Homebirth for your first

[wheniamqueen]

I was told by my midwife that you shouldnt have a homebirth with your first but I beginning to think that its what i want. Anybody got any advice?

Did she give you a reason for her comment? Are you a high risk pregnancy or something?

Are you at all rural? If so you may not be able to have a home birth first time 'round as the ambulance service have to decided whether how high risk you are and whether they would stand a reasonable chance of getting to you if you needed to go into hospital at the last minute. And, apparently, they more often than not decide that first timers are too high risk. This is what my mw told me.

I think you can have a homebirth for your first child (even though they may may things difficult for you if they don't like them) if you're having a normal low risk pregnancy, the baby is head down, and there are midwives trained to do homebirths at your care provider.

Just explain your reasons and stick by them, should be ok.

no reason except that its my first and therefore ive never done it before, and im only no further from the hospital at home than at the birthing centre

tigerschick your mw is talking b*llocks. The ambulance does not get to decide who has a homebirth, your midwife does not get to decide, your dr does not get to decide - YOU DO. End of.

Pfftt, that makes me so mad (not at you TC, your MW for spouting such rubbish)

Wheniam, polenty of people have homebirths first time round. There is a greater chance that you will need to transfer for pain relief of slow progress, but still a very good chance that you will give birth at home. I would recommend looking at the homebirth website for more information.

Hi WheniamQueen,

I am planning a homebirth for my first and I am 41 years old so "high risk' by some standards. My midwife team is all about it. Apparently where I live in SW London it has become quite common for us "elderly" moms to make this choice.

Have you looked at the homebirth website? I think it's www.homebirth.co.uk I'm sure some of the regulars will be along to tell you more.

Good luck!

the gp i went to to confirm my pg said "... and this practise does not permit home births" !!!!!! i hadn't even mentioned it and didn't want one anyway, but ffs! anyway, how do they stop you if you stay at home in spite of them!

i digress...as the others say, discuss it with her and find out the pros and cons for you and your baby.

Hey there! I'm 14 weeks along with my first and plan on having a home birth.

NHS services are so overstreched here (London) we opted for an independent midwife, and our home seems a lot cleaner than a hospital.

I also think it is just as safe as our IM will be monitoring me on a one-on-one basis, so probably more likely to pick up on anything quicker than on a labour ward where there may only be 1 midwife for 24 of us.

We also have community midwife's in my area, who would have done the home birth for me too, I just wanted the continuity of care.

Good luck and trust your instinct :-)

Hmmm

It's possible and it is lovely when it goes well (I had homebirth with DS2 last year).

However, even though I had an unpleasant time of it in hospital with DS1, I'm not sure it's 100% a good idea with your first. Thing is, for the first one,you don't know whether you'll be a person who pops 'em out dead easy or has a tough time of it. Last time I looked, around 40% of first time mothers planning a homebirth ended up transferring (largely because things were taking their time).

If you're a long way from your maternity unit, then it would certainly make me nervous.

So I guess I'd suggest you keep your options as open as possible - you can plan for a homebirth, but still visit your local unit, decide where you'd want to go if you had to transfer etc. Build a birthplan that is flexible enough to cover all three options: birthing at home, transferring in and birthing in a hospital environment.

If you get a good homebirth, it's a lovely thing, but for your own peace of mind, think carefully about your safety nets....

And actually, BunnyBaby has a point...a homebirth is probably the best way of getting one to one midwife care throughout your labour. So, provided you could get to medical assistance rapidly if there was a problem, it does have that advantage over a hospital.

thanks for the advice. I dont like my midwife anyway, she basically didnt give me the opportunity to say where i wanted to go and put me down for the birth centre, If i do have a home birth do i have to have the same midwife ive been seeing during my pregnancy? I'm in SE Kent.

What, see the same midwife who's been doing your antenatal care? Are you mad ?

Because, that would be, like, continuity of care. Which is widely meant to be A Good Thing and therefore extremely unlikely to occur in my little corner of the NHS.

