Home births and Ambulance availability

[Sleepsleepmeepmeep]

I am due my last baby soon, about 6 weeks, although all of my others have come early so I wouldn't be surprised if it were 4 weeks.

I was planning a home birth and was quite excited about it (4th baby, easy natural labours except for dc1 vaccuum) but now I have seen that maybe as resources are stretched this may not be an option.

I was wondering, if I did have a home birth and needed an ambulance to transfer me to hospital, could I mot just drive in a car? I live about a minute drive from the hospital in heavy traffic, more like 10 minutes now the roads are so bare.
Is the ambulance for emergencies because they are equipt with whatever may be needed or is it just to get us to the hospital fast?
I have never needed an ambulance in labour so I dont know but factoring in calling for an ambulance and waiting for one, would it be so bad to take a car?

Just a thought- i wouldnt ask my midwife to bend the rules for me or anything although I would do anything to keep away from a hospital right now

@opticaldelusion why Are you picking at stuff? Really?? You’re potty mouth is disgusting, and your attitude is ridiculous. You’re just looking to pull OP for stupid things, I can’t imagine getting so worked up about something so unnecessary. I will just assume it’s the isolation making you bored and making you cranky ...

I think home births being cancelled as there will not be enough midwives to cover.

Hi OP. On a legal perspective, you can get pregnant and have a baby however you please and not notify anyone BUT legally you must register the birth. However if you would like the support of your midwifery team, you have to go to the relevant appointments etc.
When it comes to home births, the midwifery team can only operate at your own home if they have the support of the ambulance/paramedic team. Otherwise they will not offer you their midwifery service (at home) and ask you come to their facility.
Currently, many home birth teams have been unaffectected by Covid-19 but have not been able to secure the backup support of the ambulance team due to increased workload. So they have had to pull this service in many areas.
It’s heartbreaking, I am going through this myself. And it’s more due to me and my 2 kids being isolated, and the kids will have to come out of isolation and go to grandparents if I go to hospital.
You have time yet, my current stance to the midwife is that I am having a homebirth (generally safer for mum and baby and cheaper for the NHS), if things change, then I will attend hospital, but I expect to be discharged within 2 hours if I am physically able to walk out.

Don’t do it!
If your baby came out and doesn’t breath?
Your baby gets stuck?
You have a massive haemorrhage?
You need an emergency c-section?
Would you be happy hopping in the car? Would you like to risk no ambulances being free?

Btw I have seen every one of those scenarios happen to women who have had previous easy births without complications. You just never know and this is not the time to take risks.

" I expect to be discharged within 2 hours if I am physically able to walk out."

I really think everyone would be better in this situation if they gave some proper thought to the need to be reasonable and flexible. Yes, you may have a marvellous birth and the baby be healthy, but two hours is no time at all and (1) you can't insist on it unless you propose to march out with the baby AMA; and (2) if you try to put pressure on the staff to meet your arbitrary deadline, you will be making an extremely difficult situation even harder from them, and potentially endangering yourself or another mother and baby.

I understand how stressful this is. I had a very high-risk pregnancy last year with every complication you can imagine, but having spent more than six weeks in a maternity unit watching all of the comings and goings, I can honestly say that the women who seemed to fare best were those who understood that birth is a natural and unpredicatable process and who'd accepted that they couldn't go into it insisting on choices they'd made weeks before birth. You need to see what happens and make your best choices then.

It’s not just the ambulance issue, it’s also that two midwives are required for a honebirth and ATM trusts are so short-staffed due to the numbers of midwives having to self-isolate that they simply can’t send out two members of staff from the unit for one woman.

OP it’s probably best to contact your midwife and discuss it with her, she’ll know what the lie of the land is at your trust.

@ImFreeToDoWhatIWant oh my you are right, I didn't finish my degree in having-a-homebirth! You caught me

But well done for having 2- you must share you wisdom, oh Great One

We know what you mean Sleep. Some people are looking for offence. I had an induction which isn't the natural way of labour and it means nothing at all

Tbh I would probably not have a home birth in this climate but I'm a bit scared of it anyway.

Yabu re the home birth and the situation now. In all likelyhood you be ok but if something goes wrong you probably unlikely to get an ambulance and you risk your baby and your life. On top of that theres a lack of stress so yiu might nkt even get a midwife to you in time. Can your dh deliver and cut baby cord and make sure you ok. In this time even a healthy person id suggest to deliver in hospital just in case as this isnt normal times

Staff not stress. My aunt midwife and most her staff off sick or in isolation thry cant send a midwife out to home birth

My trust are no longer allowing home births and have closed the midwife-led unit, so all births are now at hospital, although you'd still have midwife-led care or consultant-led care, just in the main hospital.

I know many trusts are following suit if they haven't already due to potential staff shortages, midwives self-isolating or sick, and to concentrate midwives at the hospital.

