Home birth!

[MsMiaWallace]

Considering this option.
I'm currently pregnant with DC3.
I could have had DC2 at home as I had no pain relief or issues.

Can you let me know your experiences?
I wouldn't have room for a pool though.

Which room did you give birth?
How long did it take for midwives to arrive?
What happens if you need stitches etc.
Any info would be great!

Second was accidental home birth, no support other than DH and a midwife at the end of a phone. If I could choose that or the hospital birth with my first, I’d go my second labour all the way. Neither had complications but my first was very ‘managed’ whereas my second was clearly as natural as a birth can be!

No experience but shamelessly following this thread as a home birth for #2 is something I'm considering...

DS was straightforward and low risk but recorded 4 hour labour so I feel number 2 will be also be a fast one and I'm not keen on giving birth en route to birth centre!

Had a home birth for dd2 and would recommend.

Spent the first half of labour in living room and then moved into dining room when I got into birthing pool which had been set up there.

Midwives came fairly quickly after we had called. They had just got back in after another delivery when we rang, my labour was progressing but not that fast so they restocked their supplies and were with us within an hour. Would have been quicker but I'd told them I felt we had the time.

They can do stitches there if you need them and it's not too bad but would admit you if its.more.severe.

My advice would be to discuss it with your midwife. We had a home visit from the home birth team who did their risk assessment and explained it all to us- how it would work, what happens and when you or baby may need to be admitted in.

I had a planned home birth with DC3 after discussing all my options with my midwife, who thought it would be a good option for me. No pool, I decided I didn't want one. I gave birth in the sitting room so we could have the fire on as it was overnight. First midwife arrived with half an hour of being called, the second midwife closer to delivery. It was about five hours start to finish, only gas & air needed & I didn't have stitches. It was a truly wonderful experience. Everything went well and we were only 15 minutes from the hospital if necessary, which it wasn't.

Cant give any advice as havent done it (yet). However we have a specialist home birth team where I live and I went to an information afternoon they ran which was very helpful. Might be worth finding out what the set up is in your area?

I'd chat to your midwife team. You usually need a home assessment before 36 weeks and they can give advice on rooms, arrival times and what happens if you need further assistance etc.

I pondered a home birth for #2 but was really on the fence. Dh wasn't keen on it and lots of people were quite against the idea. Eventually a consultant said due to my fast first delivery there can be an increased chance of bleeding so they'd recommend the birth centre at the hospital just in case.
Midwives however were very encouraging towards a home birth.

In hindsight, I wish I'd gone for a home birth. I started slow contractions at about 9:30am so I could've filled the pool and been in it during the early stages. Hopefully I would have also called the midwives sooner to make sure they had time to get to me.
Instead, I called them at about 3pm when I was starting to struggle (they did tell me initially not to come in yet as I was coping, but thankfully changed their mind right before I hung up)
I had the most horrific drive to the hospital actually preparing myself to give birth in the car on a busy motorway as I could feel baby coming. I only arrived 2 minutes before delivery so all my active labour (all 40mins of it) was sat upright in the passenger seat of a car with no pain relief, panicking that we wouldn't make it.
I think if I'd been at home, it would have been much nicer and maybe I wouldn't have had a severe tear.

I had a home birth. Laboured at home with my husband all afternoon and overnight then called midwife in the morning and I was 8cm at that point. She then called the second midwife who arrived about an hour later with the gas and air and I got into the birthing pool we had in the living room. Gave birth about 4 and a half hours after the first midwife arrived.
Unfortunately, I had a tear and the midwives couldn't tell if it was second or third degree so I had to go into hospital as they can't stitch a third degree tear (second degree they could have done themselves at home). It turned out to be a bad second degree so had it stitched in the labour ward. The tear also led to fairly heavy bleeding so I had to have fluids and various drugs to stop me bleeding while still at home/in the ambulance.

I would still recommend a home birth as it was so much more relaxing being at home and the hour between DD being born and them saying I had to go to hospital I was so pleased I'd done it at home. It also took away any worry about when to leave for the hospital, would I be sent back home, etc (I'm an anxious person and being able to stay at home without worrying about going somewhere else was much better for me).
In terms of what room to give birth in, my midwife recommended not the bedroom, so that that can be kept clean and tidy and is somewhere you can go with the baby once it's all done without it needing to be tidied etc. Time for midwife to arrive will vary on location but I let her know as soon as I went into labour and then when I called her to come (about 19 hours later) she set off right away.

