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!

For me - first 2 hospital births. OK, but no way did I enjoy the experience. Ds2 picked up an infection through his umbilicus and was rushed back to hospital for a week when he was a week old.
So no.3 was to be at home. It was great. I was low risk. I felt in control - midwives were brilliant. My home is cleaner than a hospital. No mess at all. I've never had messy births. Dd1 - had 1 mw for 4 hours and an extra midwife for the last hour. They'd packed up & gone within 30 mins of births. Dd2 2 mws for 1.5 hours. Mws looked a lot happier than any of the hospital ones I'd come across.
Both homebirth dcs scored 10 in Apgar unlike my hospital born dcs. It's a persoanl choice.

I had a home birth with my 2nd, as I felt i couldn't relax during my first labour in hospital - I remained 7cm dilated for 5 hours (ouch!) as i tensed up with the unfamiliar surroundings. With my 2nd labour I wanted to maximise my chances of having a natural labour with only gas and air, having had an epidural with my first.

I was 11 days late when i went into labour with my 2nd baby. It all happened quickly - 3 hours 1st stage on gas and air, which I found just about managable at home, then my waters broke and we realised the baby was distressed (meconium in water) so midwife rang an ambulance, but baby was born 5 mins later in my living room as paramedics ran in. It quickly became clear that all was ok, and all panic went out of the situation but i was transferred to the local hosp so baby could be observed. I didn't mind ending up in hospital as I only really wanted to avoid it while actually in labour.

On reflection i feel really lucky that things worked out fine. I'm an optimist and until we discovered that there was meconium in the water I hadn't given much thought to the fact that anything could go wrong. I live a 20 min drive from our local hosp, so I do thank my lucky stars that all was well in the end.

Just a final note, when organising the home birth i was advised that i wouldn't be offered the BCG jab that all hospital born babies are offered, and that if i wanted my baby to have it I would have to arrange and pay for it independently.

Needmorecoffee, I don't really know what to say to you after your post. Just huge love and sympathy, you are obviously a great mother and I hope that you all will be fine x

in our area Homebirths are not even mentioned as an option at any antenatel appointmenst ..i had unexpected homebirth and as their were roadworks amulance was held up ...had baby 3 years ago tommorow at home without any assistance ..emaergencyparamedic arived 20 after daughter was born and ambulance 30 with midwife 40 minutes even though health centre is 5 minutes down road thanfully everyhting went ok

but if i ever had another baby would definately recommend homebirths

In answer to the OP:

I had a shitty first birth in hospital
I decided to labour at home as long as I could stand it, and see if I could stay there
The mess is irrelevant, as you're not the person clearing it up (I had a pool, which is less messy anyway).

Lots of sympathy to needsmorecoffee. I can't imagine how awful that must have been for you.
Emergencies can NOT always be seen coming and a timely transfer made; things do go wrong very suddenly in obstetrics. The resuscitation that a midwife can do at home is NOT the same as that possible in hospital.
I am sure homebirth is wonderful as long as you are not one of the (very few) unlucky people. I have found the post-natal care in hospital rubbish (usual story of no food, drink, hopeless bf advice etc) although no complaints about care in labour, but that's just my personal experience.
so in the end I guess it depends on your own assessment of risk/benefit. And (assuming I can get there) I will put up with the bad bits of hospital to have access to immediate management of emergencies if needed.
But then I am a worry-queen.

needmorecoffee

Siobhan73 - BCG jab? Not in the UK surely? It's certain;y not given routinely to any babies around here.

had my first at home, did lots of research, knew we were taking a risk but quite honestly i had heard enough stories of hosptial nightmares to feel that was a bit of a risk too - and one where the medics were probably not giving as close attention as you'd get at home. My ds was delivered by a community mw, NOT a hospital one so we weren't taking resources from there and i am sure it is cheaper and there are some stats somewhere!
Can see the OP's POV though.. but HB was great for us.

