Home birth vs hospital birth

[ILoveMYbumpy]

Hi,

I'm having my first baby so was wondering if any ladies had any advise on home births vs hospital births? Has anyone had both ? Or has any one had just hospital or just home births? Any advise would be great

Naturally if there's any issues or complications the choice will be out of my hands.

I had a great Homebirth with my first. I was able to stay very relaxed and also used a birth pool. DS was born at 40+8.

Everything was very hands off, I didn’t have any vagina examinations. I felt babies head myself as it was coming out and I lifted baby out of the water and into my arms. I was on such a high afterwards. I announced to DH that I’m they didn’t make drugs this good 🤣

Don’t get me wrong parts of labour do feel a bit brutal, for me I think transition was the hardest part, the pushing bit I actually found quite easy. But even during that hardest bit I was having an internal discussion with myself about whether this would be better in hospital and I concluded that it wouldn’t. Transition would have to happen whenever I had a baby (unless I had a c-section). As it was I experienced the hardest bit in my own bed with DH by my side. I felt safe and loved.

There was no external time pressure etc from the midwifes (though things did happen quite quickly).

I needed some stitches but the midwives were able to do those at home.

It was so lovely being able to curl up in the quiet, in my own bed afterwards, baby was also very relaxed and chilled, I think he slept 6 hours that first night! (Before we started waking him up for feeds).

The midwives cleared up all the mess, set the emptying pump going on the pool and folded the pool back into its bag.

I would really recommend hiring a pool. It made me feel more stretchy 🤣 I didn’t feel the tear at all when happened or afterwards really. It was a few days later when it got especially uncomfortable.

I was recommended to have a homebirth with DC2 as DC1 came first but declined. You couldn't pay me to do it.

All that mess in my own house and my own shower. No thanks.

But I also really like hospitals and find the whole process quite fascinating so would feel I'd missed out on that at home as well.

I had a hospital birth and was always going to. I was very very low risk and upon going to the hospital to give birth, I was shown around beautiful suites in the low risk unit - birth pool etc.

Anyway they took my temp and found out I had sepsis (or suspected) in labour and I was immediately high risk and sent elsewhere in the hospital. I stayed in hospital for 5 days.

I'm a cautious person anyway but just something to bear in mind that if you have a home birth as anything can change even the morning/day of! (I also laboured very fast so was glad I was at hospital!)

I had a hospital birth and no complications during labour and my baby was born not breathing. The nicu team had to fill resuscitate her and intubate her. If I had birthed at home, she would not have survived. If your labour and birth are uncomplicated then home birth is lovely but there is no way to know or guarantee that that will be the case for you even if you are low risk. So for that reason alone I would birth in a hospital every time with specialist doctors who can act quickly in an emergency

My midwife suggested a home birth but actually me and my partner both being nurses thought we would go for hospital birth because of risks etc. Turned out after 5 hours of pushing, he was back to back and just wasn't coming down. Rushed to theatre for emergency episiotomy and forceps. It would also be difficult to manage a heammorage or anything like that at home.

I toyed with the idea the first time and then preferred a waterbirth in the MLU. However I ended up high risk and having to go to delivery suite. I’ll be honest, as a first timer I was very glad to be in easy reach of an epidural as soon as I asked for one!

Hospital.
I wouldn't be here now if I'd made a different decision.
When we have medical services available to us, I don't understand why people would risk theirs and the baby's lives but not using them.

There was no deemed risk before the birth. This was my 3rd child.

A warning - posting about home birth on here often results in a lot of people claiming "my baby would have died if I had a home birth". While this may be the case in a tiny number of cases, it is not as black and white as you may be led to believe.

As a first time mum you are quite likely to be transferred to hospital during a home birth. Probably not for emergency reasons, but maybe because you want to access more pain relief, or your labour is progressing slowly or another issue such as meconium in the waters. So you need to be happy with the idea that plans may change.

I would recommend reading the Birthplace study as a starting point. www.npeu.ox.ac.uk/birthplace
It is a statistical comparison of low risk women and place of birth. I would also recommend the Positive Birth Book. You really are better off reading evidence based literature rather than asking on mumsnet where everyone apparently knows multiple women who almost died in labour (statically tiny risk).

If you want to keep your options open, book a home birth. You can always change your mind and go into hospital if things start to look a bit dicey or just if you decide you want more pain relief.

Midwives will transfer you in at the first sign of any trouble. It's not like by booking a home birth they won't let you in if you do need/want hospital later!

But you can't really do it the other way around.

@LemonPeonies

My midwife suggested a home birth but actually me and my partner both being nurses thought we would go for hospital birth because of risks etc. Turned out after 5 hours of pushing, he was back to back and just wasn't coming down. Rushed to theatre for emergency episiotomy and forceps. It would also be difficult to manage a heammorage or anything like that at home.

You wouldn't have been kept at home pushing for 5 hours. You would have been transferred to hospital and likely had the same outcome.

Just because you start off at home, you don't have to stay there.

I've had two homebirths and would definitely recommend them. I didn't realise how much better I had it than a hospital birth until speaking to friends after their births and hearing horror stories of inductions and being stuck in the hospital for 5 days after.

First one she was born at 10.30pm, midwives away by about 1am then back at 9am to check how we were doing with feeding etc. It had been 24h since waters breaking and felt like a long slog with a few different midwives attending and leaving us to it for a bit longer.

Second he was born at 10.30am after waking up at 4am with contractions. Midwives were here by 7am and didn't need to do any examinations to know he was on his way. We were tucked up on the sofa with a chippy by lunchtime!