How long is the transfer time to hospital if you suffer a major haemorrhage or your baby has severe fetal distress, OP? Particularly if it happens to be rush hour?
Ask your home midwife how many units of O negative blood she carries with her, and whether she can perform an emergency forceps delivery. Ask how she would do a crash Caesarian without a surgeon or anaesthetist. @
Her answers should be interesting.
My own second DD would have died if she’d been a home delivery.
Perfectly straightforward drug free labour at full term, but arrived with an Apgar score of 1, barely a heartbeat, having multifocal fits and unable to breathe.
Required intra cardiac adrenaline, intubation, ventilation and three IV anticonvulsants from the paediatric crash team, who saved her life. She graduated uni eight years ago.
Imagine the alternative at home - midwives have neither the drugs nor the expertise to handle such an emergency. DD would have died or been brain damaged.
By all means risk your own health, but gambling your baby’s survival seems rather casual.
Why would you not want to be in a fully equipped hospital, to give both of you the best chance of a live outcome? Complications can be completely unexpected, as in my own case.
I’m a doctor myself, but neither I nor my colleagues has a crystal ball. A labour is only normal in retrospect.

Don’t statistics and evidence show that for some women a home birth is equally safe to going to hospital (and sometimes actually safer)? You forget other risks will actually increase by walking through hospital doors.

@neonshine has it spot on. I think the situations where something very serious occurs are the more rare than when it is all relatively straight forward.
I had a home birth two weeks ago and it was absolutely amazing. I wanted one for my first but was unsettled by not having done it before! I had a.crap time in hospital and after lots of hypnobirthing stuff I wanted to stay home.
Get a hypnobirthing book from the library and have a read. You might be surprised at how much sense it makes!
I don't want to tell you too much about my specific experience as they're all so different but if you want to know I can tell you! The bottom line is how you feel, as the understanding of what was happening to my body and being relaxed was what made the difference for me.

I've had 3 home births, no pool and has them all in the bedroom, kneeling by the bed. I needed stitches with the first two and the midwives were able to do them there - I had gas and air while they did them and DH has skin to skin with the baby.

I can't remember how long it took for the midwives to arrive the first time round. With number two the first midwives was there in around 20 minutes, but the second didn't make it until after the baby was born (very fast labour!). With DC3 it took them just under an hour.

I had a homebirth with my second and it was just brilliant. I had a pool - you need a lot less space than you think! It was in our front room because at the back we have big windows and didn’t have curtains! I’d had a really straightforward first birth with very little pain relief so I felt confident that I could do it at home second time round, and my pregnancy was low risk all the way through. Statistically the outcomes for mother and baby in a second, low risk pregnancy are better at home. I did go to hospital for stiches afterwards (almost 10lb baby!) but it really didn’t spoil the experience at all. I had skin to skin and fed him before we went and we were home again in a couple of hours. I’m currently 39 weeks with baby no 3 and planning another home birth. I’d say do some research and find out if there is a specialist home birth team in your area. They have been far more enthusiastic about it than the community midwives team I was with last time.

I had all mine at home, no birthing pool and I hated even being in the bath. Tens machine for each, gas and air for first only as the other two labours were very slow to start with and then ramped up v quickly so the midwife just about arrived in time to catch. Grazes only, no stitches needed.

Just had one on Saturday! It was great. Like you, it was DC 3 and I only had gas and air for DC2 hospital birth. I really recommend the pool though. This time I didn't use the g&a and kept telling the midwife it wasn't on before abandoning it. The minute I got in the pool, during transition, the pain went from almost unbearable to manageable again. 20mins later she was out! Only birth I haven't torn from too.

We have a small living room and used a full sized pool. You get mini ones too.

I had a homebirth with my second after a really bad experience with my first child. I did have a pool set up in my kitchen/diner. Crawling into my own bed for a sleep after I’d had him was amazing, so much nicer than the post natal ward and I was lucky that I had a really experienced midwife who managed to stitch me back together at home even though it was a 2nd degree tear. I’m not having any more kids but if I did, I would definitely go for another home birth.

Planed homebirth for me with number 2. I loved it. I had no pool but ended up giving birth on my lounge floor bent over the sofa.

I did get blue lighted in after the birth as I had a massive PPH (6.5 pints) but I still felt completely in control and calm as the midwives were incredible.

Yes things can go wrong, like they did for me, but I am still a massive home birth advocate. If I were to have another one (not going to happen due to age) I would of asked for another home birth.

