Home Water Birth Ok For First?

[CheshireDing]

Am I being silly to think it really is possible to have a home water birth with my first baby?
My worry is, that although I hate hospitals and have read that sometimes labour stops when people go in to hospitals because of the stress/worry, plus I am thinking I would feel more relaxed at home and it's my own germs in my house etc etc.
I am worried that I do not really know whether I have a high pain threshold (as never really had any injuries) and will look ridiculous if right at the beginning I am saying "this hurts too much get me to the hospital for real drugs"!

you aren't being silly - I had a lovely home waterbirth with my first and as a doula have supported plenty of first-timers who have had their babies at home in water. I've just put up a nice birth story from a first timer who I supported who had a water birth at home hackneydoula.co.uk/?page_id=239 .

Can you go along to a local homebirth support group? There's details here [www.homebirth.org.uk - that site is also brilliant for information.

I would also suggest thinking about a doula. I think you need a third pair of hands at a home birth (one to have the baby, one to look after you, one to open the door, fill the pool etc) and there are stacks of other reasons which I won't bore you with but you could look at www.doula.org.uk and have a poke around my blog.

If you think you'll feel more relaxed at home you probably will so go for it!

Perfectly possible. I know several people who have had their first at home in water. My DD would have been but I had to get out for a while and then transition and pushing were so quick that we couldn't get the pool hot enough to get back in in time... It was great being in the pool during labour.

I had a home birth with my first baby, didn't have a pool but did spend a lot of time in the bath. I tried to have a flexible approach, looking at it as labouring at home for as long as possible, but knowing the hospital was there if I needed it.

What happened in my situation was that the first MW came out and checked me over when labour started. Contractions were regular but not that strong, however she was a bit concerned about my temperature (we were in the middle of a heatwave!) and sent me to the MLU to get checked out. We did this, I sat on my birthball hooked up to a monitor for 20 mins and they took my temp again. All was fine so we went home again. By mid-morning next day we called the MW again as was all getting a bit overwhelming. She examined me and I was nearly fully dilated, DS was born after about an hour and 20mins of pushing.

It was painful, at times scary, but being at home did help. I used a TENS machine from early on (but obv not when I was in the bath )

Hope things go well for you :)

I am planning a home water hypno birth with my first, due in September.
Also plan to use TENS for the first bit and aromatherapy / homeopathy.

One of my friends planned a home water birth for her 1st too.... unfortunately she had to be transferred to hospital when wasnt progressing, but it was the plan and she nearly had it... and at least used her hired pool for a bit of the labour

I live at least 45mins from the hospital, normally nearer an hour, but its what im planning

Yes. I had a home birth with my DD, not a water one because we did not have the room for a pool.

I would highly recommend it if all is healthy. I had great MWs and felt really lucky to have 1-2-1 care constantly and there was a nice atmosphere. It WAS very painful but I found I could get into the 'zone' as I was relaxed in my own home.

I attempted it but had to transfer after 6hrs of pushing with no baby.

But I wouldn't hesitate to make the same decision again. One to one care and my own environment was lovely.

If you do opt for it though, please try and think about what you will do in the event of transfer. Because sometimes it's medically necessary and if you go into it thinking that you'll do what's necessary to have a healthy baby, you won't feel so disappointed if you do need to transfer. And don't fear the hospital. If you have a doula at home, they'll go in with you and continue to advocate for you.

I had a home water birth with my first baby. 8 hrs start to finish, with just a TENS, birth pool and paracetamol .
My labour kicked in very full on right from the beginning, strong and long (some double peaked) contractions every 2-3 minutes . I did indeed say "this hurts too much get me to the hospital for real drugs!". However, DH called the midwife out and on VE I was only 1cm so no-one would give me real drugs (at home or hospital). It was a good thing though because I knew I had to get my head down and deal with it, which I did. I found "the zone" and it was ok. At one point I said "it's getting a bit hard to deal with now" and 30 mins later was pushing so I'm guessing that was transition .
So yes, even if you're a bit wussy about pain (I take painkillers at the slightest twinge) then you could still have a home water birth. Like you say, the environment makes a big difference to the physiology of your labour, and it is more likely to progress quickly and smoothly if you feel safe and relaxed.

Thank you everyone. It definitely makes me feel more confident about going with the home birth (and being sensible about going to hospital if need be) from hearing other peoples stories.

Am now off to investigate how to get in to the "zone" :)

Hypnobirthing breathing worked for me to find the zone - long slow breaths to the count of 10 in and 10 out (or some other number that feels right). I also hummed on the outbreath which helped, and with each contraction tried to relax and go over it like a wave, and visualise my cervix opening up each time. Sounds really hippy-ish but I think progress in labour is very psychological.

Ha ha I like that Calm.

I up for a bit of hippy-ness if it helps.

Yes. I'm determined I'm having my first at home in August. Have read of these: (one thread has another linked in it):
www.mumsnet.com/Talk/childbirth/1187119-First-baby-at-home-ok?pg=2
Good luck! :)