Homebirth - yay or nay?

[lilbumblebee]

Just looking for any stories from those who have went down the homebirth route and whether they'd recommend one?

I had my first baby in the hospital and I had a great experience, the only hiccup I had was poor communication from the midwives in the ward afterwards which led me to be kept in for an extra night when it was unnecessary. Initially I wanted a homebirth although my partner wasn't keen plus at the time I shared a flat with my brother and his wife.

Now in my own house, due baby no2 in November and midwife had told me I was a good candidate for a homebirth. My fiancé has said he'll support me either way but I keep going back and forth on what I want to do.

Would you recommend or steer away from one?

Many thanks!

How far is your home from the nearest hospital obstetric unit, and how long would it take an ambulance to reach you and transfer you to the hospital?
It’s impossible to predict whether your labour will be uneventful or whether you will have a massive intrapartum haemorrhage, severe fetal distress, or any of the other possible worst case scenarios.
My own second child would have died if she’d been born at home.
I owe her life to the paediatric crash team and intensive care unit. And she was an 8lb full term baby, born after a normal labour with no warning signs.
Unless you live next door to the labour suite, I wouldn’t play Russian roulette with your baby’s life, OP.

I’ve just had Dd (born on Monday). She is my second. I toyed with the idea of s home birth. But in the end decided on hospital.

The main sway for me was a mental thing. If (and big if) I had a home birth and something went wrong I’d have had to live at home knowing something went wrong with the baby there. Or if I had to be taken to hospital then I’d have to go back to the place something went wrong. Iyswim.

Aware that things could have gone wrong in hospital too but I wouldn’t have to keep going back there.

After my birth on Monday, no way would I consider a home birth. The mess!

I had one with my third, I loved it and wish I’d had my others at home. You don’t have to get dressed after to go home, it’s much more relaxed (no one insisted on examining be to see how dilated I was). There was no mess. I had my daughter in the lounge, other two kids slept upstairs through it.

My husband was dead against it but tells everyone how great it was now, he felt much more useful than he did for the hospital births.

We live about 20 minutes from hospital and have had 2 uncomplicated births before, so for me it was the right decision.

Don’t forget you can change your mind at any point, so if you want a home birth, then go into labour and 3 contractions in or 12 hours decide hospital sounds good you go straight it

I'm less than a 20 minute drive to two hospitals. For blue lighting patients to the hospital, the ambulances within my area are quite quick; however, that's from my own experience of working on a medical ward although I also know come November with the increase of admissions, that may have an effect.

I did discuss with my midwife problems that could arise, especially being at home but she was very reassuring with even a slight hiccup and it's off to the hospital I go. I'm very much aware of the risks and how an uneventful first birth doesn't guarantee my second one will go smoothly but I'm still pretty open minded about homebirths.

I am sorry to hear about your second birth @babdoc, I can't even imagine how traumatising that must've been for you.

Aww congrats @ememem84!

Yeah I definitely get what you mean. I hope you're enjoying the lovely newborn snuggles!

@Kungfupanda67, that sounds like a lovely experience. It's also nice to hear your husband enjoyed it too. I mean I do live near the hospital and my midwife said if I changed my mind then I would be admitted to the hospital so that's all reassuring but I just have a niggle. I would want my fiancé to feel comfortable with it, if not that then I wouldn't do that to him, hence looking for positive/negative experiences. I have until the start of October to make a decision so hopefully I'll have came to a conclusion by then!

i would definitely recommend a home birth. I had one with dc2 3 weeks ago, and I needed transferring afterwards due to a pph, but the care I had at home was the exact same as what they would have done in hospital so please don’t let the idea of transferring put you off. If anything it was the thought of being in the car for 30mins while in labour that kept me going through transition, and it was way easier to go up afterwards. The midwives were great, I didn’t feel scared at any point (although had a bit of a cry at the idea of the neighbours seeing me getting in the ambulance!).

You have the option to change your mind at any point, so why not sign up for one and get the benefits of the continuity of care? If your dp needs convincing, I sold it to mine on the basis that you get 2 midwives and he wouldn’t be with me on our own (spent most of first labour in hospital being ignored/left alone) and he loved the idea of that!

I had one and would recommend it (assuming midwives are on board). You decide when you want the midwife to come and when you do there's no being left alone. And then they leave as soon as you're ready with no needing to be discharged.

For me, I chose because I didn't want to travel to the hospital and back. As it turned out having a homebirth avoided a roadside birth.

I have 2 dc and have had 2 home births. I can't compare to hospital, but can say that the majority of my mum friends had a hideous time but I enjoy remembering the births.

For second or subsequent births, a home birth is statistically safer than a hospital birth. Google the birthplace study for more info.

Go for it! It sounds like you are very close to hospital should anything go wrong, and your midwives will be on the lookout for any tiny issues and will get you to hospital long before they become big issues.

My town has a local homebirth Facebook group, perhaps yours does too? Might be worth a look.

