almost convinced by homebirth article in the Guardian this weekend...

[elportodelgato]

I don't know if anyone else saw this article by Sali Hughes about homebirth on Saturday in the Guardian Family section? probably there is a whole thread about it somewhere but I can't find it...

I've never considered homebirth before but this article has really made me think again. I had a straightforward pregnancy with my DD but she was induced at 41+3 so I was in hospital so they could monitor the induction. Besides, it was my first baby and I would not have wanted to be anywhere except hospital. The whole labour was 7 hours in total and I did without any pain relief (not out of choice btw, would have loved something to take the edge off) until G&A for the pushing stage - I tore and had stitches but otherwise all was normal. It's entirely possible that I will be induced this time around too but if I'm not then I am really considering homebirth - can someone come and tell me if I am being silly and it's my hormones?

I almost cried when I read the bit about her being tucked up in her own bed in nice clean pyjamas with her new baby. It has made me really realise that my hospital experience last time was 'OK' but not amazing - busy London hospital, laboured for the most part behind a curtain in a ward which was not at all private or pleasant and I remember being hugely embarrassed when my waters broke on the floor. In the night following the birth the call button in my cubicle didn't work and no one came to help me. Because of my stitches I needed help to get to the loo etc but no one did this. I'd like to avoid all these downsides if possible and suddenly homebirth looks attractive. Can anyone offer a view?

I agree that of course it is up to each individual and what is best for their personal circumstances.

I was told that I couldn't have children because of severe endometriosis or I would need IVF with no certainty of successful outcome. I therefore think that when I became pregnant after years of trying I did not want anything to go wrong and elected to have a c-section. I have had so many comments about 'too posh to push etc' which is utter nonsense. I think everyone should have the right to choose which includes hb's and elective c-section. i know I had to fight and be very tenancious that I wanted a c-section and they reluctantly agreed. I am afraid though that choices will be taken away from us because the NHS budget is going to be slashed considerably and there will be shortages of midwives which we make it virtually impossible to choose a hb if that is your choice. I know of someone who wanted a hb and was told they didnt have the resources and that if they insisted they would have to pay for a private midwife which they did and it all went horribly wrong. Private midwives are not regulated in the same way and dont necessarily have insurance etc.

SoLongAsIts - I notice your and have to say I had absolute confidence in my body to labour - and it was my first child! Have no idea why that was (pregnancy hormones / the greatgrandmother's intervening / yoga / midwives??) but there you go .

happystressed - a very good point about budgets. Although HBs are cheaper overall I think, if there isn't the political will for a woman's right to choose, community midwifery teams will be cut, as they have been before.... have to go for a free-birth for DC2 then!

I read the article and thought it was really good. I would have loved to have had a hb for dd birth, my first, but we were in the process of looking to move house at the beginnng of the pregnancy and first thing for planning home birth, you need a home!(we moved 5 weeks before she was born). 3 other couples I know had hb for their first babies so we were quite used to the idea.

First labour was really straight forward, hospital was "ok" - labour ward no complaints, post natal ward however was useless, grim,unfriendly, stressful so will definately be looking for hb for next time. Oh and I'd booked into the MW led centre for the better experience but on the night there wasn't room for us.

hello Happy,

I am sorry to hear about your friends' experience re. private midwife. I think that they were misinformed and could probably take legal action. It is my understanding that the NHS is obliged to send out a midwife, regardless of the staffing resources at the hospital, and this can easily be arranged via 'bank' staff. If I called the hospital when in labour and they told me they were suffering resourcing problems at the hospital and therefore could not send someone out, the last thing I would want to do would be to go in and take my chances with one midwife to 4 labouring women! I would demand they sent someone out so that I could be assured of proper professional attention.

I think it's a bit of a shame that some of us feel that we are by no means guaranteed professional support in hospital, and, similar to you, I have had years of infertility/miscarriages, so I don't want anything to go wrong (Though, having re-read that last sentence I wrote, I see how silly it is ...it's not like one has to go through all that to want a problem free birth ...any mother to be would feel the same!

