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!

I gave birth to my daughter Thea last week at home as planned.

I can only praise the midwife team at the local hospital who have supported my decision to plan a home birth from the start for my first child.

The two midwives who came were amazing and really put me and my husband at ease. The birthing ball was my best friend for the evening and within 3 hours of them arriving little Thea was born.

In the past I have really criticised the care I have received from the NHS but this time I can only say how great they were. I saw the same midwife through all my antenatal care and met the other midwives on the team and discussed my birth preferences with them so when the time came two familiar faces turned up at the house.

They took great care of me and my husband and Thea and helped me into the shower and bed before they left.

If you fancy a home birth I can recommend reading Nicky Weeson's book on Home Birth which you can get from the NCT - it certainly put my husband's mind at ease. Be warned though I certainly had plenty of warnings from friends and relatives about my decision to have a home birth but if this is what you want stick to your guns, it was definately worth it for me.

Congratulations Vimto!!

As for how I took the dog for a walk, well, I just did. No-one ever told me you were supposed to go to bed after having a baby, she was born at 3pm and I came downstairs and had dinner and visitors. I did at least get a takeaway Didn't go to bed till 3am!

Got up the next morning and walked the dog with babe tucked up happily in the sling. Killed those afterpains, I can tell you. It was late November as well, I needed my head seeing to

Wouldn't do it next time, I'm educated now, no sireee I want pampering!!! Pampering, no visitors, and lots and lots of bed-time.

I know my rights

I had a homebirth for DD1 earlier this year. We were already leaning towards homebirth because of the whole production line scenario, incl. limited options on positions due to size of rooms, unknown midwives, visiting hours for DH, etc.

Then we found out that DD was breech, did our own research on methods of delivery and had a fundamental disagreement with the NHS on the risks associated with different ways of delivering a breech baby. Having decided we wanted to go for a vaginal birth (as opposed to a medicalised delivery) we realised that NHS midwives were unlikely to have much experience, and so chose to use some independent midwives where that experience could be guarunteed. Independent midwives cannot usually practice in NHS hospitals, so we had another good reason to stay home!

In my view it is a very personal decision that needs a lot of thought. There are risks to both home and hospital birth - and maybe none of them are discussed as fully as they could be.

As for the pain relief, DD was 9lb 12 and I delivered her with no pain relief at all. It isn't a given that birth will be agonising.

if things go well then you are more comfortable at home, and things do go well most of the time.

But if things go bad, you might not be near medical help as soon as it is needed, and in that case it can be very bad?

Makes more sense to me to have a less comfortable more often but more help with the unforseen, more difficult births.

Bracingchair - I think luckily that it seems that it is rare for things to go very suddenly wrong - there is usually some warning, and an ambulance can be called for the the transfer to hsopital. Known risks are evaluated prior to birth, and having 2 midwives present means you have much better monitoring than in hospital - so a problem may be picked up faster. Needmorecoffee (sorry, using you again my dear) was very very unlucky, to have a problem that not only arose suddenly, but catastrophically. Ok - so you could argue that one catastrophic event should be enough to curtail any thoughts of being at home - but I know of catastrophic events in hospital too.

Sorry - bracingair (grubby contact lenses, can't read properly!)

With DD1 I had a home birth. Had such a horrible time at the hospital when I had DS1 19mths earlier that I didn't bond well with him so was determined not to go back 2nd time around. Home birth was wonderful. I was relaxed and birthed before 2nd midwife arrived so DH assisted. Completely different and made me want another baby.

Of the many midwives I have met most prefer home births as they can deal with the mother one to one in a relaxed, comfortable environment. I've only encountered one midwife who didn't like home births when I was having my DTs last year and had to be in the hospital again. To be fair she said she found home births boring and needed the challenge of a stimulating environment, I have to say she didn't seem to be happy working at the hospital either so I was glad her shift finished before my DTs arrived.