Also, you can go in at any time. Just because you book a home birth, doesn't mean you can't just change your mind as soon as labour starts or until you start pushing.

Hi OP, I had my 1st in hospital and my second was an accidental home birth! (DS was way too quick and we would never had made it) I loved having a home birth, I could jump in the bath straight away and had the comfort of my sofa and my own food!
Although hospital was good too, everybody making everything for you /making a fuss etc.

I had my first at home. I live about 15 mins drive from hospital. I was low risk, straightforward pg, my mum had had two home births and my sister had two straightforward births.
I felt confident of the process and had little fear.
It was a dream. Because I was so relaxed and in control I perhaps wasn't sent a MW as early on as I should have, plus it was my first so perhaps they didn't listen to me, but MW only got to me (following an initial check) 12 mins before baby was born.

Nevertheless it was lovely, there was no mess for us to clean up.

I am pg with DC2 and hoping for another one. Good luck.

I had mine in homebirths. It was the right choice for us. Midwives can handle some complications- I made to sure ask what they can do. Mine brought oxygen and an infant incubator type thing in case the baby was born ok but then struggled to breathe. She also had injections she could give me if I hemorraghed to stop the bleeding. She literally had an estate ambulance type thing packed to the gills with stuff. They basically have paramedic stuff for you and baby to stabilise you while waiting for an ambulance if it goes unpredictably badly.
They do check your vitals and the baby’s during labour to monitor for distress.
Anyway, didn’t need that because everything went well. I simply preferred being home to hospital. You’ve already done a hospital birth, I can see no harm in you trying a homebirth.

I had a home birth with dc2. I’d highly recommend. Have a read of the birth place study and find out about your local home birth team. I knew a few mums in my area who spoke so highly of the home birth team which helped me decide.

I had a birth pool and there was no mess. I had a great birth (my first one in hospital was not great!)

A thing to bear in mind is that a hospital birth is not risk free. At home you have a dedicated experienced midwife / 2 midwives. Also second babies come quickly! I know 3 mums who have had accidental home births with their second and one who gave birth on her own in the hospital toilets. Which was another factor in my decision!

So I would say go for it!

Yay - had a homebirth for my first baby and planning one for my next imminent arrival. Check out home birth UK on Facebook for lots of practical advice and stories.

I was recommended a homebirth for DC2 because labour with DC1 was so quick. I dismissed the idea without a second thought. You couldn't pay me to have a homebirth but I find hospitals really comforting (and interesting!). All the talk about being able to jump in my own shower puts me right off as well. I was delighted to be able to leave all the blood and mess in the hospital shower!

I'd love to have a home birth and was a good candidate but my baby came a few week early so had to have a hospital birth. Went from low risk to high. I have to say I'm glad I was in the hospital and in particular the labour ward as my baby's heart rate dropped at 10cms and I was rushed for assisted delivery. She was out in 4 mins! If I'd been at home I'm not sure if she'd be here now. I won't risk that for my 2nd now. But I have friends who had magical home births.

I had all 3 in hospital my last was a dream and no issues till 8 hours after the birth, went to take him for a bath before being discharged and he stopped breathing. I don't know how I would have coped at home in that situation but being in hospital they immediately took charge. It's not just the birth you have to consider.

I’ve not had a home birth (have only given birth in hospital once, very traumatic) but I have friends who’ve had them and had very positive experiences. If I have another I’ll be considering it carefully.

I think the major considerations are:
a) transfer time to the hospital;
b) whether you have confidence in your hospital’s home birth team;
c) whether your home is suitable for a home birth (the team will be able to tell you this).

Sounds like (a) isn’t much of a concern for you but do think about times in rush hour traffic etc. On b) and c) you’ll have to meet the homebirth team and I think they’re always happy to meet with women to discuss their options.

On risks that’s a very personal evaluation but a PP has pointed you to the Birthplace Study which is very informative.

Good luck!

I've had two hospital births (one absolutely horrendous, one good) and three homebirths.
This is all many years ago.
I did serious risk assessment and had detailed discussions with my midwives prior to the homebirths and then proceeded with confidence.
For me, personally- and it is such a personal, case by case decision - the homebirths were the very best choice.

I had my second at home and it was lovely. We had a doula, who was wonderful, and two midwives at the birth. It was so calm, and just amazing to be able to get in my own bed afterwards.

Hi Ladies,
I wish you all the best of luck with everything from labour to raising an amazing little human! I hate to be a pain but I'm headed to uni to study midwifery next year and I'm currently writing my dissertation. I would be so so grateful if you could find 10 minutes in your manic schedules to fill out a short questionnaire about your childbirth (linked below). It really helps. Thank you so much ladies, and once again, good luck!!!
Lauren x
docs.google.com/forms/d/e/1FAIpQLSctZPhTBYsC6hJYBepXwems3r_mrIJQ2pCqw27za7pa0X8SzA/viewform?vc=0&c=0&w=1