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Childbirth

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Original poster

To those who planned a homebirth or MW unit birth....

114 replies

eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 12:31

Hi there! I'm sure this question has been asked before, please bear with me.

I would like to hear from MNers who planned either a homebirth or a midwife unit birth, and basically if they got what they wanted & planned for or if there were complications.

I am due in 6-8 weeks and am planning on having a water birth at my local MW centre. If anything goes wrong it would mean a trip to the local hospital during labour. I am just trying to get an idea of how many labours go wrong like that... I asked my MW for some sort of statistic about how many of their mums have to be transferred to hospital and surprisingly she didnt have any idea... So... is it pretty common or pretty uncommon?

I really want my water birth there and I am just nervous I wont get it, IYKWIM. So your thoughts and experiences would be much appreciated, I can compile my own MN statistics!

Thanks!

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Original poster
eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 12:36

bump

OP posts:
Jasnem · 06/07/2006 12:39

I planned a homebirth for dd2, but when I went into labour there was no midwife available (at another homebirth) so went into hospital to be checked with the plan to go home for the birth.
Labour progressed quickly and I had to stay in hopsital( I live 1/2 hour away).
I had a crash c sec 2 hours later, and was told after the birth that dd2 would not have survived the delay in getting to hospital.
Don't want to put you off though, my situation was fairly unusual, I think.

Good luck.

SoupDragon · 06/07/2006 12:40

I got exactly what I wanted - a home waterbirth. (DD after 2 hospital births with DS1 & 2)

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 06/07/2006 12:42

I planned a homebirth and kind of got what I wanted. dd2 was born at home but midwife didn;t get there in time - not her fault. it was fine, no complications. is it your first?

Straightforward · 06/07/2006 12:43

I planned a waterbirth at the mw-led unit 45 mins away with DD1. I too was worried about not getting it at the last minute, but all was fine and I had the birth I wanted. I was also v glad it had been there as I ended up staying in 5 days to establish bfing and it was small, cosy and lovely, so take heart!

Having said all that, not sure if this is a first baby for you, cos I'm about to have my 2nd and know I wouldn't make the drive there this time (nearly didn't first time round!), so am going for hospital round the corner. So just bear in mind how local your local unit is...!

Peanutgant · 06/07/2006 12:44

I planned a water birth at home with my baby (my first) and got it!

Sari · 06/07/2006 12:45

I had a homebirth with dd and it all went to plan. No water involved though. When the midwife talked me through it she gave me the stats for the area - can't remember them I'm afraid but there was a very very low percentage of women transferred to hospital. I do remember her saying they were nearly all first time births.

Hope you get what you want.

Original poster
eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 12:45

thanks for posting. Yes it's my first! I'm not scared of a 'normal' birth, whatever that means... but the idea of being transfered in an ambulance during labour etc. scares me and I just want to get an idea of how common that scenario is. TBH I doubt I would change my mind anyway and go for a hospital birth because on the whole I am thinking positively about it. I guess I just want more information at hand & my MW was unable to offer it.

OP posts:
Salamander · 06/07/2006 12:48

Should the need for transfer arise...
You'll have a midwife and your DH riding along with you and it'll take just 15 mins

I am sure everything will be fine.

Sari · 06/07/2006 12:50

Oh, sorry, maybe I shouldn't have said that about first babies! She also said that it is very unlikely to be a sudden thing that a woman has to be transferred to hospital, they can normally tell it will be necessary well in advance so it's a lot more gradual than suddenly being bundled into an ambulance and whisked away.

kipper22 · 06/07/2006 12:50

I felt exactly the same way ewm! I chose to give birth at our local hospital before I really knew anything about hoe childbirth works. The MW pointed out that this was a midwife-led unit but that meant nothing to me at the time. As the pregnancy progressed and I found out more I panicked and told MW I wanted to change. She explained all the pros and cons to me and arranged a visit to the unit for DH & myself. Just the amount of 1 to 1 attention we were given during the visit was plenty to convince me. I really think this is worthwhile if you haven't yet been to see the unit - and visit th hospital you may be transferred to! (see below.)

I ended up having DS there, doing everything exactly the way I wanted with fantastic support from al staff. Only needed Gas&Air and, as you've worked out, spent a lot of time in the bath as the warm water really helped. DH was with me and Mum, Step-dad and sister were able to be with be during contractions then wait in the TV room and come in to see us almost as soon as DS arrived! This was invaluable for me - I was worried about people seeing me in labour but really wanted family nearby (they live more than a hours drive away).

