Homebirth risks!

[StarlightMcKenzie]

I'm almost 38 weeks and due to having to jump through ridiculous beaurocratic hoops have only just been taken on by the local hospital.

Well, I finally get my 'booking in' appointment tomorrow. And then they want to do my 'homebirth assessment' next Friday .

I asked what happened if I went into labour before that. They told me to call triage at that point who would go through my options. I had to point out that as far as I was concerned my 'options' included the homebirth I was having.

The midwife then explained that I wouldn't have had the assessment though.
I asked her what exactly the assessment involved that would discount a homebirth for not having had it.

She said it was to go through the 'risks' of homebirth to make sure I knew them.

FFs! I mean, she was nice enough, but no-one ever insisted I had an assessment/talk to go through the 'risks' of a hospital birth to ensure I understood before I had my other two. Like being 4 times more likely to have to have an emergency c/s for example.

There are many risky factors of home birth. If there were many potential complication arises during delivery then at that situation we can?t do anything and we can?t blame to anyone also. Home birth is risky for both life?s mother and baby. At home you cannot get the medicinal equipments for delivery and if a mother or a child is week then it is compulsory for a hospital delivery.

Really Amy, - so what are the risky factors?

Because I know from experience that most of the emergencies and damage to me and my baby for the first birth that we experienced in the hospital envinromnet wouldn't have happened if we were at home.

Yes, he was near the resusitation equipment when we needed it. But we only needed it because of the conveyorbelt care we received whilst there.

AmyLou you (unintentionally no doubt) hit the nail on the head there: ..we can?t blame to anyone also. i.e. too often if there is something wrong in a hospital the buck is passed backwards and forwards and it's "just one of those things" and no one takes responsiblity.

Which country do you live in? In the UK midwives attending home birth are well qualified (usually with a number of years experience before they go out into Community work) and fully equipped. Best of all, they are there to give you their attention 100% - they aren't going to be dashing in an out of the other rooms in your house because another couple of other women are there giving birth.

There are risk factors for home births,there are risk factors for hospital births; there are risk factors crossing the road, driving the car; eating fish and risking choking on a bone.. the list goes on, and the sensible thing is to weigh up the risks and decide what's the safest option in your own circumstances.

Actually AmyLou there aren't 'many risky factors of homebirth'. It is not 'risky for both... mother and baby ['s life]". For low risk women, who have already had children, it is just as safe as being in hospital. For other low risk women, it is marginally less safe (although bear in mind this is for all serious negative outcomes, not just death. Deaths were so low that they couldn't get meaningful figures and included things like broken bones), by a whisker. And being at an MLU is safer, which doesn't really have any extra equipment over and above a home birth.

Being near technology for the whole of labour does not prevent negative outcomes. What prevents negative outcomes is proper, continuous care that identifies issues early on.