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’m a doctor who has two home births and most doctors who say they would never have a home birth are speaking from emotion not evidence.

A hospital birth is not risk free.

With a home birth you get a very experienced midwife providing constant care. Better care than you get from an over stretched hospital midwife.

These are very important and often overlooked points.

I know of two catastrophic birth stories (babies born with severe disabilities due to birth injuries). Both of them were low risk women, in hospital. Both caused by inexperienced and over stretched midwives who simply didn’t pick up warning signs.

That’s not a risk you have at home.

No, I wouldn't. I'm glad I didn't consider it; I'd not be here.

Look I know it’s sincerely meant but these threads are always stuffed full of women who would have died had they attempted a home birth. This just cannot, statistically, be correct. I’m not accusing anyone of being untruthful but some of you must be wrong or people would be dying at home births all over the place.

Or there would be no home births on the basis that if there was even 1 out of 10 ... the numbers of home births are so low that it would then be a 10% death rate which is too high to be acceptable

This just cannot, statistically, be correct.

In reality, it’s likely that signs would have been spotted and they would have been transferred long before the crux point.

The threshold for transfer is very low.

Yes exactly - also PPH is not a death sentence at home anymore than it is in hospital.

Plus the signs are more likely to have been spotted nice and early because you have a pair of experienced midwives focused on the mother.

I did. It was great. I had my second at home too.
You can always transfer into hospital if you need to.
Think of it not as a home birth but staying at home and seeing how it goes.

I would agree that a hospital birth is not a risk free birth. I almost gave birth in a bathroom due to (I believe) lack of staff. No one monitored my baby’s heart beat. Basically, anything could have happened.

Next time if I am low risk I would seriously consider a home birth as having a midwife as a constant presence in my mind would be much more reassuring and potentially safer

I tried with my first but got dehydrated (pain makes me throw up!) so was taken in and it was a disaster from then on - second baby blissfully born at home - fab fab home birth midwives took me through my notes from the first birth and helped me make a plan for staying hydrated (and dealing with all the trauma from the hospital birth). It was wonderful for me, I felt confident and comfortable and in control and like I could just get on with it. Midwives there all the time who really believed in home birth and that it was the right decision for me. I’m done having babies but I’d do it again in an instant.

Look I know it’s sincerely meant but these threads are always stuffed full of women who would have died had they attempted a home birth. This just cannot, statistically, be correct. I’m not accusing anyone of being untruthful but some of you must be wrong or people would be dying at home births all over the place

Like you I always think this on these threads but find it very hard to articulate without sounding like you are accusing people of making it up.

What would you like, a copy of my medical records?

I also think people who have had hospital births are in denial about what a shitty experience it can be, and actually dangerous in some scenarios. Lack of staff, equipment, monitoring etc all contribute to some of these bad births.

I’m not saying home birth is right or safe in every case, but scaremongering isn’t right either! Nobody deliberately puts themselves or their baby at high risk, we all take calculated risks based on our own circumstances and experiences all the time. A hospital birth isn’t the holy grail of births for everyone.

I agree that a lot of women and babies who would have died if they had a homebirth were either high risk so homebirth wouldn't be recommended or they would have transferred long before it became a life or death situation.

The thing is, people assume that hospital only ever lowers risk so anything bad that happens in hospital would have been worse at home. This study found that postpartum hemorrhage is more common in hospital births (and yes, they controlled for whether the pregnancies were high or low risk, counted the births that transferred in as home births and all the other things that people seem to think they're too stupid to do):
bmcpregnancychildbirth.biomedcentral.com/articles/10.1186/1471-2393-12-130

People say 'I had a PPH so I would have died if I'd had a home birth'. They don't say 'I had a PPH - it might not have happened if I'd had a home birth'.

Again, I personally wouldn't ever have a home birth, but people's knee jerk horror at the idea bothers me.

I think people have more faith in hospitals (and doctors over midwives) than they really deserve.

I’m not sure I would have had a hb for my first. However I feel it’s a shame that I wasn’t a suitable candidate for my second because the maternity hospital is 10 minutes walk from my house, so I could have been relaxed about a speedy transfer.

There is no such thing as a low-risk first time home birth. Being a first timer is itself a risk factor. As Purple has very calmly pointed out above, this risk means that your baby is twice as likely to die or be seriously injured for a first time mother delivering at hone, compared with the hospital.