Unfortunately, I had quite a severe tear which the MW was nervous to stitch so had to be transferred to the other hospital. I don't really understand, as the unit is attatched to a hospital with A&E, why a doctor couldn't be called for stitches but there you go. The transfer was fantastic - the head MW came in the mbulance with me, DS and mum and was in charge the whole time until handing over at hospital. I won't go into too much detail, but hospital was horrid - hardly any attention given to us, listening to traumatic births all around. Really wish I could have stayed at the MW unit. I definitely think you should go for it - all staff treating me at the hospital were surprised to discover DS hadn't born there so I guess it was a pretty rare occurrence!

Good luck & hope that rambling helped at least a little!

Original poster
eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 12:52

Sari dont worry about saying that about first babies, really! I wanted honest answers and I appreciate it! I feel better for having some knowledge anyway, it is feeling like I am going in to this a little ignorant of the reality that is bothering me.

OP posts:
kipper22 · 06/07/2006 12:52

was replying to an unanswered thread when I started!

Jasnem · 06/07/2006 12:53

If it was a 15 min transfer time, I'd do it again, even after my past experience.

Jasnem · 06/07/2006 12:55

Oh, my only regret is that I didn't have the confidence to try a homebirth the first time...she would have been an ideal candidate.

thewomanwhothoughtshewasahat · 06/07/2006 12:55

fwiw I think the key to feeling your first birth went well is accepting that you don;t know how it will go. There's nothing to be scared of about being transferred to hospital - I think a lot of transfers are for pain relief not serious emergencies, and if you go in with the attitude that hey, it might happen, but so what if it does, you can deal with it.

Salamander · 06/07/2006 12:55

ours is about 15 mins.

so that's nice to know.

Original poster
eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 12:56

Jasnem thanks, that is a lot coming from you considering what you experience was.

Kipper thanks very much too for sharing your story! It is funny isnt it how threads can go!

You are all making me feel a lot more confident to go with it. The great thing about this MW unit is that my DH (Salamander, actually) can stay with me and the baby overnight in a private double room - I really want that to happen and I wont get it at a hospital. Plus the pool is there etc.

OP posts:
Enid · 06/07/2006 12:57

I planned a home water birth and got one

according to midwife transferral to hospital not very common

Salamander · 06/07/2006 13:00

This all sounds very comforting doesn't it?

I was worried that only those who had experienced problems would post, so it wouldn't be a fair reflection...

Nice to see a good rounded picture!

kipper22 · 06/07/2006 13:01

That was something I really wanted. DH stayed on the 1st night in the hospital as we arrived at 11pm and were pretty much ignored. He had to leave the following night so that I could 'sleep'. Needless to say I didn't! Just laid staring at DS and wishing DH could be there to share it all.

Sari · 06/07/2006 13:07

I've found the booklet with the figures - they are for St George's in SW London.

2003: 85 booked for homebirth, 4 transferred antenally, 2 during labour, 3 after delivery.

2002: 77 booked, none transferred.

2001: 60 booked, 6 transferred antenally, 4 during labour, none after delivery.

2000: 85 booked, 10 transferred antenally, 11 during labour, 1 after delivery.

Reasons for tranfer before labour: bleeding, placenta praevia, high blood pressure, growth of baby, prolonged rupture of membranes, overdue baby, abnormal heart rate, IVF, premature labour before 37 weeks, breech presentation.

Reasons for transfer in labour: lack of pregress in labour, high blood pressure, abnormal fetal heart rate, meconium stained liquor, maternal request for epidural, prolonged rupture of membranes.

Reasons for transfer after delivery: incomplete placenta, post-partum haemorrhage, undiagnosed breech.

No figures on how many of the transfers were first babies.

Salamander · 06/07/2006 13:09

Sari!

Well done!!!!!!!!!!!!!

Have yourself a cup of tea as a reward

Original poster
eenywifemum · 06/07/2006 13:17

Wow! Sari thanks so much!! That is great! Funny that you were able to do that and my MW wasnt!!

Kipper I plan on going home after the first night for the very reason that I want to be with our baby and Salamander - hopefully it will work like that!

OP posts:
BonyM · 06/07/2006 13:19

Had my planned home birth with dd2 but had to transfer afterwards due to post-partum haemorrage.

Know of 3 others (all 1st time mums) who had planned homebirths - 2 had to transfer due to failure to progress.