As I write am feeding my beautiful DD born a week ago at home - the cord was round her neck but with two midwives CONSTANTLY in attendance there was no problem, I was checked by them throughout and there was never a time when I was alone. They had a resus kit laid out ready just in case, but it wasn't needed. With my DS I was in labour for 24 hours, and had continuous monitoring so was tethered to the bed - felt very stressed and ended up with an epidural and ventouse. At home it was so fast as I was walking about all the time, could do whatever I pleased including making toast! I felt totally in control throughout and having two midwives there all the time was a heck of a lot more than I got in hospital!!

I would not have done it for a first mostly as I would have been too scared about how I might handle the pain! Having done it once I felt more confident, and I only used gas and air for the last hour before delivery in the end. Yes, there was a bit of a mess, but we had planned for it, and the midwives cleared it all up before they went... there was nothing left for my DH to do but cuddle his new daughter!

Of course there are risks with a home birth. There are risks with everything! It's just the type of risk that is different...I don't think that there is a woman on the planet who would knowingly put her child at substantial risk. However my best friend's mum contracted MRSA when in hospital for a routine op the week before I went into labour. At one point she was read the last rites, though is now thankfully on the road to recovery. It's worth remembering that there are risks in hospital too, they are just of a different type.

Statistics are difficult to find but they do exist, I did my homework beforehand and came out convinced that the risks were pretty much the same wherever you give birth, with a low risk preganancy. And as my mum reminded me, ours is the only generation that was mostly born in hospital, I bet if you ask most 60 year olds plus, they were all born at home... It is our 'hospital born' generation that is the unusual one.

Having experienced both there are positive things about both. For me though, the home birth was everything I had hoped and more.

hi piffy

i remember your thread about home birth a while ago. congratulations on the safe arrival of your DD. glad it all went well x

lulumama

Hi lulu I was just about to post an update - yes it all went wonderfully well and even DH is now a total fan of home births!

Thanks for all your excellent advice, it really did help

you are more than welcome

but the point remains that i would rather risk intervention then risk my babies health for the very rare but serious times a baby needs help immeadiately.

Yes intervention has its own risks, but the damage of a baby not having help when needed can be far more catistrophic. (sp?) - and your baby doesnt get to chose!!

of course that is your personal choice and decision bracingair, but it doesn't mean women who hb are recklessly endangering their babies health, which some people seem to think it's all a matter of risk assessment. facetiously, the car journey home is also a risk. interventions can also risky for babies as well as women - forceps - ouch.
i found the latest report safer childbirth to be interesting. it recommends all women be given written information about the pros/cons of places of labour and that it should include the fact that hospital birth increases your risk of instrumental delivery, infections etc. usually hosp birth is presented as ''the safe choice'' - irritating.

Each time we cross the road, something catastrophic could happen. the chances are slim and we take steps to avoid it happening, but we still have to cross the road. Alternatively, you could drive everywhere and never cross a road, but if something catastrophic happens it will still be awful.

Its not the best analogy I'm afraid, but life is about risks, and we constantly take risks, for ,on behalf of, and with our children. that is life.

You can't eliminate all risk from any activity, and what amazes me, is that people who argue against homebirths constantly state hospital births as being safer, or less risky WISE UP! THEY ARE NOT!! Im not sayiing they are dangerous, but there is nothing inhereently more safe about being in a germ filled, medicalised environment to complete what is a natural process.

As a midwife who has been to probably about 30 homebirths I have had a few scarey moments, but I have never felt really scared. Maybe I'm just lucky that of the low risk mums that I have looked after in hosp (in past 14 years) I have never had anything really awful happen that would have resulted in the loss of mother or baby if she had been at home. I have had plenty of scarey moments to do with women who have epidurals, inductions and other interventions and personally I would far rather be at a homebirth than a birth on the labour ward that is complicated by interventions such as those mentioned above. I personally had a gbs swab with my first baby so I delivered in a mw led unit within the hospital. Second baby as I had had no problems I gave birth at home. Both were very good experiences and both were the right places at the time for me. I did not feel that I was putting my baby at risk by having him at home as I would have gone to hospital at the first sign of trouble.

