To be fed up of the "home birth is risky" misinformation?

[everychildmatters]

Because clearly evidence says otherwise!!

Statistics don’t lie, statistics don’t scare monger, they just give the facts.

This happened to someone I know, her child was born at home with no heartbeat, it took over 10 minutes to get a pulse and by the time he got to hospital he was severely brain damaged and has been left with profound disabilities. The mum tried to sue because of improper monitoring....even though that's what she wanted/asked for in labour.

Weeeelllllll in the case of correlation statistics, they do often misinform. And you can’t randomly assign women to HB.

I don’t disagree generally, but I am passionate about statistics

Never mind OP. You do you. If you are happy giving birth at home with a midwife in attendance (if there is one available), then feel free. No-one will stop you.

Each mum should be able to choose her preferred environment, without reference to you or anyone else. And they can.

I do feel like people assume home birth midwives just turn up at your house with just a pair of gloves. 😅

They carry newborn resuscitation kits, oxygen in case the mother needs it, and they set up a rhesus station while you’re still in early labour just in case baby needs it when born. They also have oxytocin injections to slow down/stop bleeding until you can get to hospital in the event of a PPH, and IV equipment. They really are very well equipped to deal with a range of outcomes but like others said, they can and will spot signs early on that indicate you should go to hospital!

I was transfered to hospital earlier than I would have been if I’d been labouring alone (the hospital advise you to stay at home as long as possible), and the relief of having a midwife at my house to examine me and make those calls was amazing. The ambulance was instantly outside and the hospital already had a room ready for me. A homebirth midwife stayed with me there as well. It was so much more personal and I felt really well cared for.

I also had a fast first delivery, and agreed with the midwife’s assessment that staying at home made sense for 2 and 3. The relief when the box filled with the midwives’ home delivery kit was safely waiting in the house and I knew I could stay put rather than risk giving birth in the car was immense.

Another big difference I appreciated - and which is rarely mentioned in discussions of the safety of home births - was having the undivided, focused attention of a midwife from minutes after my waters broke, and a second midwife joining her as things progressed. It all felt so much safer than my hospital experience, where a harassed midwife occasionally put her head around the door and told me she wished I’d slow down.

The only mess left afterwards was some coffee on the wall after DC3 arrived, as I’d kicked the midwife’s drink over in the final stages! My hospital delivery was followed by my partner having to hold the baby and try to help me in and out of the bath in a grotty hospital bathroom. If you’re lucky enough to be able to stay at home, there is nothing better in the world than getting into your own bath and bed afterwards. It made all the difference with establishing breastfeeding too.

Perhaps you are very fortunate but where I live, you often do not get the choice to birth at home and if you want to, everything is done to prevent it. So unfortunately it’s not as simple as everyone having a choice, although you’re right that it should be

Well me and both my dd would have died if I'd attempted home births so its not misinformation for me.

Your title is itself misinformation as for some people it absolutely is risky.

It’s an odd one and I can understand your point about people not understanding the overall risks (I haven’t seen any recent stats to have an opinion on that).

That said, on a personal level I can’t imagine turning down the absolute privilege of the national health service and giving birth with all of the medical assistance that could be needed on hand as you just don’t know how a birth will turn out.

I had a great 1st birth which I enjoyed and cherish the memory of but it was tricky (back to back baby) but my midwives worked with me to keep the delivery as unmedicated as possible and I still managed to deliver as we could keep trying up until the last minute I would have needed to have a section.

Maybe I should check my privilege though as I am pretty comfortable with hospitals and advocating for myself and my birth plan was respected and they really seemed to want to encourage a vaginal unmedicated birth if at all possible.

I just can’t understand the benefits of being at home rather than a nice comfortable hospital room with music, dimmed lights etc. I love my home but I just couldn’t weigh up the benefits and risks and come up with home birth being the best choice for what is one day.

I would be really interested in hearing peoples reasoning who have decided on that.

Exactly.

im sure some women benefit from being in a comfortable environment etc etc but the fundamental reason the stats on home births are so good is that is that (typically) no one with a high risk pregnancy gives birth at home.

@RedRobyn24 My midwife was an IM so she was available 24/7. The NHS pulled home birth services during Covid as the home birth team were told they had to go back to the hospitals. For many women they didn't actually have a choice which is unacceptable.

If you’re lucky enough to be able to stay at home, there is nothing better in the world than getting into your own bath and bed afterwards. It made all the difference with establishing breastfeeding too.
Totally get that many women may feel like this but I really can't relate. I loved being able to shower in a big wet room with all the blood being washed down someone else's drain and not caring about how wrecked the towel got. I had absolutely no desire to be in my own shower or bed till a few hours down the line.

