Please can you tell me why you are going to have / have had a home birth?

[CranberryMartini]

Because I just don't get it!

DS would most probably have died if I'd have had him at home. His heart rate dropped rapidly and needed a ventouse delivery with a resuscitator (sp) on standby. It was scary but I felt surprisingly calm with all the doctors and midwives around.

Why are you prepared to take any risk with your baby's birth? I can vaguely understand a home birth if it's not your first child and you know what to expect, but your first child?

I've also heard (could be wrong) that it costs the NHS £3000 to fund a midwife to do a home birth.

And doesn't it make a huge amount of mess?

Sorry I really don't want to offend anyone with this post and I would like to hear your reasons for choosing a homebirth. Try to persuade me to have my second at home!

personal opinions here as guess that everyone will weigh the risks/benefits differently.
I spend all my time in hospital (not on labour ward!) so no "scary hospital" factor for me - it is all very familiar territory.
I really feel sad for needmorecoffee and know i would feel exactly the same in the same situation. so i won't be having a homebirth, although it would be lovely if went well. I hate the postnatal bit in hospital with no food or drink offered, DH not able to stay etc...but will still be in hospital for any more babies..

I'm quite horrified reading about limited viisting hours, forced c-sections etc I've been in 3 hospitals now and while the food is cack no-one limited DH's visits or my other kids. I thhink someone tried in Worcester but I made a fuss and they buggered off.
With my recent 9 day stay (after my natural homebirth, I lost 3 pints of blood and was very poorly and then got an infection in retained membranes) people visited when I said I wanted them too.
I also complained about the stupid expensive Patienline TV's and pointed out I didn't want to be there and ffs my baby was brain damaged in NICU and they got it changed to free .
Only thing I didn't get changed was the bloody awful food.
I always feel I'm in charge and they can't make me do anything.

Not sure that the Sunday Times article wold put me off HB. The doctors cite "Natural Birth" as one cause of increased maternal death rates. This is not a home delivery with fully qualified and trained midwives, but a completely unassisted delivery.

How many of these women have actually died following a hospital delivery? the increased ddeath rate may well be due to the poorly funded and badly run NHS Hospitals - but doctors are unlikely to blame themselves!

cat64 - that is interesting but I would ask 2 questions from that

1. What is the maternal mortality rate for homebirths and those who were having a homebirth but were transfered to hospital due to problems? I suspect that it is lower than those who give birth in hospital.

1. What do they mean by unassisted births? Homebirths are not unassisted, at least one midwife is in attendence.

Another statistic I found when having a look at this is that 80% of homebirth babies are breast fed. Not a statistic hospitals can compete with.

Natural birth is NOT a cause of maternal death! Dunno where the times got that from..the biggest cause of maternal death in the UK is in fact suicide in the postnatal period. There are no deaths in mothers at homebirths which are planned (only in those who have concealed pregnancies and have unattended births without maternity care). The Times probably consulted their most rabid, misogynist homebirth opponent Dr Utterfraud!

I will be having a homebirth with no 3 as I did with no 2 baby. Hopefully then I will avoid the life threatening infection I got in my perineum after having a hospital birth in filth and squalor with DS1...

I had a homebirth with DD2 in May, and at one point I had 4 midwives in attendance. I felt fantastically well looked after, and had far far more one-on-one attention than I would have had in hospital. Once DD2 was born DH made us all tea and toast, then I went up to have a shower. When I came back downstairs there was no sign that anything unusual had taken place in the lounge (and I have cream coloured carpets!).

In the run-up to her birth, I felt very calm and positive about the prospect of having a home birth. At no time did I have 2nd thoughts. I think this helped us all have a fantastically positive experience, which I would recommend to any other 'low-risk' mum-to-be.

I had a home birth for my second child and the benefits for me were

-No need to move to hospital in the middle of painful contractions especially as this was my second child and labour advanced quite quickly
-I could eat what I wanted, when I wanted although I didn't during labour as I couldn't stop being sick!
-I got one to one attention once the midwife arrived.
-My son got to see me before he went to nursery and when he got home so there was minimal distruption for him.
-I got to curl up in my own bed with my baby afterwards.