If your midwife has not explained this to you, ask yourself why not. Time and again on threads like this we see pro-homebirth posters insisting that the threshold for transfer is very low and midwives are very risk averse, yet on exactly the same threads we see repeated evidence of midwives encouraging dangerous births. On this thread already we’ve had several people speak of first-time home birth, VBAC at home, dangerously long second stages of labour, babies being delivered at hone with only one midwife present. These things are hugely dangerous. These midwives are not the cautious risk-averse midwives. These are people who are failing to inform mothers fully so they can make an informed choice.

I can’t believe the idea that a hisband’s phobia of needles would contribute to a decision where the baby is put at double the risk of death or brain damage. Ever see how many needles are involved in NICU care for brain-damaged babies? A needle phobia isn’t an option for a cricically ill infant.

Pregnant women should absolutely make whatever choice they want. But that choice should be fully informed. Glossing over very serious risks and insisting all is fine is disrespectful and dangerous.

Yes I did - but it wasn’t planned! No one would believe I was in labour until it was too late!! Second was a planned home birth - was much better having two lovely midwifes with me (especially as one was a friend on her student training). TBH I must be odd as don’t understand all the fuss about giving birth - minor discomfort and all over in a couple of hours - found it quite exilerating in a strange way (however the next 20 years have been hard!)

Pregnant women should absolutely make whatever choice they want. But that choice should be fully informed. Glossing over very serious risks and insisting all is fine is disrespectful and dangerous.

No one has argued with the evidence. You are however glossing over the risks of being in hospital, which is quite ironic I think bearing in mind the point that you are making.

You just can't obliquely say risks are doubled. I decided to have a hb with dd2 after being in labour ward on a Saturday night with a bleed and then again with too early contractions. Labour Ward when you werent in labour was a very scary place, women left on their own in cubicles right to the point that they ready to push. A midwife coming in to start my induction (she'd got the wrong cubicle). Women rushing in at 9cm dilated. Serious risks all round by my analysis.

I would say women who choose or consider home births are far more aware and self educated about the risks/ decisions around labour and delivery than those who blindly walk in to a hospital birth just because that’s what everyone else does.

Oh I loved my hospital birth but mainly because I had a section so I didn't have to get out of bed and they kept bringing me food.

Not sure if I'll have another due to multiple miscarriages, and if I do I won't be able to have it at home, but I think the idea of a home birth is lovely. Maybe I have watched too many episodes of call the midwife!

The problem with asking on places like MN is you get a certain type of poster who is evangelical about 'natural' parenting to the point of twisting statistics, quoting biased studies and getting v angry at anyone who suggests that homebirth/breastfeeding/bedsharing/babywearing etc isn't always 100% wonderful all of the time. Then as mentioned previously you also have the people who would have died if they'd had a homebirth so also feel very strongly. So just bear in mind your sources of information - not just on here, everywhere - will likely be biased one way or the other.

Only you can make this decision, but I personally wouldn't risk it - I had a textbook pregnancy and a textbook labour, right up until the last 15 mins when DS got stuck and released meconium. I had to be rushed from the birthing pool to the labour ward and he was out with forceps in 10 minutes. I dread to think what would have happened if I'd been at home, over 30 mins from a hospital, DS could have had severe breathing problems from inhaling the meconium.

Think carefully if you do go down this route - how far are you from hospital? You also have no idea as a first timer how you'll deal with the pain levels (I personally found this to be ok, but you just don't know).

And of my 10 NCT friends, 2 had births with no interventions (either instrumental or sections). A small sample size to base conclusions off yes, but even so. The two friends I do know who attempted a home birth also ended up in hospital.

Again, what other people think would have happened to them in a home birth based on what did happen to them in hospital isn't a rational basis to decide. Personally, I do think the very high percentage of first time births that transfer is a rational reason not to do it, and for me the raised risk of the death of the baby was unacceptable (but I was very, very risk averse in pregnancy due to a history of miscarriage - the very small rise in absolute risk means that it's also perfectly rational to find that risk acceptable). But the huge percentage of women in hospital who end up needing major interventions is actually an argument for home birth, not proof it's a stupid idea.