Woman on Lorraine Kelly this morning who had home birth with her first baby.

[Eulalia]

Did you see her with her baby girl and husband. I just wanted to slap her smug face. "Oh I just did all the right research and everything was fine" then the doctor contradicted her of course but she just sits there looking so bloody pleased with herself.

Got nothing against homebirths of course but the woman wouldn't acknowledge that she was LUCKY to have an easy birth and it wasn't because she was so bloody clever.

Anyone else see this? I've forgotten her name, probably just as well.

But presumably someone can act as as midwife, if you've called for a midwife / ambulance. You're not going to be prosicuted then!?

LK said its a bit like reading a book about electricity and then thinking you can be an electrician. Loads of other analogies come to mind. She is American, don't know if she gave birth here or not. Couldn't hear it properly over talking dd.

no, no prosecution in emergency. see here

Didn't think so. A friend of mind had her 2nd baby very quickly. Her DH was on the phone to the emergency services with one hand , and catching the baby with the other! Their bigest problem was finding a new matress to sleep on that night.

Sorry but what does pfb stand for? Have seen it a few times and don't understand bet it's really obvious but has been bugging me for a while TIA

pfb: precious first baby

Perhaps her baby will keep her up all night every night till it's 15. That'll wipe the smug grin of her face.

Didn't see LK but speaking as a nervous first timer (29 weeks today) women who bang on about their perfect birth experiences really pi55 me off. I just feel under so much pressure and its bad enough as it is.

It seems to me that however much you research or plan your bambino might well have other ideas - especially on a first birth.

Pah.

Birthplan? Hah! Don't make me laugh.

Erm, I had a homebirth and wanted one right from the start but it never crossed my mind not to have the scans, see my midwife regularly etc etc. And although the midwives round here are very pro-homebirth it is entirely on the understanding that there are:

a) no complications beforehand (how would you know without scans, examinations etc); and
b) if they say you must go to hospital you don't argue.

Seemed fair enough to me. What would she have done if there had been a problem??

The majority women in developing countries still give birth without trained attendants / midwives because they have no choice. Result is massively high rates of newborn / perinatal deaths as well as maternal mortality (i.e. a one in seven lifetime risk of dying in childbirth in some countries). People like her who have the opportunities to access safe and effective care but think they don't need it are smug, ill-informed and irresponsible if you ask me. I know the NHS is far from perfect and I do really feel for some MNetters who've had truly hideous experiences, it does have it's positives.

pennypops, who is banging on about having perfect birth experiences, seriously? this is one story, that's all. she obviously felt she was doing the best thign for her baby, just as i thought that getting fifty million scans and being monitored loads was best for mine. and you'll do fine when the time comes, i'm sure. i loved my birth experience, but it wouldn't have suited everyone.

free birthing is a totally different concept to a normal home birth

there is nothing wrong with a homebirth for a first birth

there is nothing wrong with refusing scans

it just is not the sort of pregnancy and birth that would suit us all

Well said diplodocus. What I wonder is why have her on the prog at all. They should have found someone else who did the same as her and everything went wrong and put them side by side and let them have a good barney.

Also some births are done in hospital car parks, at home by accident etc etc but no-one puts these people on TV. In fact these people are even more 'clever' because they were unprepared for it.

Aitch I am prob a bit over sensetive - I had a similar routine from an ex colleague of mine who had a home birth with 1st baby. Fair play and obviously I'm really happy for her but I've just heard from her and others who know her how brave she was, how great she is now for keeping up with the gym and pilates etc. Also, I was told that because it was a natural birth the baby is less traumatised and only cries when she's hungry.

I just feel like unless I have a natural birth and I'm in the gym 2 hours later I'm going to be letting the side down.

Being very hormonal it just gets to me a bit sometimes

hmmm well, there is another side to the story.
medical intervention saves lives, it also leads to a great deal more intervention including forceps, Csection, episiotomy, tearing and other things that it is not unreasonable to want to avoid.
having a home birth is the best way to avoid those sort of interventions.
(Freebirthing is a different kettle of fish, let's not get them confused)

I don't really see, tbh, why women should not talk about their wonderful births just because it might make other women feel bad.
It is wonderful to hear about women having great birth experiences. I think we should aim to feel happy for them and try hard not to feel bitter and resentful. I think it is a refrshing change to hear about positive births rather than all the horror stories we normally hear.

ach, some babies cry, some don't. i had a natural birth, everything was fine, but i still took dd for some cranio-sacral therapy just to get her checked out. don't worry about it, really. your colleague sounds nuts to me.

apparently in parts of india they have the woman sit in her bed establishing bfing etc for forty days while everyone else does everything for her. that's the sort of post-birth experience to aspire to.

harpsi's right about the 'cascade of interventions' in hospital, of course, but personally i really, really, really liked having the docs around, that helped me to relax and have a good experience.

can anyone find the 'did you enjoy your baby's birth?' threads for penny? remember, you tend only to hear the very bad or the very good. there are a lot of inbetweeners who would do it all again in a heartbeat. me included.

Thanks Aitch - thats nice to know.

Harpsichord - with respect I wasn't suggesting for a second that people shouldn't share great birth experiences - on the contrary I love hearing about it. However, what does get to me a bit is when the Mums in question people that know them imply that they are better mums for having done it a certain way.

Harpsichord - agree totally about risk of overmedicalisation, and that homebirth can be a way for some of avoiding unwanted intervention. My comments were related to freebirthing, not homebirths in general, which are attended by skilled personnel. The key point is who attends them, not where they occur. Echo Lulumamas comments that freebirthing and homebirths need to be distinguished.

hmmmm, I don't know Pennypops. I think other people tend to put their own implications on mums who have had good birth experiences.
she is probably just proud and happy. that's all. it would be nice if we could genuinely support women's choices about birth in particular. it is a very personal choice after all.

yes, absolutely, free birthing is in a different league.
there is a famous quote from a obsgyn consultant who says that if we looked at the statistics no-one would ever give birth in hospital, we would all be out giving birth under trees I may be paraphrasing.

think that is a valid point harpsi, even if paraphrasing !..if you look at the stats for Ina May;s 'birthing commune , there c.s rate is something like 2 %, maybe 5 % , extremely low, compared to rates in hi tech hospitals...which can be 20 % plus

it's 28% in my local hospital.
and a 23% indcution rate
these numbers hide a great deal of diappointment misery and sometimes pain. not in every case of course, but still.
you must excuse me I am feeling combative and radical this week