The potential downsides that I can think of are as follows although they didn't actually come about in my case.

-You may have to transfer to hospital in an advanced stage of labour.
-You could stain something although the midwives were excellent in my case and there is no evidence of my home birth at all!
-The gas and air may run out as it very nearly did with me.

sittingonatoadstall, I'd have to query midwives "having the kit required to keep baby going until an ambulance arrives".

Surely this depends on how serious the baby's condition is and how long the ambulance takes to arrive?

I know they have some emergency provisions but surely this can't compare to the level of equipment available at a hospital?

I have read a number of first hand experiences here on MN of home births resulting in very serious consequences for the baby and mothers saying sadly that they will probably never know how much their birth choice contributed to this. I recall a recent HBAC involving a uterine rupture, which again I believe can have devastating consequences for both mother and baby.

I'm not totally against home births and I'm sure that in this day and age, with quick access to hospitals and a competent midwife, that the majority are probably fine. However, with my middle child (a hospital birth) I had a very pro natural birth midwife who refused to involve the doctors until my husband went to reception and insisted they paged one. By this time I had been in the second stage for over 3 hours and the baby was in distress because he had a huge head and just couldn't get out. I dread to think what could have happened if I had been on my own with her at home (although to be fair if you know your midwife in advance and trust her I suppose this can be avoided).

The only way I could describe the difference between hospital and home birth is that dc1 was like a medical 'problem' that had to be solved by a designated time. felt like the midwives were always looking at their watches.
dc2 wasn't medical at ALL. I spent it at home and it felt like a life experience, not a medical ritual. sorry if that sounds waffly, but can't explain how (psychologically) different they were for me.

Have to admit though, I couldn't get my head round the people in and out of the house all the time. started thinking I would like to have that first night alone on the ward to get to know my little baby rather than having dh snoring beside me and my parents downstairs opening another bottle of wine to celebrate....aaarg!

I'm finding this fascinating reading, I'm pregnant with second baby, due July next year.

First time round had planned to have him in a midwife-run unit, but when my waters broke they said there was meconium and that we had to go to the main big hospital. Was all very medicalised from then on (epidural plus episiotomy plus forceps delivery), ultimately it felt like the birth was something that was done to me rather than something I did, however that may well be due to the specific circumstances.

I am currently considering home birth for number 2.

My main concern (other than the absolute scary 'what if' worst case scenario stuff) is that I really couldn't get on with gas and air first time round, made me feel really drunk in a horrible way and didn't really help with the pain at all. Friends that have had home water births have told me the pool made a massive difference, but I'm concerned that I just won't be able to deal with the pain.

Otherwise, my main gripe about the hospital was that despite it only being a 4-bed ward I couldn't get enough sleep! Lady next to me snored like anything then at 6am it was like bloomin Piccadilly Circus in there what with the Bounty woman etc. Have to say the idea of OWN BED and being with my fam sounds really lovely...

I had a wonderful home waterbirth with DS1 in Jan. In my defence we only lived 4mins from the hospital and the pregnancy was very easy. Why do I need to defend my choice? - I would do it again, although we have since moved so the decision would be made fom scratch again next time - distance from hospital, possible size of baby, how the pregnancy had gone...
I admit I was surprised that the community MWs who did my antenatal care offered no resistance to a first birth at home but they were great.
Agree with everyone who said how lovely it was to sleep in your own bed with hubby and brand new LO.
Also agree with everyone who says 'horror' stories should be shared not shushed up as giving birth has risks.
My brother's SIL wanted a homebirth after 2c/s and found an independent mw to support her but ended up being transferred to hospital again for another c/s. MWs have seen lots of deliveries and know the warning signs. My friend borrowed our birth pool and TENS machine but ended up being transferred as her labour was very long and she ended up on a drip with an episiotomy.
I suppose I should think myself lucky that I had such a quick and easy time!

I'm another in favour of HB having one unplanned and one unattended HB.

I had no qualms about either in the end although the first was going to be a 'peace of mind' at the hospital: but the speed at which things progressed at home the first time - coupled with a family history of quick & easy births and a trouble free pregnancy meant that stats were probably on our side, and truth told, when the midwife arrived and asked if I thought I could make the 10 min journey to hopsital - I barely made it across the house between 'neeeding to push' contractions.