Of course it does have some unexpected benefits. Like you, I didn't find my antenatal midwife particularly sympatico, so it was a relief to reflect I was extremely unlikely to see her at the birth.

I had homebirth for my first (and 2nd) and it was fine. Tell the mw that that is what you would like.

I wanted a home/water birth & didn't want to be induced, but was told by mw I had to.
I did as I was told and now regret it.

God help them when I get pregnant with baby no 2

birthing centre se kent
where is it? I only know of the dover one

theres also one at kent and canterbury

I had a one to one midwifery service for my first (very lucky I know) and they are very very keen on home birth and a motivated team to give women what they want.

BUT - even their statistics for first timers are that 60% transfer into hospital, for one reason or another. And their cohort are all low risk pregnancies.

Think carefully about it - do you want to stay at home for as long as possible to get well established and then go in to deliver in a planned way, or do you want to risk the upset and stress of a blue light transfer?

If you have a trouble-free pregnancy then go for it. I did with DD1 and it was luvverly - much better care from TWO (!!) lovely MWs who seemed to really enjoy being with me than when I had to be induced in hospital with DD2 and was virtually on my ownsome until she was almost out

Hi Wheniamqueen. I'm planning on a homebirth for my first (I'm 31) and looking forward to it. After doing loads of research into it, it feels like a no-brainer. I get one-to-one midwifery care (with another brought in towards the end), a comfortable and familiar environment to labour in (which results in a much lower likelihood of medicalised intervention), my DH around for the birth and beyond (I was genuinely shocked that many partners are sent home outside of visiting hours) and the option of transferring to my local hospital should any problems arise. And I've been assured that they will be spotted ahead of time. Rates of transfer to hospital are higher for first timers at home, but this tends to be because the labour can be slow, rather than any medical emergency.

If you're still in two minds about it, do some reading around the subject so you feel confident in the decision you make (although remember that you can always go into hospital once you've started labour if you change your mind). I did start a thread here a while back after my consultant told me she didn't support home births.

I'd recommend reading a few books around home birth experiences alongside the more usual medical books for pregnancy. I'd recommend Ina May's Guide to Childbirth, which is full of v empowering stories about home births on a commune in the States and Abigail Cairns' Home Births: Stories to Inspire and Inform. Also worth checking the rates of intervention of your hospital against the national average on the DR Foster website.

A supportive birthing partner is also v important, if you do decide to labour at home (or a doula).

Good luck with whatever you decide

I am expecting my first and have said I would like to plan for a home birth - both my MW and GP have been very supportive. IM friend said that even mothers planning home births who then transfer to hospital have a lower intervention rate than low risk mothers who plan hospital births. My sister (also a MW - they are everywhere) also points out that it usually takes about 30 mins to prep a theatre team so you have to be a long way from the hospital for the team to be ready for you before you get there. I also understand that current guidelines are that you should be offered the option of planning a home birth unless there is a genuine medical reason why not. Can you talk to other health professionals about this, or consult a local IM?

Oh, and thisis a good site for reading up on the pros and cons of homebirth.

Enjoy!

I had a homebirth for my first (and second) and I thought it was the best decision I made. 2 midwives, dedicated one to one care, in my own enviromnent - can't beat it.

I think the stats are it's as safe as hospital birth.

NCT are doing home birth support groups now (we have one in our area). its good to meet like minded people and get tips.

short for time now, but any q s will answer if I can!

My midwife offered me a home birth for our only DC from the get go. I wanted to have a home water birth, DH wasn't so keen (for that, read terrified)!

We ended up with an elective CS.

Planned a HB for my first, but ended up transferring because of lack of progress, which is the most common reason for transfer for 1st labours. Glad I spent the 3 days at home though, rather than in hospital. The transfer wasn't at all traumatic and I don't regret for a minute planning a HB.
Had a HB for my second and loved it. Gave birth in front of TV, while DP half being supportive and half watching Robert Redford film. Far more relaxed and lovely to be in own bed with baby and DP within 2 hours of giving birth. Highly recommend it. Also recommend yahoo homebirth group.