I know it's necessary but it is really hard having such important plans go to pot! You never know what will happen in 4-6 weeks either.

@Stampy84

@opticaldelusion why Are you picking at stuff? Really?? You’re potty mouth is disgusting, and your attitude is ridiculous. You’re just looking to pull OP for stupid things, I can’t imagine getting so worked up about something so unnecessary. I will just assume it’s the isolation making you bored and making you cranky

What's making you cranky then?

Ambulances are on a sort of triage, if you broke your arm and was waiting for an ambulance, you would be waiting longer than a patient who had lost consciousness. So it's not a first come first serve, more a most severe symptoms first.
As a pregnant woman in labour with a new person in distress, you would likely trump all.
Don't worry - your Midwife has got this. Talk to her and she'll explain.

Also, trusts can't stop you from having a home birth, they may have to state they cannot provide a community midwife to your area and in which case you will need to look at paying for private.

I expect to be discharged within 2 hours if I am physically able to walk out

Hahahahahahahahahahahahahahahahaha

My midwife told me there would only be one midwife with me (unless a midwife in training came too, which she said I could refuse)

And about booking beds - I imagine that is just what they call it and there isn't an empty bed waiting for me. I live in a large city with a few choices of hospitals so you call the hospital you want to give birth in and 'book a bed'. If you leave it too late and there will likely not be enough space for you (based on how many women are due around the same time as you) then you have to pick a different hospital and 'book a bed' there.

And this thread is based on a random thought I had- I am not expecting to drive to the hospital with a baby stuck half in and half out between my legs.

And I'm not trying to justify having a homebirth if I cant- I am literally just wondering and instead of annoying poor dh with my nonsese.

Also I will be asking my midwife what is going on next time I see her, the last time (only a week ago) she told me all was still on for home births but things are changing day by day so I'm hardly going to be ringing her every morning asking 'what about now?'

Alas! I expected this kind of response- people only respond to questions on aibu in a way that makes them feel superior (im sure i do this myself) but it is worth it for the few normal replies you get mixed in with the crazy nuts.

Ambulances are on a sort of triage, if you broke your arm and was waiting for an ambulance, you would be waiting longer than a patient who had lost consciousness. So it's not a first come first serve, more a most severe symptoms first

If you were expecting an ambulance to be sent for you for a broken arm then you'd quite rightly wait a hell of a long time! That's not what ambulances are for.

OP, most hospital trusts have cancelled home births for the foreseeable future. Not because of a lack of ambulances, but because of a lack of midwives. They have seconded the home birth teams back into hospitals.
Have you actually discussed this with your midwife? I know at my DDs booking appointment her midwife brought up the possibility of a home birth in February.
Your only chance of a home birth if you live in an area where they have been cancelled is if you pay for a private midwife. Even then, they may not turn up if they contract Covid.

@Stampy84
Ahh thanks for having my back

Summersun, I’m quite aware that home birth midwives are separate - I’m a retired hospital doctor -
but when we hit peak virus, and half the labour suite midwives are off sick, they will have to be drafted in to cover!

@Soontobe60
My midwife comes to my house for appointments, has your daughter had to go to a clinic to aee the midwife?
I have no clue as I havent heard anything (except all gps round here are closed to patients) so i dont really know what to expect re appointments.
I havent been contacted to be told that there are no homebirths yet, I only saw her a week ago and she said all was going as planned. But I realise that a week doesn't mean a week in covid town.

Is your daughter still having appointments at home or are they suspended too? I have tried to call my MW a few times but no luck. Shes obviously swamped so i dont want to bother her more.

If there are absolutely no ambulances available you really wouldn’t be able to drive to hospital with a cord prolapse or a retained placenta. You don’t just get transferred to hospital because things aren’t progressing.

All home births in my area have been cancelled.

I'm so sorry, but, you can't have what you wanted - there aren't the resources.

How about you tell your midwife you want to labour as if it was a home birth, but, in the MLU? Stay as home for as long as possible, go in for the delivery with one MW?

Please don't try and labour and deliver on your own. Resources are stretched, so you don't have the same choices that you had for the other babies. It's not fair.

I’m in a similar situation op. Due in 4 weeks and won’t get an answer regarding home births until I ring the labour ward to tell the midwife it’s time to come!

We’ve had very little communication regarding appointments or homebirths so far and as due date is so far ahead I think it’s just a case of wait and see which is incredibly frustrating!

Dd2 was a homebirth and came so fast that she beat both the midwife and both ambulances! So although it’s all well and good saying homebirths are cancelled, I don’t know whether dd3 will get the memo- her sister certainly didn’t and there was no virus to delay them then!!

@OhClover You asked who would look after her 3 children if DP drives her to hospital. Who is going to look after her 3 childen if she is in hospital already?