I'm fortunate that not only did I consider a homebirth an unnecessary risk but entirely undesirable as well.

I felt like this with DC2 - like I was in a good 3 star hotel. Midwives checking on me every couple of hours, clean sheets, food brought to me, long baths without DC1 banging on the door. And so many people to coo over the baby and help with breastfeeding. DP and DD popped in every day (we stayed a few days for jaundice) and brought me more nibbles and a proper coffee. Absolute heaven!

Same! I had my first DD in 2021 and had to pay for a private midwife to facilitate having my baby at home. Second baby came 9 months ago and my NHS midwife was totally honest with me this time and told me if I want my baby at home I needed to go private because although they meant to facilitate it… they don’t. I have literally never met another woman whose had their baby at home… I’ve met loads of mums who wanted to though.

It makes it sound like I have lots of money that I went private but we had to make a lot of sacrifices to manage it, it wasn’t easy. We are a one income family and my partner earns £40K, but we made the sacrifice because I felt strongly it was the right thing for us. I wish I could have just used the NHS.

@DappledThings Genuinely...you are worried about your blood being washed down a drain or having to wash a towel?!! Have you never had a period or a very heavy bleed for other reasons?

Who said worried? Just a preference. I have no desire to be in my own space when a big wet room with someone else responsible for cleaning it was at my disposal.

As I say I'm lucky that my preference based on comfort was the same as my preference based on risk assessment.

@everychildmatters You seem determined to deny the literal lived experiences of women in cases where the facts don’t conform to your belief. I am sure you are sincere and mean well but it is actually a bit offensive. I’m willing to believe that home birth is a great experience for lots of women, so why is it so hard for you to believe the women on here sharing their alternative experience? Do you really think a highly trained doctor made the decision to cut me open (at a cost of thousands to the NHS) for no good reason? It was to save the life of my baby, who was in serious distress. She absolutely would not have survived a home birth. I don’t get the argument of some posters that ‘oh well you’d have been transferred to hospital anyway if it was a home birth that went that wrong’. As if just being transferrred to hospital during labour is some easy, stress free, no big deal process - as if we live in a world full of ambulances circulating at all times, freely available at the point of need - not to mention traffic-free roads and copious empty well-staffed hospital beds ready and waiting for home-birth-gone-wrong transfers. The fact is that while home birth might be a great experience in some cases, it’s extremely risky in others, and crucially, it’s not always easy to tell which birth will be which. Its also not scaremongering to state that many women and babies would die without medical intervention - this is just a fact, evidenced by the maternal mortality rates a century ago and indeed around the world to this day where medical care is not freely available. It’s well documented that we as a species are poorly designed to give birth due to the obstetrical dilemma caused by our bipedalism… Midwives are great, of course, and I have nothing but love and respect for them, but they can’t perform miracles, and they can’t perform C sections.

After waiting so long, going through so many cycles of IVF, losing so many babies there was no way on earth I would have considered an home birth. My comfort regarding labour and delivery came a very distant second to the safe arrival of my baby and his post delivery care. As I personally believe it should for every women.

The best bit for me about homebirth was that my toddler came home an hour later and the three of us (DDs and me) snuggled up on my bed for a bit before DD1 went to bed. We have photos of both girls together from that night. It was a lovely time.

@RedRobyn24 Sounds so similar! We're by no means wealthy at all either, but I used some of my savings as an IM was the only chance of a homebirth we had at the time of Covid.
It was also so important that my husband was present for the birth of his first and only baby and at the time the hospital were saying partners could only attend if the pregnant woman had an internal check to prove she was in established labour. So, in essence, your husband can only come in if you allow a midwife's fingers inside you to check how far dilated you are. No - just no.

I’m not being harsh but you can’t guess or often judge ‘if it’s going to go well’. But also why is it better at home? I’m being genuine, is it infection risk this is based on?

I couldn’t see any benefit at all just loads of potential risks.

Also I got great advice with breast feeding, quick checks for tongue ties etc and my midwives if anything wanted a less medicated birth than I wanted at some stages (encouraging me along with my birth plan)

Exactly, that's what I said at the end of my post - you can never know how it's going to go!

So if you have a tear, does the midwife stitch you up there and then in your bed?

Yes! It was the same here, I desperately wanted my partner there and was terrified of having to go to do it alone in hospital. I absolutely couldn’t tolerate the idea of a sweep or VE, so I felt the same. At the time, I felt frightened and like if I went to hospital I’d be forced to do things I didn’t want to do.

I think the women who birthed in hospital during Covid are so brave, I feel so sad for everything they went through. It wasn’t right the way they preventing women having a birthing partner there.

Yep! Or on your sofa! 🤣