Would you recommend home birth for 2nd baby?

[orangecat]

Up 2 now have been adament I want a hospital birth 4 2nd - back2back, long and painful delivery 1st time round makes me want option of epidural. But like local midwife, and idea of spending 1st nite at home. Don't like the idea of the mess and associating home with another horrible birth. Also worried about complications happening at home. Any thoughts?

There are lots of posters on here who have had home births -do a search and loads of threads will pop up.
The mess isn't an issue as the midwives clear it all up.

If you need an epidural you can transfer in for one. But you probably won't need it as it is much easier to cope with pain at home. Being at home also means you're more likely to be upright and mobile giving the baby the best chance to get into a good position. Have a think about optimal fetal positioning and have a look at the homebirth website

I had an epidural with my first baby who was induced an OP but had a homebirth with the second with no problems and would do it again in a hearbeat.

oooooooooooooohhhhh have one !!!

will be marvellous, and mess free , virtually !! midwives bring inco pads, to soak up any fluid/blood loss, and you can buy cheap plastic shower curtains to protect the bed / floor or wherever

if you have given birth before, and know you can cope with it, then IMO , you will do beautifully at a home birth...

you might also want to think about a doula too, for that extra facet of support...

also, being able to mobilise, vocalise, get comfy, get in and out of the bath or birth pool when ever you want, being able to eat and drink freely, and being in your own environment is just wonderful for helping you cope

and you can bath in your own bath after, and get into your own bed, with your baby !

wish i'd blardy done it !

Second baby far more likely to be in the right position for birth - you will labour more effciently so even if baby is back to back it should rotate easily. If it doesn't and labour doesn't progress you can be transferred.

I had my second at home & it was fantastic. Much easier labour, no tear, no stitches, very little mess and the best cup of tea I have ever had in my life afterwards !

oc, i had homebirth for my second too and cannot advocate it enough!!!
i was so much more relaxed being in my own environment, felt more confident to just wander around and do what i wanted.
btw, there wasnt lots of mess and what mess there was, was sorted out by the midwives.

Best bits were, being able to get into my own bed with my new baby, dp bringing ds in in the a.m to meet his new baby sis, sitting on the settee feeding her (even now)thinking 'this is where i gave birth to you my darling' ...... oh, bloody all of it really!!!!

good luck x

I planned a home birth for dd (my 2nd), but got cold feet at the last minute and wanted the pain relief of an epidural. It's a decision I have lived to regret as the hospital birth was awful (mainly because of the crap midwife there, as opposed to the lovely one I'd have had at home). Because I went in so late, the epidural didn't have time to have any effect whatsoever, so I may as well have stayed at home where I'd have coped much better with the pain. For these and more reasons, I decided never to have another hospital birth and ds2 (my third) was born at home. It was a truly wonderful birth (as far as giving birth goes). I managed the pain well and had the support of a wonderful midwife. Being at home made the whole birth experience much more pleasant for me and restored my faith that giving birth can be an experience to enjoy as opposed to one to endure.

booked to have my second at home - didn't end up that way as I had a bleed early in labour and got summonded in ... if I hadn't done I would never have got to hospital in time - everything progressed very fast. Would def go for a homebirth again if I ever had another.

Bear in mind that if you change your mind, you can usually easily transfer into hospital, but not the other way round!

Thanks for your notes. I am feeling really tempted, but really worry about something going wrong and not being in hospital if it does. How do the midwifes monitor? Do they listen to heartbeat every now and again? (don't know this from before as was induced and had constant monitoring in hospital)

i had b2b 36 hr long hospital labour with epidural for first
had second at home in pool
was quick and one of best experiences of my life
mess, what mess?

mess isn't an issue. midwives deal with it.

no-one can predict complications but if you have a good mw, are prepared to accept advice (either on the night, as it were, or shortly before if something is looking dodgy) from doctors and mw, and aren;t too far from a hospital then I wouldn't let potential complications put you off.

associating home with a horrible birth - pretty doubtful - to be blunt, if it ends up being horrible you'll probably end up in hospital. if it's straight forward you'll associate home with something wonderful. you'll be able to tell your dc they were born in this house, you'll all be tucked up in bed together within a couple of hours of the birth. It's lovely lovely lovely.