I was directed to this website by a colleague and all I can say is that it is very frightening. There is a lot of talk on this forum about 'statistics', numbers thrown around without understanding is dangerous.

Ever heard the phrase "A little bit of knowledge........" As an obstetrician, putting it bluntly, having a baby ANYWHERE is not a safe process.

I have recently returned from working in rural Afghanistan, women without proper obstetric care (ie. access to immediate medical care) die! Part of 'natural' childbirth includes death of mothers and babies. If you haemorrhage after an otherwise 'normal' labour you can die within minutes. Even in hospital, otherwise fit and well women end up in intensive care. It is not possible to predict exactly which women this will happen to.

I have nothing against homebirths but it should be a truly informed decision and forums like this with comments like "My homebirths were brilliant" does not count as level 1 evidence based research and therefore not contributary to an informed decision.

What exactly do you find 'frightening', fsp? I'm not sure I understand so you'll have to enlighten me. There are plenty of childbirth professionals using this site who are well acquainted with the facts and figures for and against.

This is an open forum for parents, not an RCOG conference, so I'm afraid you will just have to get used to the fact that, in answer to the thread question 'Please can you tell why you [my italics] have / have had a home birth?' people will give their personal experiences, not all of which will be 'worthy' of level 1 evidence-based research. Sorry about that. There is plenty of good evidence on here and in other parts of the site, but I don't expect you have actually bothered to look before criticising.

And once again, I am left wondering exactly how relevant it is to compare the example of birthing women in a war-torn developing country with a well-known absence of basic resources and medical care, with healthy, well-nourished women in the UK living 5 minutes from their nearest consultant unit? Given your antipathy to anecdote, it seems a strange parallel to draw. Perhaps you could provide us with an RCT that would properly illustrate the relevance?

well, there is nothing wrong with empirical eveidence. IMO

many women have great homebirths, many women have great hospital births. a proportion of women have terrible births at home or in hospital.. personal opinion should not be dismissed on the basis it is not level 1 evidence or whatever. an informed decision is surely one that is made based on many sources, including 'real life' and each woman makes her own decision based on that

i don;t think any woman takes the decision as to where to have her baby without thinking about the consequences

if having a baby anywhere is dangerous, surely that gives credence to the argument that women should give birth in the place they feel is most safe and most comfortable for them

and agree with snaf. comparing the UK to a war torn country is not really a true comparison.

lol has this kicked off

I had a home birth in a pool

twas a piece of poo and much nicer than hospital

Right, I have to go and write an essay on childbirth and post-traumatic stress disorder. My case study is a nasty hospital birth with loooooaaaads of unnecessary intervention, naturally

cool I had one of those first (dd1)

it wasnt pleasant

Yeah, it's v. interesting really, but I can't seem to get going (bloody MN). OK, am leaving now.

What an excellent post Camillathechicken (lulumama?).
It is absolutely impossible (and unhelpful) to draw a comparison between post-natal maternal/infant death in afghanistan and the UK. Just as the earlier poster suggesting that the UK would end up with third world mortality rates if homebirths were more frequent was completely irrelevant.

thanks i am indeed lulumama !

FFS -you can't compare a planned, risked assessed homebirth to care in Afghanistan!! Having a homebirth is not about not having obstetric care, or emergency care available, it is CHOICE!

Those of us who post on this site have many different experiences. No-one here has told anyone they MUST have a homebirth, or a hospital birth. NO-ONE has told anyone they are stupid, or risky for choosng a hospital birth - we are simply discussing what made us choose our homebirths.

If you want positive experiences of Hospital births - start a thread entitled "Please can you tell me why you are going to have/ have had a hospital birth"..... not many of the posters on this thread will be on it, but it would be interesting to hear another view.