First timer considering home waterbirth - am I mad?

[miamix]

Pregnant with my first and feel that I absolutely NEED to have a waterbirth (if all goes smoothly during labouring in pool). If ever I am in pain I am straight in the bath, it is the one thing I know can soothe me through all ills, and so this option is right for me (I would prefer the pain relief of being in water to anything else available in hospital). The hospital where I am having my care only has one birth pool and there's no guarantee it will be free for me, so we are hoping to go down the route of home waterbirth. Partner feels very strongly that this is the right option for us (in fact he considered it before I did!) so no need to convince him.

I was wondering if any other first timers had a waterbirth at home, and what was this experience like? (Or first timers at home on dry land?!) Any recommendations for pools to buy/rent? Anything I should be considering seriously that I haven't thought of?

Obviously I am prepared to go into hospital in an emergency. There have been no complications in my pregnancy so far and I am hopeful that I will be able to go ahead with this.

I am 18 weeks currently, when would I need to inform the midwife of my plans? I have no appointments until my 25 week and was thinking of discussing it then, should I speak to her sooner? I may need to change midwives actually given that we were in the process of moving when I discovered I was pregnant and was assigned to a team of midwives that cater for a nearby but not quite my area now but hopefully that shouldn't be too complicated...

Any advice gratefully received!

I had a home birth for my first. I planned a waterbirth but didn't realise I was cracking on so fast and we didn't fill the pool up in time so gave birth leaning against it on dry land.

It was wonderful - can highly recommend.

Check out www.homebirth.org.uk for loads of resources including details of your local homebirth group where you can meet other mums panning a homebirth and people who've already had one.

Pools - there's loads but most common are birth pool in a box or la bassine (google). Renting is often more expensive but they are more substantial.

It's worth mentioning to midwife asap - as they may transfer you to homebith team and you can have antenatal care at home but they won't book you in until around 36 weeks so no hurry!

Other things to consider. Have you thought about having a doula. I'm biased because I had one and have now become one myself, but they are great for a homebirth. It's handy to have an extra pair of hands as there's a big burden on your partner to support you and do all the practical stuff like let the midwives in.

It's also useful in terms of knowing your rights. I supported a homebirth this weekend. There was some pressure for them to go in to hospital as her waters had broken the day before, but we'd talked through the risks - they knew the statistics and wanted to stay at home. The midwives weren't keen but afterwards said what a beautiful easy birth it was!

Let me know if you have any more questions - I can talk about this all day.

I planned a homewater birth for my first. Sadly it didn't quite work out that way though as when her waters went there was meconium and so we needed to transfer to hosptial for the birth.

I did go on to have my other 3 at home in water though and can definately recommend it! :)

Good luck :)

had home waterbirth with both boys (2.5 years appart) was fab experience. go for it!

Of course you're not mad! I'm 10 days overdue with my first, if he decides to make his appearance before Sunday afternoon I am planning a home waterbirth. But they've booked me in for an induction on Sunday evening/Monday morning so he really needs to get a move on!!

I have made the homebirth in water decision for exactly the same reasons as you, and my midwife has been very supportive (in fact excited) about it.

Another home water birth for my first birth here - absolutely the right choice for us. No problems, wonderful experience

I'm planning a home waterbirth for my first baby. Wanting to guarantee a pool is available is one of the reasons we're going for it.

I ended up with loads of really specific homebirth and hospital birth questions, such as what local policies were. I let my MW know I had a lot to ask and she scheduled an extra long 18 week appointment so we could go through everything. I highly recommend calling your MW and letting her know you have a lot of questions. You may be able to go through some on the phone or it may be best to either book a seperate appointment or a double appointment for your 25 week check.

If you have lots of questions, I wouldn't just go to a normal check-up with them as the appointments tend to be short. The appointments that get scheduled are the recommended minimum - you can have more if you need them!

I planned a home waterbirth with my dd. Sadly it did not go to plan and I had to transfer mid-labour.

But in a normal, low risk pregnancy, why not?

We didn't talk about it until 34 weeks ish.

Go ahead, that's what I did three weeks ago, although I ended up getting on to my bed to deliver because my contractions had slowed down.

My only concern about your post is that you "absolutely NEED to have a waterbirth". You've not done this before, so try to keep an open mind. You might not like the water in the end, you might need to be transferred, but the important thing at the end of the day is that you and the baby are healthy, no matter how he or she makes their entrance into the world.

I never imagined I would actually give birth at home, so for me, booking the homebirth was more of a tactical decision to ensure I had a midwife and a pool for as long as I was coping at home before going in to hospital.

As for pools, I was very impressed with www.waterbabybirthingpoolhire.co.uk/for hiring a pool. I figured I would hire so they could do all the sterilising etc!

Do just ask if you have any other questions.

Thanks for the comments all - I will make an appointment with my MW after my 20 week scan as it may all get complicated with the area catchment etc etc but yes... hopefully they will be able to accommodate.

Gangly, yes my wording was a little strong but out of all the options this is the one I favour most so if it is possible then I would like to do it this way, that's all, of course I'm keeping an open mind as there's no way of knowing what will happen...

Ta! :)