Home birth for first time mum with high BMI

[PinkStarFish15]

Hi,

Sorry this is bit long, I tried to keep the waffling to a minimum...

This is my first pregnancy (I'm 20 weeks) and I would have really liked a water birth, however I am consultant led care as I have a high BMI. I have spoken to my midwife and she has said although they might consider allowing me to give birth in midwife led unit (next to the main ward in the hospital) they wont allow me in the pool. When I asked her if there was any way round it she said I could consider a home birth and have a pool at home, the consultant may advise against this but ultimately its my decision and she would support me as long as I understood the risks and would take their advice if I did need to be transferred. This really appeals to me, as I really don't want to give birth on my back in a hospital bed.

I've looked in this a little bit and and I understand that around 40% of FTM's who attempt a home birth end up being transferred to hospital. Also although I'm having a good pregnancy so far I understand that I have a higher risk of pre eclampsia, needing a C-Section / induction so I may well end up in hospital anyway :(

My main question is if there is anyone who has been in my position and tried to have a home birth, and for those who did and ended up going to hospital are you glad you tried at home or would to recommend going straight to the hospital.

Thanks

That's what I was wondering. Obviously it's probably a different county, but it's what I was allowed to do.

Hi All,

Thank you so much for your responses, I'm going to leave it a few weeks and see how I feel then, I trust my midwife and I'm happy for us to make the decision together.

I obviously wouldn't do anything that increased the risk to me or baby I was just interested to hear peoples points of view and experiences.

I don't know my BMI but I'm a size 20 and short, so its very high.

@Sandstormbrewing I have always found the water very soothing, if Im upset, cold, tired ill I always have a bath :) I was hoping it would make the pain more manageable, but its a good point I don't actually know its going to help me I'm just assuming it will.

@SDTGisAnEvilWolefGenius thank you for sharing a positive story, I am also very close to the local hospital and my area has a good home-birth team, so its not something I'm going to rule out, I think I'll keep an open mind for now.

Thanks again everyone.

@PinkStarFish15 I'm the same as you, I love a bath, it solves all ills! But I actually hated being in the pool when I was in labour, I found it really irritating. Which I was surprised about due to my love of baths!

If your consultant advises against it think very carefully as to why that is and why your midwife would support you against that advice. It might be that she is brilliantly supportive and just wants to help you get the best experience for you but some midwives seem borderline obsessed with homebirth.

I’m pregnant again with my second. My first was a difficult and hard labour full of interventions- not the lovely waterbirth I had imagined at all. But, the important thing for me was having a healthy baby not the experience. My current midwife is pushing me into a home birth despite the fact I had a PPH (and will need to see the consultant to discuss options) and lots of intervention last time. It isn’t right for me and I wish she’d just shut up about it as I think she has an agenda that is a risky one and I don’t believe for one second any doctor would actually sign off on me having a home birth. For others a home birth will be preferable

I hand a home birth last time but had to transfer in due to slow progress. I don’t have a high BMI however so was/am low risk and planning to do so again this time. What people who are scared of home births do not talk about is how much being in hospital itself can lead to interventions/complications due to the impact of adrenaline inhibiting oxytocin and the chemical processes needed in your body to help labour progress smoothly. Many people will feel more relaxed in hospital so this works for them but many will feel safer and and more secure at home, leading to their body easily doing its job with much less pain. I laboured at home for nearly 48hrs and it was honestly really doable, it was getting into hospital and being forced to lie on my back and being affected by other people’s stress that ramped up the pain 1000%. I would advise do your research, do hypnobirthing, know your rights and avoid talking to people who are likely to fearmonger (I’m not saying that’s what everyone has done here, but often people just pass their fears onto you rather than help you consider facts and evidence)

Lots of mums with high bmi choose to birth at home. There are some unknown factors with it being your first but I would advise meeting with the supervisor of midwives or similar for a thorough discussion of what the risks actually are.
You're allowed to birth where you want to :) it also doesn't have to be all or nothing. You could do early stages at home for as long as possible with a pool and then go in.
Consultants in my experience always advise hospital if there are any slight factors outside of the norm.

I have a high bmi and opted for a home birth despite medical advice. I had no diabetes or other risk factors so couldn't find any evidence to show simply being overweight to be a problem. I was all good to go but turned out to have group b strep a week before due date and was told i had to go to hospital. I was devastated because i wanted to feel in control and i thought a home birth would give me that. I ended up with a shoulder dystochia and i am so fucking lucky my baby is alive and healthy. i didnt have the birth i wanted but she is alive. One midwife said she would have died at home or have severe brain damage, my home birth midwife came to visit after and said it wouldnt have happened if i was at home as i would be calm, that stress caused it i thought i would want a home birth for my second but there is no way i would risk it, or not have access to all the drugs. My friend had a homebirth and was begging for morphine and they don't carry it, she had ptsd and pnd from it. We both joke now about what the hell we were thinking and have gone on to have wonderful second births in hospital, so good hospital experiences do exist. We were both so convinced home birth was the right path but it could have gone so, so wrong. We were both part of a homebirth group where 'natural' birth was sold to us like a lifestyle choice. It makes us both angry now to be honest. Please think very carefully xxx

I had a homebirth with my second baby. I got blue lighted in after the birth for a post partum haemorrhage and lost 6.5 pints of blood at home. I am still a massive advocate for homebirths. I say to lots of people if you think you may want one book it in. You can change your mind and go into hospital at any time from home, but you can't say when in labour you want a home birth at the last minute (well you could but they may not have an available midwife).

I would say get it booked in and see how it goes.

You are right when you say about 40% of first time mum's having home births end up transferring. The commonest reason for this is slow labour. What you might not know is that slow labour is more common if your BMI is over 35.
As a midwife, I have cared for homebirthing many larger women. The ones with previous babies delivered with no issues.