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Childbirth

Share experiences and get support around labour, birth and recovery.

Original poster

Home vs Hospital?

53 replies

FoulsomeAndMaggotwise · 21/01/2015 21:01

I really want to give birth at home, DH would prefer hospital. Here's our list of pros and cons, please tell me your thoughts!

Pros (to being at home)
Guaranteed pool (birthing centre at hospital may be full and I really don't want to be on the labour ward)
Familiar environment
No messing around waiting to be discharged or admitted
Nice shower afterwards
Relaxed atmosphere means (definitely in my case anyway) better pain coping mechanisms
First birth (birthing centre) was perfect, no pain relief required, but it was long.
No medical conditions/pregnancy complications.
DS can come home to see us sooner.

Cons
If anything were to go wrong, we're not super close to a hospital (but not far either)
The price of the pool will set us back £100+

I can't think of any other cons.

That's it. Thank you!

OP posts:
Cumberlover76 · 27/01/2015 13:14

I had a home birth water birth with my first and it was fantastic - all of the pros you have listed in your post. We were only a short trip from the hospital should it be needed and i know i was much happier being at home. The thought of going into hospital scared me. However, it is entirely your decision and everyone has different experiences.

Is there a homebirth support group near you? DH was unsure when i first said I wanted a homebirth as had no knowledge or experience so was a little apprehensive. We went along to the support group and he asked questions and we listened to others talk about their experiences and he was totally up for it.

There is much more for the dad to get involved with at a homebirth - sorting pool, refreshments etc . My DH said he felt totally involved and that it was our birth experience. It was also great not having to be apart from DH the night after.

Bicnod · 27/01/2015 13:21

I had DS1 + 2 in a MLU attached to a hospital. Both were fine but I hated the antenatal ward. I also tore quite badly both times.

Had DD at home 2.5 weeks ago. She was 9lb 14oz, my biggest baby, and the easiest to birth of the lot. Minor stitches afterwards. The whole experience was much more relaxed and having my own shower, bed and peace and quiet afterwards was amazing. The midwives were incredibly experienced and would have transferred me if they had any concerns. I would definitely recommend a home birth.

gallicgirl · 27/01/2015 23:01

Aftermath of home birth was great. Had a bath, little candles, glass of champagne.
No mess as midwives cleared up everything and put the washer on.

Thelovecats · 28/01/2015 22:24

Watching with interest as I am seriously considering a home birth for my 3rd...

SophieBarringtonWard · 28/01/2015 22:31

I had a planned home birth transfer in an ambulance with my first (there was meconium in the waters & the midwife thought we needed to go in for further monitoring). It wasn't stressful transferring, it didn't feel like an emergency it clearly wasn't as DD wasn't born for another 12 hours

I had a successful home birth with DC2. Perfect. No recollection of any mess, I expect the midwives dealt with it while DH & I sat on the sofa & ate biscuits/drank tea!

SoMuchForSubtlety · 29/01/2015 11:05

I had a home birth with DD (DC1). I wouldn't describe it as chilled but then I've never given birth in hospital so I have nothing to compare it to! I certainly wasn't panicking at any point, and I felt very in control. This was in distinct contrast to the one trip I made into the day assessment unit to have some spotting checked out, when both my and DD's heart rate were through the roof and I nearly had a panic attack. But then I hate hospitals and I hate being out of control.

I used a tens machine for pain relief for the six (!) days of pre-labour, then the pool once my midwife arrived and I was 5cm dilated. I had a bit of gas and air towards the end.

We hired a pool, which meant i had a rigid sided one with a filter unit and a heater - so it was full for days before DD finally turned up (she was 11 days late) which was lovely as I got to wallow in it while waiting for things to kick off.

Afterwards was very relaxed, the midwives cleaned up while I had a shower and then I curled up in my own bed with DD.

Guyropes · 30/01/2015 22:42

I wonder how being transferred to hospital by ambulance in the company of calm and experienced midwives because there is a cause for concern compares to the scenario of labour starting, phoning the labour ward, being told to come in for assessment, making the journey by car, waiting around to get seen, labour decreasing because youve been out of your comfort zone, being assessed and told to go home and come back when x or y, travelling home, settling in at home, labour ramping up again, repeating the whole process potentially...

In a low risk situation, I know what I'd prefer...

mrsminiverscharlady · 30/01/2015 23:04

I am very pro home birth (had one myself) but it is just not true that it takes 40 minutes to prepare for one. NICE guidelines recommend under 30 minutes for a category 1 (the most urgent) cesareans. In a real emergency situation and with the right people in position, a cesarean can be performed in under 10 minutes. Surgical equipment is kept ready for emergencies and nurses and surgeons wouldn't even scrub up in a dire emergency, you'd be prepped at the same time as being anaesthetised etc. Even if you lived next door to the hospital you'd be hard pressed to get to the delivery suite in 10 minutes, let alone undergo an operation.

As I said, I'm very much in favour of home births, but I do get irritated by this home birthing myth that you'd get a cesarean as quickly if you were at home.

Guyropes · 31/01/2015 10:51

Mrs mini, I was wondering about that. I remember my consultant telling me that it was 4 minutes for baby's brain to be damaged by oxygen starvation, so I have had this in my mind as a time frame to 'get baby out' . But he was discouraging me from having a home birth.

The difficulty about deciding for a home birth is that if you are low risk, complications are very unlikely, but the risk if complications do occur can be great... Good luck deciding

mrsminiverscharlady · 31/01/2015 11:38

Yes, I think it's hard to argue that the kind of complications that cause devastating lack of oxygen supply to the baby, would not result in worse outcomes for home births. Thankfully these kind of complications are very rare, and as outcomes overall for low-risk births are very similar for home vs hospital, perhaps these complications are either so rare as to not affect the statistics or the cascade of intervention, which is more common in hospital, causes as much harm as the access to emergency facilities helps.