I almost wound up having an unplanned homebirth with my second.

You can always opt for a 6 hour discharge and go home.

oc, the midwives listened to bubbas heartbeat quite regularly and believe me, they would have whipped me in if they had had any concerns. i did have my worries too, although not as strongly as dp, bless him.
i would seriously recommend it, but ultimately, you've got to do what you're comfortable with. am sure if you go into it feeling unsure and a bit wobbly, it wont be as great an experience as it could be. hth

I had a home birth and it was wonderful!!!!!!!!!!
There were complications (bad tear neading surgery) but the midwife had me and dd in an ambulance within 20 mins of giving birth and all was sorted with minimal fuss.

As for the mess, we bought some cheap tarpaulins from b & q and the midvives just folded everything up in them and took it away!

GO FOR IT!!!

Homebirths are fab! go for it.

I boosted mine and families confidence by researching the stats which state homebirths are quicker, safer .... you'll find loads of info with googling.

DD2 was born 1hr 45min after i woke with first contraction. Midwives swear that it would have taken a lot longer if i'd gone into hospital. Apparently many womens contractions stop upon arriving at hospital due to anxiety which is generally felt just from being in such a clinical environment.

Plus - i wasn't monitored at all (mw's never got round to it as they were busy unloading their car - didn't realise how close baby was) and they said that if i'd been in hospital i'd have been immediately put on the bed to monitor (which again slows things down).

There is no mess! I had no time to prepare any sheets on floor or anything. But mw's were amazingly speedy at shoving mats under me once i started pushing and they clear it all up after.

The best thing was that dd1 remained asleep upstairs throughout and then woke in the morning to meet her happy mummy and baby sister

am I the only one who cleared up the mess myself??

The midwives will listen in regularly to the baby's heartbeat, e.g: every 15 minutes in the first stage and after every contraction while you're pushing.

No mess - they're experts at the super-fast tidy-up!

It's natural to have concerns about something going wrong. Giving birth at home is a step into the unknown for most of us 21st-century mothers! But for a healthy woman with a trouble-free pregnancy it really is very safe. If you can work out exactly what your main fears are then maybe we could help set your mind at rest a little?

Another one who had a homebirth for the second one. Labour lasted 2 1/2 hours, DD2 was 9lbs 3ozs no tears, got some cheap shower curtains and towels (thank you mumsnetters) MW's cleaned all the mess whilst I was in the shower. Delivered placenta myself had shower got back into bed with DP and DD2 for a cuddle. DD1 was in next room sleeping throughout (I was not quiet) came in the next morning and got into bed with us all. It was ace. MWs knew, me knew I had torn badly last time, knew I would be fast, knew I was usually a sane calm person and not a holwing banshee.

go for it

I had my 1st at home and it was fab - no mess at all as I remember...? And it is lovely being in your own bed. The only downer is that there's no one to stop your house being invaded by non stop swathes of well wishers afterwards...

I'm definitely being inspired, so am going to discuss with midwife. Had a bit of a nesting frenzy and managed to get rid of all my old towels and sheets just last week. Grrrr . I have low lying placenta, so guess will have to get that checked out b4 making final decision. And haven't yet discussed with dh - will come back if need help pursuading him too. Thanks for all the advice

I'm definitely being inspired, so am going to discuss with midwife. Had a bit of a nesting frenzy and managed to get rid of all my old towels and sheets just last week. Grrrr . I have low lying placenta, so guess will have to get that checked out b4 making final decision. And haven't yet discussed with dh - will come back if need help pursuading him too. Thanks for all the advice