to think this woman's misguided to say the least?!

[Floopy21]

www.timesonline.co.uk/tol/comment/columnists/melanie_reid/article6101189.ece

Apostrophe - having a home birth doesn't mean you are turning down 21st century obstetric medicine - unless you are freebirthing, which is a very different thing!

I think that it is a huge insult to the midwives who attend home births to say that using their services constitutes turning your back on obstetric medicine!!

Midwives are highly trained and experienced professionals. They can monitor the baby using the latest hand-held sonicaids, and monitor the mother's vital signs too, and they can use some forms of analgesia - gas and air, TENS, and, under some conditions, pethidine.

I firmly trusted my midwives and their instincts - midwives see many many normal deliveries, and I believe that the good ones develop a sixth sense about problems.

Doctors, on the other hand, usually only see births where there are high risk situations or where something is already going wrong, and I believe that this makes them think that all births are high risk or go wrong in some way - so they will often practise defensive medicine - and it's often that intervention that causes the cascade of interventions and ends in a problematic delivery - something less likely to happen at home.

"1 in 9 Afghan women die in childbirth"

Not entirely sure how that is relevant to the UK where there will have been better all round health, better antenatal care, more scans to detect mother-killing-problems such as placenta previa (sp?) and problems wrt the size of the baby.

This is the UK, not Afghanistan.

that is a red herring, i agree soupdragon

antenatal care is a huge factor in reducing perinatal mortality

homebirth does not mean no intrapartum care

no-one is advocating homebirth for all, but that those who make an informed decision to giv e birth are not treated as spoilt idiots as the articel suggets

homebirth guarantees one to one care from a MW. how can that be selfish or increasing your risk of something bad happening? how can it be worse than one MW to 7 labouring women on a delivery ward?

as i have said before, hospital birth is no guarantee of safety. look at northwick park.

there are pros and cons but this article is just unbalanced crapola IMO

I can't think of anywhere less relaxing than home, with children and animals and being in screaming agony. I guess hospital's not that relaxing either, but they do try. Anyway, what is so good about being in the greatest pain it is possible to be in without dying?

Oh this lady is paid to rant She is just a larger than life version of their "target" female reader and reflecting "her" opinions.
I love the percieved image of the NCT - has Melanie ever been near the NCT, my group was lovely, really informative and helpful. We still meet up regularly now nearly a year after our babies were born.
My four pennarth. Homebirth is a choice but all the time we hide the facts of childbirth with hushed tones and crap sex lessons in school then people will be afraid and fear will send them running to hospitals to give birth. I gave birth in a hospital, but I chose to do it that way - in a birthing pool. I was not afraid and I had a "good" birth. I know I was lucky.

OMG....the Buxton Hand Clap man (mentioned earlier in thread) is for real...I just Googled him:

I don't know whether to cry or PMSL

I had a home birth last time.

I do own sandles but they are of the pink, high heeled, sparkly kind.

I changed my outfit during labour because I caught sight of myself in the mirror and thought I looked crap.

I had lipgloss on throughout.

That is how much of a hippy freak I am.

I didnt want to go to hospital because I hate them since my DD died.

I had two midwives and one student midwife. I doubt if I wouldve got that in hospital.

I live 15 mins away from hospital. It can take that long to get a obstetrician to a woman in labour if she is already in hospital.

Why do women have to try and make birt so fecking political? It used to be men telling us to lie down with our legs in stirrups, give us enemas and shave our bits. Now its women telling each other they are hippies having dangerous homebirths or chavvy cowards for going to hospital.

FFS

Bladebla - when I was giving birth at home, ds1, and then ds1 and ds2, were sent to a friend's house. Luckily they were happy to spend a night away from home, even though they were young.

I know other women who have had homebirths with their children in the house, and it hasn't upset either them or the children - in some cases, the older child/ren were put to bed by mum in the evening, and woke up to find a new brother or sister.

