally the Birthplace study: www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace

I didn't think it was worth the risk (either of complications or of needing to transfer to hospital) so I laboured in hospital instead. During labour my baby was found to be an undiagnosed breech, so hospital was certainly the right place for me in retrospect.

@owlbethere - I responded because I've had 2 hospital births, and if I'd tried to have my first at home she'd likely be dead. Her heart suddenly stopped beating during contractions and I had a crash c-section. Surely that is relevant for the OP to be aware of, that if things go wrong at home you're an ambulance ride away from intervention...

I also read through the Birth place study. It is very useful.

I had my first at home five months ago after a low risk pregnancy. It was amazing. I was delighted it went so smoothly. I'd always choose a home Birth now, if my next pregnancy was also low risk.

I had my first at home. My mother and sister had both had two straightforward births (mum's both at home too) and I felt that it eased my confidence that I could do it too.
I had a very straightforward birth, no problems. MW did only arrive 16 mins before DD arrived mind.
Cup of tea and biscuits on my sofa with first snuggles, shower and bed shortly after. Perfect.

I am pg again and plan the same if my pg is uncomplicated and all is well.

Yes, our GP/ hospital doctor friends were horrified at our decision to have a home birth due to knowing a disproportionate number of medically intervened births due to the nature of their jobs!

They are disapprove of having ponies and horse riding due to the risks.

The best experiences in life are not risk free... But neither are your day to day activities like driving to work or crossing a road.

I had 6 day old DS in hospital, it felt safer to me that if there was an emergency, help is literally a push of a button away and not an ambulance ride etc.
I'm also a nurse and medical interventions don't scare me, I'm used to being in medical facilities and dealing with emergencies myself.
I progressed really quickly in labour (total 5 hours and only pushed for 25 minutes), but his HR dropped and he wasn't breathing by himself for a good 5 minutes after he was delivered. And I'm glad we were in hospital in case things had been a lot worse.

Also, think about your pain relief options, which are limited for home births. I was begging for an epidural at 7cm and by the time they put it in, i had to push so it didn't have any effect at all. Although manageable (just - DH said he thought I was going to pass out from the pain), i do wish the epidural took effect!

Look at one2one midwives if you're from a region that they cover.

I had both my children at home. My first was quite a long labour but I was so glad to be at home and able to have a water birth. It was great and I was well looked after by the midwives who never left my side. After the birth it was so lovely just to be at home with my baby and my husband. I was encouraged to have a home birth with my first by my community midwife.

I did, and I'm very glad I made that choice. The main factors in my decision were that there was a family history of straightforward births at home, I live near the hospital, and that there is no MLU in my area, only a consultant-led unit. Of the women I know who had babies in the hospital, the only ones who had untraumatic births were the ones who had elective caesarians - everyone else seemed to end up with lots of complications/interventions and a couple of friends ended up with PTSD. The women from my antenatal classes who had their babies at home had much better experiences, with better outcomes for everyone. So in my situation, a home birth seemed like the right choice (and turned out to be the best choice, as I had a quick and easy home birth). But it's the sort of decision that will be different for each person.

I also suspect that if I'd given birth in hospital, I'd have had a very similar experience to the other women I knew, with a stalled labour, distressed baby and ventouse - my contractions pretty much slowed down to nothing when the midwife arrived, and labour only really got back into gear when I felt safe and was "hiding" in my house.

My friend did and it was fine. I'm so glad I didn't. I ended up needing a urgent forceps delivery.

Like you I was close to a hospital and decided for a home birth.
I ended up being in hospital via ambulance but everything was OK.
I felt better knowing I didn't have the panic of deciding when to go in to hospital when I went into labour.
I also kept my home birth midwife with me throughout from home to delivery which was really nice, she understood I didn't like intervention and really just wanted to be left alone to get on with it.
She only intervened when needed and explained why.
I would have gone for a home birth again. It really took a lot of anxiety away for me.

Pain relief is definitely a consideration - i know I could transfer if I really felt I needed an epidural though.

@Babdoc your post comes across as very judgmental. Statistically the increased risk (for those who had a normal, healthy pregnancy) is extremely small. I don’t think it’s fair for you to suggest I would be taking on a huge / unquantifiable risk just to avoid a short stay in hospital.

The risks are known, and it’s possible to weigh these up and make an informed decision (which is what I am trying to do by reading lots and hearing people’s stories). It’s not Russian roulette; it’s a careful and thoughtful weighing up of risks and benefits.

And the alternative isn’t simply a short stay in hospital. My SIL endured an episiotomy, 17 stitches and sepsis. Having discussed her experience extensively she now doesn’t believe any of that was necessary. My niece is now 9 months old and my SIL has still not recovered. That shouldn’t just be ignored.

