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

[eenywifemum]

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!

i've been relatively productive

Thanks for all the new posts, and sharing all these stories!

I think foxinsocks you are right that I need to be philosophical about how it goes and try to feel as relaxed as possible!! And yes it is my first, I am SOOOOOOO excited!!! I really can not wait!

ooh I'm excited for you too - not long to go now!

Did you struggle a lot in the heat when you were pregnant with your summer baby?? I try not to do anything but sit in front of a fan! Did you know the sex of your babies before they were born? We're having a boy

I didn't know the sex of my first child but I did for the second (had a girl then a boy)

It wasn't unbearably hot when I had dd (August 11th) but that year, we had a really lovely September so I got a good 6 weeks of warmish weather (for things like walks)

what did surprise me was how hot the hospital was (was prepared the second time!) - it honestly felt like they had left all the heating on and no draft came through the windows at all!

lived out here in usa for baby no 4 - very hot when pregnant - but i don't mind the heat so it wasn't a preoblem for me.

We didn't find out the sex the first 3 times - DD1 is 10 and they wouldn't always tell you then anyway. Last time we found out - dd2 (No 4) was our unexpected bonus baby and we decided we would like to know what it felt like to have the other experience. Also dd1 was totally convinved and hung up on getting a sister - we thought it would be good to prepare everyone in advance - being pregnant was the surprise that time.

I have really enjoyed knowing the sex of our baby. Firstly, I am very impatient so I could never have waited. But secondly, we have been able to name him, and we talk about him all the time, using his name, and it makes it feel like he is a real proper little boy!

where are you in the USA apronstrings? I am originally from St. Louis but I moved here 5 years ago... my husband is English.

yes - just outside washington dc - in maryland. DD2 is the only american in our family

I really enjoyed knowing what I was getting this time - but maybe because I was getting what I wanted!!!!

Oh I've heard that is a very nice area although I have never been.

Eeny I'm currently speading the Gospel according to the Hammock. Please check this link out. If you've already got cots etc. please consider getting a refund and investing in one of these, the best item of baby gear you will EVER buy, it's
brill You can get them on ebay as well.

Planned a water birth at the midwfe unit. However, when we arrived my LO's heartbeat was dipping with each contraction. Therefore was transferred to consultant led unit (one floor up fortunately) so I could be strapped to a monitor permanently throughout labour. Her heartbeat returned to normal but I had to stay put. Which was good, as I had every possible pain relief available to me!

Hi eenywifemum - my planned home birth nearly happened - but after labouring 18 hours at home 10 with the midwife present, she suddenly decided it was too late to help progress by breaking my waters.

I was transfered to hosp - in the process of getting to ambulance my waters broke anyway... baby was born in no distress 2 hours later. Just wish I'd had a more confident and experienced community midwife. And then my transfer would have been unnecessary as there were no complications just a rather silly midwife

poppyflower - that looks really amazing!! I do love it!! Do you have one of those? We already have beds for our baby sorted out (moses and cot) and unfortunately could not afford to buy anything else to replace them - otherwise I think I would seriously consider it. Our cot was from an NCT nearly new sale, so we cant return that and the moses wouldnt get much for resale either. What is your experience of it?

Rav - sounds like in the end you were pretty happy anyway which is the main thing!!

Wabbitt - I'm sorry you had a silly midwife! Sounds like she lost her nerve. At least you got a healthy baby out of it who wasnt in distress, so I suppose its better to be safe than sorry. Thanks for your story.

Eeny, I do have one and they are absolutely fab. Do check out the cots, baskets and beds thread in the pregnancy section.. We're raving about them on there!