One friend's ds did come downstairs just as she was about to deliver her dd in a birthing pool - he was about 4 at the time, and his parents had talked to him about the birth beforehand, in case he was around, but also made sure that there was someone there to take care of him if necessary - but as it turned out, he was entranced by the arrival of his sister, and not traumatised at all.

My kids were at home. They didnt blink as there wasnt much going on. They were downstairs, I was upstairs, some people came for a bit and then they had a little bro.

You can have pain relief. I had G&A. I had pethadine at the ready if I needed it. If there is no -one to give you one, you wont get an epidural in hosptial.

I would be the last person to risk the life of my child. I have lost a child and have no desire to repeat that experience. Giving bith in a clean, safe home with two and half qaulified midwives is hardly risking the life of my child.

Again FFS

estrafancy, thank you, i have not laughed so much fora looooooong time

I read this article this morning and it made me really angry, won't write the huge rant I could happily do as many have already expressed my thoughts very eloquently however I will say this:

If homebirths were even slightly riskier than hospital births then they wouldn't be offered. The government wouldn't want the bad publicity, midwives wouldn't support women who choose it and the media would soon bring our attention to the tradgedy of babies dying unnecessarily. Homebirth seems to be an area where people's perception of the risk involved is completely at odds with the reality.

It is insulting to suggest that women choose homebirth because it is fashionable.

I chose a homebirth for my second DC because I genuinely believed that I would get a better standard of care from two midwives entirely focussed on me and my child in comparison to the lovely midwife in hospital who failed to notice that my first DC was in distress for 30 minutes in hospital because she was looking after 3 other
women.

So many women are prepared to tell you that if they had
had a homebirth that they or their babies would certainly
have died but it's not luck that stops babies who are born at home from dying or being injured it is highly skilled midwives and the fact that childbirth is not the horrifyingly dangerous experience which the media would have us believe it is.

I did have one complaint about my home birth, though. Both times the midwife insisted on taking the gas and air away with her!! I think every mother should have it on hand to help cope with the terrible twos!!!

Just had to join in the debate here, the article is VERY badly written. No doubt about that.

For me I have had three children.

First one I was 5 min walk from hospital, 3 mins by car, and decided to try for a home birth. But failed to progress. With midwife not doing anything, spent long time away from house due to having the wrong gas and air canister, then ran out of gas and air,..... totally useless community midwife, and when my labour stalled (back to back and brow presentation), I finally asked to be transferred to hosptial for an epidural as I was exhausted. This lead to the inevitable vontuse delivery as I was on my back with monitors strapped to me to try to deliver.

Second one, I now lived an hour away from the hospital. So planned hospital birth, but ended up with stop-start labour and was in hosptial for 5 days before real labour. But had excellent midwife who was with me throughout and delivered with just gas and air.

Third one, I wanted homebirth but was told I could not have one. So when I realised labour had started (took half an hour for me to realise it was it!), it progressed very quickly and suddenly so rang for ambulance as realised that in order to get to hospital would need to be blue-lighted! But my midwife turned up before the ambulance and realised that it was safer for me to deliver at home, and so I got a homebirth, and did not have to go to hospital at all. (total labour was 1.5 hours only). As I have had previous labours with no issues, I would definitely choose a homebirth again if I could. A wonderful experience, much better than hospital.

In my opinion, the skill and attention of the midwife makes a huge difference to the outcome of the birth.

I've just read this article in the Times and my first reaction was that it is very badly written and misinformed. Home Birth does not involve turning your back on 21st medicine. I had two midwives present for my home birth and I had gas and air. The hospital was 5mins down the road if I needed it. Whether or not to have a home birth is entirely down to personal choice and articles like this are not helpful.

Sorry, can't post links on my phone but for a better informed article (IMO) on this topic go to the Independent's opinions section for an article by Annalisa Barbieri.

Stayingsunnygirl and chegirl - I agree entirely.