HarriedWithChildren - mine did actually watch a DVD downstairs and didn't howl at the door. We didn't have anyone to look after them if we'd had to go into hospital. Our families are an hour away - babies 2 and 3 arrived in 20 minutes-ish.

anyone who is told that they NHS will not send a midwife to their homebirth needs to get in touch with AIMS.

trusts do use this ' no staff' argument to tell women they cannot have a homebirth

with usually 6 months notice, they can ensure extra staffing levels .

it is not the woman's fault . she should not feel forced to go to hospital

AIMS has some really good stuff about this issue

ChoChoSan 2 years ago when I was planning my homebirth, the Hospital said they could, and would not, guarentee that I could have a homebirth. I'm not sure that they are obliged to send anyone out. If there are no midwives, there are no midwives.

I tried to have my son at home, but transferred into hospital by ambulance after 18hrs at 8cm dilation. It was all very stressful from then on, and the birth ended up being very traumatic. My son's head did not turn during labour and was presenting sideways, so I wouldn't have been able to deliver at home.

I will definitely try for another home birth next time (but will do lots of things differently - don't we all, with the wisdom of the first birth behind us?). I dislike hospitals and it was hell being apart from my husband when I needed him most (during the overnight stay).

I'm lucky that the midwives were very supportive of home births and never tried to discourage me.

Hi Thereisalight, I have heard of this sort of thing happening before, and I think there is sometimes an element of 'brinkmanship' to it...I have heard a lot of anecdotal tales of people standing firm and demanding midwife support and then subsequently being sent 2 midwives, after being assured there was no-one available. I suppose it depends on a number of factors at the time.

Thankfully, I am very close to the hospital, so if I choose HB, I could easily go in, if they really failed to send someone.

Has anyone else any experience of demanding a midwife and being absolutely refused, even if they said they would absolutely not go into hospital? What happened in your case Thereisalight...I hope you got your HB.

I did get my homebirth, but it was a faff to be honest. I booked out of my local hospital (12 minutes away) at about 36 weeks after being told a HB looked unlikely and booked into another hospital an hour away - and they were only too happy to oblige. Madness or what?

That sounds like a bit of a nightmare - inconsistent policies are a bit frustrating, especially when there can be such a wide gap in perceived standards.

I had a hb too. Wanted one for my first but had strep b and retained placenta so good job i was in hospital. But when everything went ok with my second had a last minute home birth. It was utterly amazing, so much more relaxed labour was only 2-3 hours and i used a tens machine. When the time came for the birth i used a birthing pool i had from when i was first pregnant. AMAZING!!!! really it was soooo nice so much less stressful in your own home you can do what you want to, eat what you want to and of course you get to bath in your own bathroom lush. But best of all is when everyone goes and it's just you and your family, i wouldn't want it any other way now.

Well, I suppose it depends on the hospital. I don't know for sure, but I get the feeling the hospital that obliged has a strong midwife led unit, and my local hospital is University Teaching hospital with many consultants and it can be quite interventionist, so I suppose (again, just supposition) that has a lot to do with it.

Having said that, the Community Midwives in my area are just brilliant and always more than enthusiastic about HBs, but like I said, on the night, if there are no midwives, you're a bit stuffed. It doesn't help that this baby is due on New Year's Eve. What do you suppose my chances for a HB are this time??

Great article and like me 'normal' not from the margins of society.

We're very lucky here in the south-west that our local team of midwives are very experienced with home births. This means that transfers to hospital are, if necessary, sooner rather then later and that the midwives are very experienced in painrelief and timing the birth correctly.

Their constant, confident attendance meant that when I asked for more painrelief I believed them when they said no that I had gone past that stage and gave me the strength to carry on.

The mid-wives are confident professionals who put you and your child first.

I'd just like to say publically thank-you. My two homebirths were the most amazing positive experiences of my life.

Having had a long labour, with complications, which resulted in an emergency c-section, I am extremely thankful for my hospital birth. The staff were professional and very competent.

do whats right for you I say. years ago they were a lot more popular.

We live in a semi and can hear loads through the walls so that put me off having a home birth straight away!

I thought the article was good, balanced and honest.