I chose to have a ds1 at home because I just did not fancy being in hospital, ( having to cross corridor to have a wee etc... ) and believed ( we are close to hospital) that as long as everything is straightforward its the best place to be. Nothing I read, (and there was lots) convinced me we would have a better or safer experience in hospital. It just felt right, and went on to have dd at home also. The only down side was having to go in briefly for 'repairs' both times, and maybe less opportunity to rest than my friend who had 3 nights in before she went home to bathing toddlers and cooking meals !

I was very angry in hospital with my first child. I felt extremely disempowered, treated like meat, patronised and disregarded. There were so many 'protocols' that nothing I asked was answered, things I actually needed were not given, it was horrendous and firghtening...despite being an easier birth due to the pain relief I had.
I remember vividly lying on the ward a few hours after he was born, being sick uncontrollably and begging for something to stop it - I think it was a reaction to the drugs - and two teenage nurses standing there looking at each other in a vague, helpless way saying, 'I dunno...go and get her some toast Kelly...no there's no doctors...' and my baby was crying and I couldn't pick him up, couldn't do anything...the Bounty woman came in and saw the state of me and said 'will somebody help that poor girl' and ater about an hour a Dr arrived and gave me Maxolon through my canula - how hard was that - and I went to sleep. Baby had given up by then and didn't wake to feed till midnight, by which time they were practically standing over him with the formula. I was on a deadline.

Home borth for my second - no pain relief, 3 hour labour, terrifying because of the pain and I had a PPH too but it was managed and I didn't have to transfer to hospital. Which is 45 minutes away so it was a bit hit and miss, but way, way better to be at home.

Not much mess either - ruined one waterproof sheet with bleedig, but everything just got washed etc. (had to scrub the carpet in one place!!!)

Daisymoo

BCGs are offered routinely in many London hospitals - remember that the incidence of TB is higher in some parts of London than in many 3rd world countries

needmorecoffee
it is scary that I had 2 of mine on my own, and them coming out not breathing was the only thing I was scared of either time - could of had a really tragic outcome.

I had 2 homebirths, because I have a mortla fear of hospitals.. With a homebirth (providing its not too fast) you have 2 dedicaed midwives with you They are not going anywhere, but are there for YOU. No scuzzy shared bathroom, no dodgy cleaning (except your own I suppose), no medical students staring up your fanny in the throws of labour.

It has been said that if you live close enough, for some women it is quicker to get emergency treatment from a homebirth than if you are already in hospital.

Cups of tea on demand, champagne, tucked up in my own lovely warm comfy, soft rinsed sheets, without plastic covers on the pillow to make you sweat. No-one elses crying f*ing babies while you are trying to catch some sleep.

A telephone you can use when you want to call whom you want for a reasonable rate, your own bath/ shower to soak the gubbins away.

And did I say dedicated midwives with you 1:1 and 2:! during labour? Where else can you get such an amazing staff ratio? Safe? Too bloody right.

Sorry, lots of posts, and have to clarify that it was safe for ME. I do acknowledge that sometimes things don't work that way.

With my dd I had a homebirth, quick and straightforward, and I had 2 midwives with me for the last 2 hrs of my 3 hr labour, but then women in my family drop babies like they are bags of shopping and I had a really easy pregnancy so no reason to not go for a homebirth. It was great and I would happily repeat it which I hope to in February.

I guess its all about weighing up your personal risks. Whether you think you really are better off in hospital or at home. from what I hear about hospital births its pretty common to be left for long periods or be looked after by relatively inexperienced staff. I have had friends whose complications haven't been spotted in hospital and one of whom only spotted it herself because she is a doctor. None of them came to major harm but I think I would prefer to be at home with two very experienced midwives by my side than in hospital with a rather unpredictable package of care.

