home birth- so many questions!

[ilianora]

I am struggling to find out all the info I need about homebirth! I know there are one or two websites which I have come across but a lot of it seems to be american. Nhs website has a single paragraph that I can find to do with home birth which is surprising considering I'd be under the care of an nhs midwife during the birth.
This is something which I would really like to do after horrific hospital experience last time round but I would like to be completely prepared and fully informed first!
Any links, books or forums you can point me in the direction of would be greatly appreciated

xx

FB HB group (hopefully!)

ilianora you can always ask to speak to another midwife perhaps home births arent her thing.
Home births are wonderful. Pool great think of homeopathy kit as well. Midwives dont carry drugs cos of risks :)

I understand the reasoning behind the birth pool as opposed to a paddling pool is you need a certain depth of water to provide the buoyancy that helps with pain relief - hence why baths won't help that much. I can't get the top 8" of my bump under water in my bath
I bought a birthpool from birthpool in a box (.com?) but you can buy them on ebay and just get a new liner. They're exactly the same as the one used in the hospital by our midwives.
Our midwives said not to worry about mess - they said the only sign left after will be the baby, they're very good at keeping it all neat. The birthpool came with one big plastic sheet and we bought a couple more from B&Q although I understand that shower curtains are perfectly good too.

three HBs here..

all mess left with MW in big black sack.

each time attended by experienced and attentive midwives throughout my labour.

physiological third stage each time (though syntocin is available if required)

three cute babies wrapped up with me in my own bed straight after.

kit: dust sheet to protect my sheet
anglepoise lamp (useful to check if stitches are required)

RE: pain relief - you can have more or less everything you would in a hospital except for an epidural. If you want to have the option of morphine or similar, make sure you ask for the prescription as you'll need it ready in your fridge from 36 weeks onwards. Midwife usually does a home visit at around 36/37 weeks - but don't worry about that, it's to familiarise themselves with the house, layout, location etc, not an inspection! I didn't need any though I asked for gas and air to be in the house, just in case. Had a water birth and 'cos i gave birth in the pool there was no blood or mess - it was all contained in the pool which was emptied straight into the garden drain. If you go for water birth think about where to place the pool - they are pretty large and you need easy access to water and drainage - we used our kitchen/diner and the whole experience was really good. I can honestly say that I almost enjoyed it - lovely atmosphere and all very calm. Delivering and lifting my daughter from the water to take her first breath in my arms was magical.