home births

[Dopolis]

What are the pros and cons of home birth anyone?

Pros tucking up in bed after, little intervention, one to one care, own environment.

Cons transfer time to hospital in life threatening emergency. No/little pain relief. No doctor available in an emergency.

If this pregnancy progresses well I am considering it. I think the distance to the hospital will outweigh the wonderful benefits though.

www.thegoodbirth.co.uk/home_birth

This was quite an influential read for me :-)

First baby due in 9 weeks and planning a home birth :-)

You will have two midwives giving you their full attention in your own home, you'll not get that in hospital!

I planned a home birth with my second baby and kept an open mind.
If you opt for a home birth you can transfer into hospital if you're not coping with the pain.

if you're at home you do have access to gas & air and pethidine. the only possible relief you don't have is an epidural.

You have 2 mw that u don't have to share with the rest of the ward, tend to be a lot less stressed so labour shouldn't be delayed. You can also have a water birth if it'll fit in your house

the pethidine varies round here the policy is no as it can make baby drowsy on arrival.

Lots of other pros imo, partner more comfortable no mad dash to hospital, midwives come earlier than you would go to hospital ime.....

I asked about all the procedures for worst case scenarios and they were very reassuring.

Amazing one to one care. I've become far too attached to my midwife and don't want to be signed off from her care!

If transfer to hospital had been more than 30 minutes I might have been more nervous.

Avoiding the post-natal ward was actually my initial concern but there have been so many benefits.

Pros:

Being in the comfort and privacy of your own home.
Your own bed after.
Individual care from one or more midwives (I had 2 amazing and experienced mws).
No interference from doctors and no risk of unnecessary medical interventions.
Proper food and tea after birth.
No chance of partner having to leave.

Cons:

Risk of having to transfer to hospital in case of problem (I'm 10 mins from hospital so not overly concerned).

Which is why I'll be having another home birth in the Summer .

Well I had a hb in 2011. I am 10 minutes walk from the hospital, so felt reasonably confident that if necessary I could get there quickly.

However - after my son was born my mw told me we were lucky we weren't in hospital as I'd have had a c section. Baby's cord was around his neck twice when he came out. She said she could tell from the doppler.

Now thinking about this is making me well up - was it unsafe to be at home if they'd have given a cs at hospital? If she was concerned, why didn't she get us to hospital?

My son was extremely alert from the second I got him in my arms, though not floppy or anything scary and has never been unwell.

I am 4 months with number 2 and am considering what to do. I often see that mw out and about and wish I could ask her.

Pros of hb are huge, my poor husband was exhausted after 24 hours labour and was much more relaxed than if we were at hosp. I too was a lot more relaxed, too, I think. My whole family were able to come and say hello to baby in the morning. Worked well for us, but there are risks attached to every birth.

Maybe getagoldtoof she knew that it was something she could handle well, which it seems she did, whereas in a hospital it would be mad panics and protocols? My own hb midwife said that 'she had got the drama out of her system, and could now just get on with doing the job' or words to that effect.

Yes, I often wonder if midwives have been to a certain extent, deskilled, as a result of increased medicalisation of birth. I mean, she was incredibly calm, and amazingly experienced and not at any point was there any panic from our midwives (except when they realised I was pushing already by the time they arrived!). I do trust them implicitly - but still have lots of questions about what was a very straightforward planned home birth. Hope you feel equipped to make the decision dopolis, and I recommend the homebirth uk website for birth stories.

I often discussed the 'what ifs' with my consultant when I was planning a home birth. One of my big worries was what if the cord was wrapped around the baby's neck. I was told this is a bit of a red herring, as the baby is still breathing through the cord so the cord wouldn't be preventing him from breathing - iyswim.
Hope that makes sense as I've explained it?
I also found that the more I looked the more positive stories I found.
Good luck with your decision.