I had made loads of plans for ds 1 and 2 while I was in labour with the third. As it happened, I started contracting at 11pm when they were asleep, dd was born at 3 am. The boys woke up about 3.30, came down, met their sister, had a few photos and went back to bed.

And I gave birth in a very clean room, had a bath in a clean bath afterwards (the state people leave bathrooms in hospitals is the subject of another thread altogether), and then snuggled up in my bed with my baby. With ds1 I was transferred from ante-natal ward, to delivery suite, to theatre, to post-natal room somewhere then finally back to the post-natal ward. ds2 I ended up in the public lift going from ante-natal to delivery suite with only a t-shirt on, in a wheelchair in full-blown transition. Until the NHS is properly funded, until midwives in hospitals give a damn, and until they learn to keep them clean I will never give birth in hospital again if it can be avoided.

PS Some of you are still going on about the "risks" involved in homebirths. One more time - it is NO MORE riskier than a hospital delivery. Homebirthers are not squatting behind trees and using dirty string to cut the umbilical cord. And to suggest that we would put the lives of our children at risk is ridiculous.

I'd have died if I'd not been in hospital. There's nothing else to say.

With respect you'd need to give us rather more information than that to take on board your point.
I was told DD2 was in distress, would die and I need a section immediately, as it happened I wind, a damn good fart later and I was back home, DD2 was born 5 weeks later when she was ready.

my first one was a horrific hospital birth with 9 days in hospital afterwards (for me-the baby could've gone home)second baby i was utterly terrified-after what happened the first time- had a hospital birth that i had discussed to the endth degree-i got the delivery i wanted (i was lucky enough to not have any birth complications the second time)i would like more children and even though my last labour was wonderful and i laboured pretty much alone with no intervention and no drugs or pain relief i don't think i would have our next baby (god willing) at home just in case.The reality of still births and birth defects looms large in my life and i for one could not forgive myself if my anti hospital sentiment caused harm to my baby.

sleepless - if the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists are content to issue statements that homebirth is 'safe' and may confer 'considerable benefits on mothers and babies' then what makes you think that having your baby at home (if you were ok'd to do it by the midwife) would put you or them at increased risk?

my first one was wedged stuck-nothing could shift her. It took me years to get over the first time. Second time, i wanted to avoid a hospital as i am terrified of them,always have been,to the point of fainting and having panic attacks in the car park on the way to routine antenatal appts.
i still don't think i could 'freestyle' it though-my sisters third baby was dead upon delivery, my friends baby is quite seriously damaged by birth-it's not a gamble i want to take although you are free to make your own decisions obviously-i just don't think it's for me.

Go with your instincts. I have a friend pregnant with her 3rd DC and she really loves the idea of a homebirth but just can't get rid of the 'what if' at the back of her mind so will be going to hospital. I had a homebirth because it made complete sense to me that I would have my baby in my home but others can't imagine being anywhere other than hospital. You need to be where you feel safe.

The real issue as others have said is that women should be spoilt for choice between excellent hospital care or feeling confident at home. Not the option of understaffed, dirty hospitals vs. 'risking' a homebirth.

Sleepless - just wanted to say that a homebirth isn't freestyling. The midwives deliver a huge crate of medical equipment 2 wks before your due date along with gas and air, oxygen and pethidine to keepin your fridge if you want it. It really feels as if they bring a mini-hospital to you.

lulu excellent advice on this thread

im shocked how many people agree with this shit article

i couldn't get much past the bit about homebirthers being the type of woman to breastfeed until the child is in secondary school

for what it's worth i had 3 hospital births and would have given anything to have a homebirth but they're simply not available here unless you have 2 grand to spare and are lucky enoguh to find one of the 5 independat mws in the country is in your area and actually available for the birth.

statistically homebirths are safer and anecdotally they are in almost all cases a wonderful experiance for the mother, baby and the family as a whole.

fine, she's not comfortable with it, that's completely her right but how dare she presume that anyone that doesn't share her opinions must be some extremist lentil weaver and is endangering herself and her baby