I had a home birth with my first. It was absolutely wonderful. So calm. So private. Very relaxed. I'll do it again for no 2! I had a pool set up in our dining room.

We live under 5 mins to NiCU so that factored into my decision. I know it's personal for babdoc but she posts on every single home birth thread. The research actually shows it's less risky than hospital for second deliveries.

So someone tells us about a bad hospital birth to put you off a homebirth. Maybe they should be talking about how that hospital manages births instead and what they can do to improve.

I had an unplanned home birth due to precipitate labour. Gave birth in the bathroom, despite it being unplanned I felt so in control and safe. I was really relaxed (hospitals make me anxious) and although I had to be taken to hospital after for a pph I would do it again. Definitely planning on another homebirth for future babies - but this time would like a pool and a midwife!

DD2 was a home birth. Gave birth on my bed. I had two midwives plus a student. It was a lot better than my hospital birth where I was left alone as they didn't think I was in proper labour and gave birth alone after DH ran to find help.
As for transfer to hospital... I lived very rurally. Nearest maternity unit was 45min drive on country lanes. I actually gave birth during a snowstorm. I think being at home was a lot safer.

I’ve had two homebirths used the same pool each time.no gas & air, used self hypnosis (hypnobabies - utterly brilliant)

First time was with IMs & they were with us for hours but stayed out of my space, second time the ward didn’t send the MWs out (!) so I got my dream of giving birth with just my husband & other children. I loved it.
MW were fab when they showed up just in time to see the placenta arrive & baby breastfeeding.

I made our sitting room into my safe cave for birthing & I would never ever want to do differently- light, temperature, noise etc all exactly as I wanted them, felt in control & safe. My older children being there was the best pain killer of all! Nothing more amazing than a toddler calmly quietly cuddling you through the waves

All 3 of mine were planned home births so don’t have a hospital experience to compare it to, but all 3 births were very positive experiences. First 2 were in a pool, number 3 (one month ago) was so quick that there wasn’t time to fill the pool, so he was born on the sofa!

Before the birth I was adamant I needed the pool as I’d never done it without one and particularly with my first birth (which was longer) getting in the pool was such a sweet sweet sense of relief.

To be honest though, it wasn’t that different not being in the water. Maybe because by birth number 3 he basically slid out. So glad we were at home as I reckon he’d have been born in the car otherwise.

I was under very specific instructions to call the midwife as soon as I thought I was in labour as things had happened quite quickly with number 2 as well. I left it a bit late with number 2 - waited until 9am as didn’t want the wake them up - looking back I’m not sure what I was thinking but contractions at that point weren’t particularly intense so I thought I had ages. Of course at that time of the morning traffic is bad! It took them 45 minutes to arrive and baby was born 20 minutes later. Little bit stressful but all fine.

This time I called much much earlier - as soon as I was sure it wasn’t just a braxton hicks really. It was the middle of the night so took the midwife about 10 minutes to arrive, if that. She was actually about to go home again because everything was calm and I felt like I had ages.... when I started to feel a bit pushy!! So she grabbed her equipment from her car, called a colleague for backup and baby came 50 minutes later, with both midwives there and husband (who by now had given up trying to fill the pool!). It was wonderful.

Our 2 year old, 4 year old, mother in law and lodger were all upstairs and slept right through it. They were VERY surprised in the morning. I don’t know how old your other children are but it’s worth having a plan for them in case you need to be transferred to hospital. We didn’t end up needing my MIL but it was nice to know she was there if we did need her - our girls are not great sleepers so could have woken up at any time - it’s kind of a miracle they didn’t!

Had stitches with my second as had a small tear, that was done at home and I don’t remember it being traumatic. This time I didn’t need stitches but I enjoyed getting high on gas and air while they examined my perineum.

The sofa got away quite lightly considering - just a small stain really and luckily it’s really old and we‘re not precious about it - I guess we’ll replace it at some point, but maybe when we no longer have small children weeing on it!

I think the great thing about home birth is the feeling of being in control - the midwives are guests in your home so I would think there’s a different dynamic to giving birth in hospital. Also not having to travel anywhere while in labour is a plus. The midwives were amazing - I felt in very safe hands with the home birth team.

I got to know my midwife as she did all my appointments at home in the run up and then happened to be on call the night I went into labour. But that’s not always the case. I was very lucky!

Good luck whatever you decide to do! I found each birth was easier than the last so hopefully your 3rd will be a breeze!

I am booked for one. Hopefully. Speak to your midwives and ask them everything