In hindsight I probably could've done with a bit more support with breastfeeding the first time, we had a struggle with weight gain. Second time it all just seemed much easier, I guess my body remembered. If there's a third it'll be another homebirth for sure!

I wanted a hospital birth due to the risks and in hindsight it was a good decision, as I failed to progress and needed to be transferred to the High risk unit half way through. Before that I was in the birthing pool in the low risk unit, which was lovely! I would have loved to have given birth there but it wasn't to be. Baby was back to back and my uterus started to swell, so they needed to put me on the drip.

I know people who have had lovely homebirths but it's not for me.

hospital. I wanted all the drugs available.
mmmm gas & air, come to mamma

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

hospital. I wanted all the drugs available. mmmm gas & air, come to mamma

I think you can have gas and air at home can't you?

@ZingDramaQueenOfSheeba

hospital. I wanted all the drugs available. mmmm gas & air, come to mamma

You can have gas and air at home.

I had a lovely home birth with my first, it was gorgeous and I enjoyed it so much. I was close to the hospital and low risk. Loved having my own shower, loo, bed, snacks.

2nd time I developed GDM and was on insulin, I still considered opting for a home birth but in the end went for an induction and had another quick and easy birth which was fine.

FYI Homebirth midwives carry the same drugs and equipment to deal with a PPH as a midwife lead unit.

I had both mine at home in a birth pool I hired.
Was amazing, no pain relief, no stitches.
Midwives ran me a bath and tucked us up in bed after

@Comedycook & @osbertthesyrianhamster

can you? I've no idea.

my first 2 had to be induced. DS3 came like a rocket so just managed to get to labour ward and out he popped.
DS4 was ELSC and the other 3 VBACS so I never had a choice with them.
(I had epidurals/spinal with all but DS3 eventually)

hurrah for at home gas & air!
can you have it if not pg?🤔🤣🤣

I had a hospital birth and in the end was glad as I hadn't planned to have any pain relief and just 'breathe' through the pain (I know 😅was my first) however after nearly 2 full days of labour and not eating/sleeping/going to the toilet I was exhausted and needed a drip/fluids and desperately wanted an epidural. Midwives we're great and helped me deliver vaginally and feel my contractions by turning down the pain relief when I dilated more, had a very experienced one and I had no tears at all. Honestly, it changed my perception completely as I'd only been told horror stories prior to my own birth

I just couldn’t be arsed with the mess- not even the medical mess or worrying about blood extra, just the general untidiness that’s caused by a number of extra people being in the house.

In addition, I couldn’t have done it without some heavy hitting painkillers courtesy of a anaesthetist. Whereas on the other end of the spectrum some women just feel pressure, can breathe their babies out and a homebirth is totally manageable. There’s no way of knowing which you’ll be until the day itself!

I toyed with the idea but decided to go to a midwife led unit which was great. Honestly I think being at home would have stressed me out too much, I liked knowing there was a theatre down the hallway if they needed to get DS out fast.

My friends who gave birth on the attached maternity ward found themselves without midwives during active labour, while I had two to myself in the unit. I couldn't recommend it more. Though I'd love to try a home birth for my next if we have another.

I had a home birth with both of mine.

First pregnancy was straightforward, birth was a dream, well, you know... Simple. Needed three stitches, no mess in the home (MW cleared up sheets and no long term stains or mess anywhere) and everything around me that I needed. MW was gone 5 hours after DD was born and I got into my own bed and shower. It was perfect.

Second baby born at home but due to complications from my 4 MCs in between the two children, the placenta wouldn't come out so we had to schlep to hospital and have some procedures carried out.
I was glad to have excellent health care from the MWs, paramedics, doctors and nurses, but I hated every single second of being in hospital, and they wouldn't let me go for about 15 hours.
Also I had a procedure carried out on me which resulted in 5 days of debilitating headaches, needed to be lying down in dark for those 5 days.

However, I would still do it all again.

Good luck!

I had dd1 at home, because labour with dd1 was pretty fast and the worst part by far was the short journey to hospital in late labour (by the time they examined me when I got there I was 10cm). It was the right decision as dd2 was even quicker, the second midwife didn't get there until after she was born.

Best part of home birth was being able to sleep in my own bed afterwards and being able to introduce dd2 straight away in the morning. Also not having to disturb dd1, she slept through the whole thing.

Third time they recommended I go to hospital as DS was large and overdue. The worst part was not being able to sleep afterwards despite my baby being asleep because it was morning on the ward with tea and pain killers being served.

As said above nobody can tell for sure how labour will unfold, first time or subsequently. At the slightest sign of difficulties at home, midwifes will organise a transfer to hospital.

If you opt for a home birth the midwives normally clear up most of the "mess" before they leave (or at least they do where I live).

I've got 3 DC and have had both hospital and home births.

Ds1 was an attempted home birth but we transferred in after around 24hours - he was unidentified breech and I'd stopped "progressing" though contractions were still good. Ended up with a C-section (note any unplanned section is classed as am "emergency").

Ds2 was a home birth on a pool. 3hrs start to finish. It was wonderful and if I could pick I would have that labour every time.

DS3 attempted home birth. I was fully dialated after 5hrs and pushing hard but he wasn't coming down. Transferred into hospital (an hour's drive), ended up with shoulder dystocia which can be dealt with at home (not why he wasn't descending though - that's still a mystery). I also had a large pph due to retained clots (ie the midwives in the hospital didn't check for them properly post birth which later resulted in the haemorrhage).

Giving birth at home was wonderful. But I didn't mind the other 2 either.