No home birth!

[Witchofthenorth]

So, had my midwife yesterday, currently 17 weeks prg and due on 31 st of December and am planning a home birth ( dc number 4). apparently at that time of year I would be extremely lucky to have midwives available ( which I do understand btw, time of year and all that).
I kind of feel quite despondent about it now......my midwife unit is just a small one, for the unit to be fully staffed, they only require 5 midwives and she did say that legally they were not allowed to refuse, but to prepare myself for the fact that it will be highly unlikely that there will be no staff to attend.
There is only one independant midwife round these parts and I cannot afford the fees :(. I always said that I wasn't really one of these mums who would stamp her feet and demand a home birth, and that if I had to go to hospital then I would, but, I kinda want to stamp my feet and demand a home birth!
Anyways, should I resign myself to the fact that I am going to have to remove myself from a comfortable environment where I know I will be in more control and manage pain better while labouring, get in the car and go to hospital?
Sorry it's a long post, I guess I just need to vent a bit.....didn't think it would upset me so much :(

I would write to the supervisor of midwives and say that you are concerned about staffing over the new year period. I had my DS over christmas in hospital and they were short staffed there anyway.

www.aims.org.uk have a whole section about this issue including a prepared letter which you can modify for your situation.

I am planning a HB in the next two weeks and live in a very rural area where the second midwife may be coming from 30+ miles away. I've been told if another woman gives birth at the same time, there may not a midwife available so asked if I could go into a birth centre. I have said that I would not want this and then the midwife said if the worst came to the worst, they would have a paramedic attend as a second with an on call midwife until the second midwife can attend as they are trained. I know two other women due the same time but they are having ceasarians!!! But obviously it is really difficult for them if they have 3 people at once.

Regarding risk during snow, I would have metcheck up and would discuss ability to get out of the house in deep snow/ availability of 4X4 vehicles either paramedics, yours or neighbours/ arrange a pick up point for midwifes / will the local council extra grit your lane as a priority (they may do if they are nice) or have your own grit supply and shovels handy (for your DP not you). Alternatively would the hospital let you come in early at the very first sign of labour if snow is coming????

stellamel gave birth at home in the snow - and i think mountain rescue brought her MW!

persnally - i think if you put your feet down they will find you a mw.

ds due at new years - but came on the 9th..so you may beworrying about sth that won't happen.

squiggley I agree the timing of my birth should not make a difference. Me and DH didn't plan ahead to what time our baby would be born when we were otherwise occupied :) and beside, since it was a contraception failure, we didnt even think about babies . but your absolutely right, irony feel it should make any difference whether I am due in June or December, the level of care, or the facilities available should be the same. I don't think she realises that it's important because she told me that they would leave me alone in the unit until things started hotting up so it woud be fine, shedding seem to get that I want to be at home, with my own stuff, my own fridge, kettle, telly, bath, bed!!!!!!

secondtimelucky unfortunately, the midwives at the unit are also the midwives that do home births so it would be one if them, and they would need to be on call for four weeks which I think is the sticking point for them.
Also I think they would just rather not......they did have a run of them a couple of years back but apparently that was ok as it was around September time so no issue with people wanting to be with there families for the festive period. In fact she told me that when she had told her supervisor about my plan, she had "choked on her coffee" as the time of year would not make it possible, and when she was telling me she did actually say, I feel really bad incase you are getting your hopes up for a home birth!

stoatie it was the same here too midwife also telling me that las year when we had really bad weather, they were taking turns in sleeping at the unit, apparently none of the midwives in the unit actually stay in town, they all live in outlying villages, if the weather is as bad this year, it will be a nightmare, but to be honest I don't think I would venture out the house.

I am going to carry on with my plan I think, still have ages to go, plus if all else fails hubby has been present and awake at the other three, surely he will remember what to do

Thanks all for reading and replying :)

Please ignore all typos, bloody iPad changes things when I am not looking!

Shedding = she didn't

Definitely write to the Supervisor of Midwives, pointing out that you are giving plenty of notice for them to arrange sufficient staffing on the rota. There are also bank midwives that they should be able to call on in times of need (sick cover etc).

See this link. If it doesn't take you directly to the page about staffing shortages, go to the Homebirth in the UK page, there's a whole section there about it.

Hiya - Haven't read all the replies but I wanted to tell you my experience of homebirth in December. My DD was due 16 Dec 2009. On 18/12 there was serious snow all over the shop, the city was like an ice-rink, A & E was coping with 100 additional broken arms and ankles. I had very mild contractions 5-6 mins apart. I rang labour ward and they said homebirth was suspended. I cried and got my birth partner (stroppy older woman friend) round. She rang them and said "we intend to birth at home, if we stay home will you send someone out? " Labour ward sighed and said yes, they would, but it would be better if I crossed my legs and waited till the morning. I had a bath, got bored of the contractions and went to bed. Nothing was happening in the morning.

The next false start was on the 23rd Dec. I started having contractions about 3-4 mins apart early evening. I rang labour ward: "Ooh, we're not busy, shall we send someone out to check you?". A lovely midwife came round, and with hindsight, obviously I wasn't in labour because I opened the door and chatted to her. She did a VE - 0cm, contractions fizzled out there and then with the news, and so we all went to bed (Not the MW, who went back to the hospital).

Finally, 11pm on evening of the 29th Dec, I had proper contractions! 2-3 mins apart right from the start, and properly painful! Oooowwwww! I cried and asked DH to call the midwife. I refused to talk to Labour Ward on the phone as I was vomming repeatedly. The MW came round at 1am and checked me: 1 cm! Noooo! She went away again! Nooo! I wanted gas and air!

However, I was in proper labour and DD was born at home at 6.48am on December 30th, there was no problems with midwives attending, I had two for the birth (they arrived at 6am!) and a third came at 8am for dayshift to stitch me up.

The only thing is no students will be on shift over the Christmas hols, but I don't suppose you particularly want students coming anyway!

Generally if you put your foot down and do the stuck record "we will be having our baby at home, we expect you to send someone" then you will get someone coming out to you.

flisspaps thanks for the link, I read through the website for hours last night :)

calminsomniac thank you for sharing, luckily I have a very supportive mum and DH who are more than happy to be stroppy if in when the need arises :o

The more I think about it the more stubborn I am getting.........god dammit I will have this baby at home!!!!