The second time although a planned HB the midwife didn't even bother calling the second one up - I was so obviously going to be too fast. {My brother caught and the midwife arrived 10 mins later, sheer proximity for the order of arrivals as we called 'em at the same time} I can't therfore compare to a hospital experience - but having a cup of tea, in your own home/surroundings/favourite cup can't be beaten.

The only warning regarding HB for th ose with a trouble-free first time would be: try not to be tempted to overstretch yourself afterwards seeing as your at home and can see everything that 'needs' to be done. And you'd actually get a fair bit of rest in hospital if you wanted it otherwise.

I had 2 easy births in this midwife-led unit. DC3 was homebirth with midwives from the same unit - I also had all my appointments at home, utterly fantastic and very relaxed. NHS midwifery at it's finest.

In just under an hour I had laboured, given birth, dropped placenta, had a shower and was tucked up in MY bed with MY baby with MY DH bringing me hot chocolate and permanently available to fetch anything else. It was quiet, not overheated and it was clean. DC3 then slept on me for 7 hours straight. Top that!

Naturally, DC4 is also pencilled in for a homebirth.

I'm not against homebirths but wish the homebirth lists actually admitted it wasn't all wrapped up and cosy. It still hurts, its still messy and things can still go wrong. You need all the information before you decide.
Personally I wouldn't have a HB if I were more than 5 mins from the hospital (and that includes calling ambulance time) because if it does go wrong (1 in 100) then you compound the damage with the delay.
And I wish the homebirths that went wrong were allowed to see the light of day. Those lists and magazines never ever discuss it.

I nearly had a homebirth with ds (my second) but ended going in, about 45mins before ds was born, when it transpired no midwives were available. Left less than 2 hours after ds was born (at 9pm).
Was a huge disappointment to go in. But still had what I felt were the major advantages:

• ante-natal checks at home, with dd playing alongside us.
• sleeping in my own bed
• labouring upright, mobile and in a comfortable and clean environment.
• distraction, pleasant lighting, minimal disruption to dd.
• while it hurt, it didn't feel like a medical emergency whereas dd's labour felt very much like I was ill. But then being generally very healthy (touch wood) I do tend to associate hospitals with dire medical emergency.

Even though we didn't quite manage a homebirth, I still feel happy whenever I think about ds's labour. God it hurt, but was wonderful and not at all scary.

Even with my first 3 births which were all c-sections I had home visits. I just told the GP that I wasn't going near no clinic and if she wanted me to see a midwife she knew where I was.

I think that's because a lot of doulas post on this section, needmorecoffee, and they have a vested interest in home births.

Not long ago, a doula did post about an hbac which went wrong involving a uterine rupture. I was quite impressed that she did ask people to discuss it openly in order to learn from the experience but I didn't see many people taking her up on it (although I must admit I've been off line for ages).

In real life, I only know one person who has had a home birth. Her two births were fine, but they are a minority choice in relation to the amount of coverage they get here and yes, sadly they do go wrong sometimes (as do hospital births).

Strangely I had never heard the term "doula" before visiting MN and no one that I have ever asked has ever heard of the word either.

Why do doulas have a vested interest in homebirth The majority of calls I get as a doula are from women planning hospital births. If anything I think a doula is especially useful for hospital births where you are less likely to get continuity of care from midwives than at home.

I'm a bit puzzled by the suggestion that homebirth lists don't like 'bad' stories. Can you elaborate needmorecoffee? There are a number of stories on the homebirth website of stories with sad endings. Rosetip, if you mean the case Klaw was involved in where there was a uterine rupture, can I just point out that it wasn't an HBAC (or HBA3C to be precise) but a hospital vbac. And it was extensively discussed on another list I'm on.

A very close friend of mine had a stillbirth at home. Nobody is sure exactly what went wrong and whether it would have ended differently in hospital, but my friend has always said that she doesn't have any regrets and in fact had another homebirth with her next pregnancy.

Have just read the OP.