I think it is such a personal decision, because how you feel in labour is half (well, not quite, bykwim) the battle, and if you will be worried and tense at home it's not for you. However, I knew I wanted to be at home, read up loads, talked to loads of people and discussed it with midwives a lot. Here in Devon it is very common and well supported.

My DH was less keen than me to start with, but he read up loads too, and came to active birth with me and slowly reassured himself on specific points. He is now even more enthusiastic then me. I think he would have been quite lost in hospital, but at home was able to feel useful and keep busy, and also rest/eat etc when he needed to. So many friends have said that the first night in hospital with their DP/DH not there was sad/difficult/lonely/hard and that was a major factor in wanting a home birth. I wanted DH to be wherever me and DD were. We did discuss together that it was a joint decision, and that if anything went wrong we would always know that we had made a decision and would stick by it, possibly in the face of criticism - so I think you want DH to come on side willingly if poss.

I had an amazing experience. Despite a v long labour, I felt fine as I was able to move around, eat, rest, drink, distract myself however and whenever I wanted. I felt so safe with haveing a mw there all the time, totally focussed on me and my needs - not being called away, not disappearing, just doing her job calmly and confidently.

It is true that things go wrong in home births, it is also true that things go wrong in hospital, and for me, the liklihood of a cascade of intervention as experienced by many friends also added weight to my hb desire. As someone said to me, "hospitals are there for the just in case, but sometimes they create the situation to start with".

Hospital are there if you want or need them. I would have happily had a hospital birth, transferred in at any point if it had been needed or recommended, and I remained open to the possibility, I am glad that the situation didn't arise and feel so lucky to have had such a postive experience.

I think the upshot is that if you have been lucky enough to have a very textbook, pleasant home birth you will be very pro them, (sepeically against the backdrop of a negative hospital experience) but if you have experienced complications during a home birth, you would be unlikely to take the risk again. So - no surprises there then!

Considering if any problems arise in childbirth you are dicing with death (either the mother's, the baby's or both) - I would never risk it and think women who do are naive. Imagine the guilt you would feel if you had your baby at home and then lost your child, say due to respiratory problems, which would be completely and utterly treatable in a hospital setting. I think it's unconscionable to shun an appropriate level of medical care in childbirth. I also think all these touchy-feely groups which support home-birth are irresponsible when touting home-births, particularly to first time mums. Thanks in advance for any hysterical replies, just being honest.

That's nice MissBonpoint, this has been a pretty balanced, non-emotive thread. What do you think you will achieve with that post?

Do you have to judge other women's decisions so harshly?

No hysterics , just pretty disappointed in your attitude.

I agree with you MissB. I think the perception of too much unwarranted and negative medical intervention in hospital births is a fear, rather than a reality, for many people. Certainly in my case with DS3 I was pleading for an epi and the wouldn't give me one - kept fobbing me off because they knew I could do it fine on my own, and I did, and quite possiblt was saved from episiotomy and stitches becasue of that. And my DH and I were largely left alone to get on with the labour (fair enough) until the midwife was needed at the business end as it were. I've had two hospital births and never felt pressured to do anything I didn't want to . (except go without an epi!!!)

"having had 3 labours,2 of which have ended up with my children being resuscitated"

My son had to be resucitated following my homebirth, and it was done very efficiently and calmly by my midwife, as the majority of resucitations are.

Re: nuchal cords - 30% of all births involve a cord wrapped around the neck. In the vast majority of cases it causes no problems at all. In other words, it's normal.

"just being honest"

As your beliefs about the 'riskiness' of homebirth are clearly not grounded in any knowledge of the facts, then it's a bit dubious as to how valuable your opinions would be to the OP, though it's good that you feel free to speak your mind here.

Wondering if you see the Royal College of Midwives and the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists as one of the 'touchy-feely groups' you mention, as they have issued a joint statement which is strongly supportive of homebirth as a safe option for low risk mothers in the UK, and also make mention of its 'considerable benefits'.

Perhaps you have access to information that midwives and obstetricians in this country are not aware of. Would you like to share it with us here?

Also had one home birth - Must add that for balance to my argument.