I won’t consider a home birth if my pregnancy is risky. But I am young, have a healthy BMI, fit, no health issues etc. If (as I hope) these end up meaning I have a low risk pregnancy, and if my midwife supports the idea, I can see how it could be a far better experience than a hospital.

It’s great to hear how many people had positive stories. It’s very easy just to focus on the negatives!

I opted for a HB with my first. I loved my time at home labouring with my community MW. Unfortunately I had to transfer because there was meconium in the waters when they broke. The MW said it was probably because the baby was 2 weeks overdue. The baby's heartbeat was fine, I felt fine, but nevertheless it was on her 'tick list' of transfer reasons.
Transferring was calm, quick and easy.

In hospital I ended up with an epidural, forceps delivery and 3rd degree tear. Who knows what would have happened at home.

With my second baby I had to have him in hospital induced early due to my own liver problems. It was an extremely easy birth and very quick. Completely different to the first.

I know plenty of people who have had successful homebirths and I would always support anyone who wanted one.

My dh was born at home in 1967. His mum said it was the norm.

I tried for a home birth with my first, but had to transfer after 3 hours of pushing with no obvious reason for the failure to progress. (Baby has a giant head).

Second time around, it was twins, soo was very strongly advised not to try for a home birth (politely put. They were very patient with my neurotic, medico-phobic self). In the end, the DTs were 6 weeks early and I was already in hospital with complications from flu.

If you are close enough for a speedy transfer, I’d go for it, I think, but I’d certainly check out the nearest MLU as well.

Yeah, that’s good advice! Definitely going to look into the MLU option as it could be a good compromise.

I had planned HB for my first. Midwife arrived at midnight. Had a home birth pool. All went well until around 6:30am - foetal heartbeat was slowing a little and she wasn't popping out despite me being in final stages. I got a lift in an ambulance (on my hands and knees on the gurney). I gave birth 5 mins after arriving at hospital with no further intervention. I ended up having an epidural and an overnight stay so I could have my retained placenta removed but other than that a positive experience. I would have done the same for a second had we had one.
I have latex allergy so a theatre would have had to be prepared specially for me had I needed a c-section and that would have taken longer than transfer to hospital so I felt it was low risk.

I think the difficulty from a risk perspective is that, whilst in a low risk pregnancy the chance of having a very serious complication arise from nowhere is very small, if it does happen the stakes are very high.

A friend of mine had a v straightforward pregnancy and labour, was in the MLU (attached to the labour ward) was happily labouring in the pool and nearly fully dilated when the baby's heart rate plummeted suddenly for no clear reason. She was delivered inside 10 mins with a crash section under GA. Obviously that series of events is very unlikely but if you are one of the very unlucky few it happens to, the choice to be away from the hospital would almost certainly have an impact on the outcome.

Personally I felt much more relaxed at hospital with drs and drugs around as I knew that if anything happened they would be able to intervene immediately. I appreciate that won't be the case for everyone.

There isn't a right answer to the question but I do think it's important to recognise that not being in hospital or very near a hospital will, in very rare circumstances, have an impact on outcome in certain situations. That will need to be balanced against a potential reduction in intervention in more straightforward births.

Do you have a MLU? Personally I think that's a great compromise position for a first baby.

Was booked in for one but ended up transferring in as labour had been ongoing 48h and I was exhausted. Not at all traumatc. Would recommend.

Second baby I opted for hospital birth as I was further away, in a flat and had a good experience in hospital so I'd say either is really fine.

A normal, low-risk delivery is ALWAYS a retrospective diagnosis. You really can't tell until it happens.

I know there are pros and cons to both but for me the risk-benefit analysis just wouldn't favour home birth. The risks of hospital delivery are far less important on my scale than the benefits of a home birth.

If something went wrong and I'd chosen a home birth, I just couldn't ever get over it. If I was in hospital and something went wrong, I think I'd deal with this better (though clearly would still be horrific)

I think the difficulty from a risk perspective is that, whilst in a low risk pregnancy the chance of having a very serious complication arise from nowhere is very small, if it does happen the stakes are very high.

This is a very fair comment and something my husband and I have talked about a lot. It’s definitely the biggest thing on the ‘cons’ list.

I just feel that the birth itself is such a small event, vs the outcome which lasts forever.

But then I'm not really someone who buys into the whole "birthing journey/experience" thing, so I appreciate my opinion is going to be very different from that of someone for whom that is important

I’m not sure what a ‘birthing journey person’ is, but I don’t think I agree that birth is a small event. The more I read the more it seems that for a lot of women it’s a really defining experience. I hear of so many women who have PTSD from bad births or who have life-changing injuries. Even for straightforward births it can clearly be quite a traumatic event. I suppose I just want to feel like I have tools to mitigate that possibility, and it seems that home births offer you more control and autonomy than hospital births. I obviously wouldn’t prioritise those things over the safety of the baby, but if I can feel confident that I would be a good candidate for a safe home birth it’s definitely something to consider.