I had a wonderful homebirth in water in Feb this year and I was 42 and it was my first baby, we all have the right to have the birth you want in the UK and if your midwife isnt supportive you have the right to ask for another. Luckily for me the whole of our community midwives team is great on homebirths. I am so glad I chose to have my baby at home, it felt like the right thing to do and I didnt decide until half way through my pregnancy but I did a lot of research and both my partner and I felt very comfortable with our decision. I strongly recommend Sheila Kitzenger's book Birth your way (Sheila is probably the top midwife in the UK and a leading authority on childbirth).
Last month I was hospitalised for the first time with a very badly broken leg - the week in hospital was one of the worst of my life, with orderlies continually leaving me to sit on leaking bedpans for up to 10 mins at a time in the middle of the night (despite my begging them to stay with me and help), the cost of the patientline phones is criminal and I spent a small fortune on just keeping in contact with the outside world - compared to the wonderful treatment I had with my 2 midwives I would never choose to have a baby in hospital and really look forward to having my next one at home too.

Hospital = epidural
Home = no epidural

Nuff said.

1. The not having to rush to hospital 30 mins away to be told you need to go back home
2. Definate availability of your own birth pool.
3. Able to adopt the position you want to when you want to.
4. Less likely to have any epidural/ pethidine. I didn't want these because I have seen lots of women who have suffered back problems from epidurals sited in the wrong place.
5. 2 midwives looking after you who are experienced is better than 1 in hospital and a junior DR.
6. Being able to get into your own bed and snuggle up with your DH and new baby is better than them having to just visit hospital. Nobody to tell you when you can sleep and interrupting sleep.(except the baby!)

PS I ended up with a c-section under GA but still will spend as much time at home before my next baby arrives as possible.

Just reading through this messages I feel I need to wail really loudly about the lack of more BIRTH CENTRES!! I had my dd1 at the Queen Charlotte and Chelsea hospital birth centre so there was the benefit of being in a midwife-led unit, having an ensuite room of my own from the moment of arriving to when we left to go home, DH able to stay with me throughout and sleep on pull-out bed, soft lighting, privacy etc etc. But all it would have taken was a lift ride upstairs to be in the operating theatre.
This was my first pregnancy so I had no idea how I would respond to being in labour. I felt I needed the options offered by being in a hospital but wanted to give natural labour my best shot. I have no idea what choices I would have made had QCCH not been down the road.
I just can't believe that Birth Centres seem to be being closed down at the moment.

Lots of great stuff on this thread.

Ultimately it's your choice, weigh up your options, read the evidence (not the scaremongering newspaper articles), analyse where your comfort zone begins and ends, and do what you want. I am hugely in favour of homebirth for them as wants it, for all the fab reasons posted here, but it doesn't suit everyone and that's fine.

(I will just be ultra-pendantic, though, and say that Sheila Kitzinger isn't actually a midwife, she's an anthropologist with a special interest in childbirth. That doesn't make her any less wonderful, though )

Emkay - totally agree with you - the birth centre at our local hospital wasn't open when I gave birth to DS1 so we had him at home but if it had been we would have chosen to go there.
DS2 we had at home because we had already had a success fisrt time and we felt more confident.
I also think information about birth centres should be made more available - the one at our hospital is barely used - women here prefering to either birth at home or feeling the need for the medical back up to be available at greater speed

I'd have used a birth centre but they weren't allowed to even administer IV ABs so that ruled it out (GBS +ve).

Presumably those highly trained midwives weren't viewed as capable of dealing with rare cases of anaphylactic shock. Why is that? Does it need special skill/kit?

We have been saving for months to pay for an independent midwife so we have the choice of a home birth or not. We were forced into hospital last time and had a terrible time, which I still cry about when I think about it (yes, I have talked to Birth Crisis etc. Iit doesn't help)

Pay £1800 for a private midwife I get a late Strep B test to see if it is active during labor. I get the choice of home/ hospital and a water pool included in the price. The choice of IV or Oral antibiotics or watch the baby if I am positive this time.

If I am forced into hospital, she'll come with me and ensure My DH & I are not ignored and belittled.

I don't need a perfect birth, I just need one that isn't as terrible as last time. Before I found this midwife I was not going to have any further children, as I could not of deliberately chosen to go though that again but she gives me hope and with that in mind we are (only just) pregnant again.