Certainly I would have no hesitation in having a home birth if I was having a low risk pregnancy but for those who are more likely to need emergency medical intervention (previous cesarean for instance) you have to be realistic IMO.

gallicgirl · 31/01/2015 11:39

somuchforsubtlety could you let me know where you hired the pool from please?

Guyropes · 31/01/2015 12:02

these complications are either so rare as to not affect the statistics or the cascade of intervention, which is more common in hospital, causes as much harm as the access to emergency facilities helps.

So it's really worth being aware of and avoiding the cascade of intervention if you are having a hospital birth, and then you get to benefit from the security that acces to emergency facilities gives, without the disadvantages. Think this is easier said than done though.

mrsminiverscharlady · 31/01/2015 12:11

Think that's what midwife led units are supposed to be for. They do have very results. But generally they will only accept women who are low risk.

For women who are high risk I do think the attitude of the midwife looking after you and the obstetrician in charge make a huge difference. Difficult to plan for that though!

mrsminiverscharlady · 31/01/2015 12:12

Sorry, midwife led units have very good results.

SoonToBeSix · 31/01/2015 12:15

You could complete your con sentence as therefore by baby could become seriously disabled or die as a result. That would give me my answer.

LaVolcan · 31/01/2015 12:26

SoonToBeSix: so babies never die or become seriously disabled after a hospital birth?

Why is there this emphasis on high risk? OP has given no indication that she is.

Nor is it an either/or choice. OP can plan to have a homebirth, and if at any time she or the midwife thinks it's not a good idea she can transfer in.

Jackieharris · 31/01/2015 17:03

They have neonatal resuscitation equipment and oxygen as part if the home birth kit so a baby at home would be resuscitated as quickly as at home.

I'd like to know exactly what scenarios would lead to the situation of going from a well monitored and managed home birth to needing a crash c section within 10 minutes?

If there's a hint of things not going right at a HB then it's protocol to transfer to hospital well before it gets to that kind of emergency situation.

From talking to an experienced labour ward midwife the only seriously dangerous situation that can come out of the blue is pph. But that's after the baby has been born so isn't relevant to the debate about how long it would take to prep for a C section. (Of course c sections themselves greatly increase the chance of pph) Even if a mum does have a serious pph being in hospital at not be enough to save her. There are cases where the woman will lose blood as quickly as it can be transfused into her.

SoMuchForSubtlety · 31/01/2015 18:11

gallic it was from barefoot birth pools, it was great. This site also has some recommendations.

SoonToBeSix · 31/01/2015 18:18

LaVolcan of course there can be issues with hospital birth but not because the birth would have been safer at home. The op asked for opinions that's my personal opinion why I wouldn't have a home birth. One of my dc could very likely have died had they been a home birth due to an undiagnosed problem.

gallicgirl · 31/01/2015 18:22

Cheers. Apologies for the slight derailment.

I would add that I was very closely monitored and supported during my hb and felt very safe and in control. I trusted my midwives and feel they would have dealt quickly and competently with any impending emergency before it became an emergency.

IAmAPaleontologist · 31/01/2015 18:24

As a woman who has had an uncomplicated delivery before you are statistically more likely to have complications if you plan to have the baby in hospital rather than at home. Planning a home birth is statistically safer for you and your baby. Note that this is by planned place of birth not actually place of birth so if you plan to have baby at home and transfer to hospital in labour for suspected complications then you are still less likely to have lasting complications.

IAmAPaleontologist · 31/01/2015 18:29

I do agree with other posters though that in hospital if there is an emergency then they can have you round the corner and having a section faster than you can say "sign the consent form". Honestly, they are very, very quick if they need to be. However, that is rare and in most cases that I have seen does not come out of the blue. All women in labour I have seen who end up with a super fast emergency section have had lots of signs leading up to it and the section has been the final decision, therefore, had they been at home they would have been advised to transfer well before that point. The only time I have seen it happen out of the blue was an antenatal case so not in labour at all and it was only by chance that anything was picked up. There are various classes of emergency for sections and most of the time things happen more slowly!

PinkFondantFancy · 31/01/2015 18:36

You'll get a lot of strong opinions both ways on this. I had two homebirths and they were both amazing. I wouldn't change a thing for the world. My husband and I are two of the most risk averse people you'll ever come across and we did a huge amount of research about what could possibly go wrong. The conclusion we drew is that there's very little that would be treated differently at hospital compared to home, and at home I was much more closely monitored and any problems would have been picked up much earlier than they probably would have been in hospital. I definitely put my two back-to-back babies with no pain relief except a birth pool down to feeling relaxed and confident at home rather than in a hospital environment.

I don't understand people bashing homebirth the way they do when all my friends who had a hospital birth got to hospital at 9 or 10 cm having done most of their labour totally unmonitored at home and then having a mad rush to the hospital in advanced labour. Doesn't exactly sound safe to me.

Having said all of that, if your DH isn't comfortable with the idea of a homebirth, you won't be so relaxed because you'll pick up on his nervousness. So it needs to be something that you both go into together.

PinkFondantFancy · 31/01/2015 18:37

Also, my MW's opinion is that if you're being monitored at home, things don't typically go wrong so quickly that you wouldn't make it to hospital in time - they see warning signs earlier than that and act on them straightaway

5YearsTime · 31/01/2015 18:39

I'm facing this problem at the moment too, sounds like we are in a very similar position. This weekend was meant to be a final decision making/fact finding discussion between me and DH...unfortunately he's had to go away go see family.