I chose to have my 2nd and 3rd births at home, because I felt that in my first birth choices were removed from me, an incompetent student mw made it a bad experience and put ds1 at more risk than he otherwise would be, b/feeding was compromised by cavalier nurses who gave ff without asking, there was no food available for me (went in at 10, had no b/fast, no lunch as was being induced, no tea as was giving birth and then they expected me to feed the baby), the hospital was dirty, there were blood stains in the shower, goodness knows what sort of infections etc, dh wasn't able to stay etc etc etc

Also I live less than a mile from the hospital, and figured if there was a problem they could transfer almost instantly.

i have had 4 hb
2 with mw in attendance, and 2 without!
the main reason I chose my first was because i could remember my little brother being born at home and i feel i have always been really close to him as i washed him when he was born....it was really special!
also it's easier...sitting in the car in labour is horrible!

I'd have been with you on this, CM, 4 years ago when I was pg with my first. Hospital = security, and take all the drugs going. My view has completely changed.

I planned a homebirth for my 3rd because, having had 2 hospital births in very different circumstances, I believe that the normal NHS labour/birth experience puts you at much greater risk of complications.

Many women are left alone with their husbands for hours during labour. They are scared to death, clam up and labour is slow and painful. Then out comes the clipboard as soon as labour isn't progressing 'as quickly as it should', then the drugs which invariably lead to additional stress on mother and baby, then the inevitable C-section just to be on the safe side.

If hospitals could provide experienced midwives from early labour through to birth, with birth pools available for everyone who wanted them, I wouldn't have considered homebirth.

As it was, it was the only way to guarantee the 1-on-1 support of an extremely experienced midwife, my own birth pool and a comfortable birth environment.

Emergencies rarely appear suddenly. If a pregnancy and labour is managed and observed properly, emergencies can be anticipated and dealt with.

Just my view.

Surely this is an opportunity to discuss negative experiences. There don't seem to be many. Not scientific, but gives me confidence in my decision to try for a HB.

I'll describe mine. dd2 was my fourth and was a vba3c. The docs all spent ages telling me my uterus would rupture and that a homebirth was a stupid idea (I now agree, cos if I had ruptured we were stupidly far from the hospital and if it goes wrong it can be sudden)
Went into labour naturally at 42 weeks (ironically enough at the hospital). Once home labour went quick. First stage was 7 hours, all normal, no pain relief needed. second stage was 30 mins again, totally normal (apart from me shrieking my bottom was going to explode and could I please have a c-section )
When dd popped out she was grey and not breathing. No panic initially, the midwives suctioned her and tried to get her to breathe. Within seconds they realised this wasn't right and called an ambulance. DD was blue lighted off and I followed an hour later having bled 3 pints all over the floor. I'm guessing placental abrutption but I still don't know (still trying to get meeting with midwives. Not one of them came to see me after or enquired after dd)
They worked on dd for 8 hours and didn't think she was going to make it. When the doc finally came to see us (I'd been sticked up and left in the delivery suite with dh waiting for 6 hours with no news) he said she had had a lack of oxygen (a hypoxic event) and was seriously brain damaged and not expected to live. It was the worse moment of my life. My homebirth fanatsy had me wrapped up in bed with dd at this point while my other 3 children beamed at me. Instead, me and dh were in a hospital room, 3 traumatised kids at home with a friend, being told our daughter was brain damaged.
She did live but I will always wonder if we had been closer, or at hozzie if she would be less disabled. She has severe quadraplegic cerebral palsy, can't sit or roll, no hand funtion, cant holdher head up and is visually impaired. She also has seizures.
While homebirth is generally safe IF things do go wrong it can be quickly and can be irreversible. When I was making my HB decision I had never heard of things going wrong with anyone and didn't know any disabled children. Never crossed my mind that among my 5 friends who had HB that year, I would end up in this awful situation.
So thats my story. I find it hard to live with myself for choosing a homebirth as maybe being closer to NICU would have meant being less disabled. My dd will ask me about it one day and I'm dreading the 'why was I a homebirth and the other 3 all c-sections and they are all non-disabled mummy' (that is, if she can ever ask that).
What am I going to say?