Is homebirth ok for your first baby and any experiences of the Royal Sussex Hosp?

[ElmMum]

I live in Brighton and am 28 weeks pregnant with our first baby.

The Royal Sussex Hosp scores 'poor' in the NHS ratings and they've stopped doing tours of the maternity unit for expectant parents. Add those things together and I feel a bit nervous (to say the least) about opting to have the baby there.

I'm liking the sound of homebirth but two people who have medical connections (one friend who's a doc and another who works at at GPs and asked a doc there) have said don't have the first baby at home under any circumstances.

Now I feel like if I choose homebirth I'm putting the baby at risk, but I just don't have any confidence in the hospital

Does anyone have any birth stories from the Royal Sussex? And did anyone out there choose homebirth for their first baby??

Thanks in advance!

I had my first (and second) babies at home after our midwife asked if we had considered it.
MiL was a community midwife for 35 years delivering alot of babies at home and was horrified that we even considered it!

It was lovely.. thoroughly recommended if you have an healthy uncomplicated pregnancy.

Remember you can change your mind at any time - lots of ladies labour at home and transfer at the end for one reason or another.. it can be less stressful than labouring in hopsital.

Lots of 1st babies are born at home and if that is your prefered choice and there is no medical reason you have the right to have your HB. The community MW's in Brighton are amazing so you will have wonderful support.

I have worked at Royal Sussex and can only say if you have a choice there is nothing better than having your baby in your own surroundings, this will help reduce stress and allow you to have the best birth experience within your own personal circumstances.

Take a look at the Homebirth website www.homebirth.org.uk/ lots of positive stories and encouragement. If you are able to watch any Home Birth Diaries or Home Grown Babies shown on the Discovery Health Channel, they are very inspiring and quiet a few births are in and around Brighton. HTH

Do you live close to the hospital? I might think twice if I lived hours away.

I had my first baby at home, using independant midwives (long story). Even though I transferred to hospital after the birth it was still wonderful to be in surroundings where I was completely relaxed.

Dr's tend not to approve of homebirth in general - largely because they don't see "normal" birth. They only tend to get called in to a birth when things have already gone a bit pear shaped, hence their experience of birth is skewed to those requiring intervention.

It's worth asking WHY they don't think you should birth at home as a 1st time mum. Usually it's because you have an "untested pelvis" (horrible phrase), but what problem is that going to cause? If there is a problem it's likely to be a long, slow labour that's not progressing. So how does that translate to a blue light emergency?

Also, at a homebirth you'll have far more attention from a midwife than you're likely to get in hospital, so any potential problems are more likely to be spotted in plenty of time. If you listen carefully to a lot of the "I/baby would have died if I'd had a homebirth story", an awful lot of them seem to feature very little support until everything turned into a mad panic.

The National Birthday Trust study (discussed on the homebirth site) found something like 60% of first time mums that planned a homebirth delivered at home. That sounds quite low, but the 40% that didn't include those that accepted and induction or changed their minds. The statistics aren't readily available, but the general consensus I've heard is that there are very few hospitals that acheive a 60% rate of normal, unassisted vaginal birth for 1st timers .

Plan it. By planning it you keep your options far more open, and you can change your mind at any time - up to and including when you're in labour. Far harder to decide to birth at home at the last minute.

Good luck

I am about to have my first baby and have opted for home birth. The midwives are very supportive and if nothing else sells you on the idea, you get a midwife with you through established labour, a second one comes for the end, and if you do transfer THEY HAVE TO STAY WITH YOU!! How great is that? Hope to be able to report back to you soon. Please let it be soon...

I had my first (and 2nd) baby at home. GP was very much against it and said 1st hospital, if that goes ok 2nd at home.

Luckily I had a GREAT community MW who encouraged home deliveries and both deliveries were straight forward.

Hope it works out for you!

People with medical connections are bound to be against homebirth because they hear all the horror stories.

My friend had a low risk pg, and gave birth in hospital at term with no interventions - until the baby was born not breathing and the Team had to rush in and do emergency procedures which would not have been possible at home. He's 13 now and fine.

On the other hand, spiral of intervention in hospital, and even just the experience of being in an unfamiliar and scary environment can cause a birth to be more complicated than it would have been at home. The more complicated the birth, of course the more risk to mother and baby.

There is no safe side to be on, and there is also the 3rd option of a birthing unit which is smaller and less mechanised than hospital, but which does at least have a re-sus machine.

To me, it's more important to have a birthing pool than to be at home, and I didn't want a pool in my home.

my midwife was totally pro home delivery for first. And we live at least 30 min drive from hospital..... would have felt a bit better if i was a little closer to the hosp though.
You are monitored by the midwife so closely (you are after all the only person she is looking after it is not like she will leave the room and not come back for 20 mins like can happen in hospital) that any major problem will be picked up very early on hopefully anyway.
It is a very relaxed experience and i feel we made totally the right choice by doing it.
If you are not confident with home or hospital delivery what about a birthing centre?

Thanks for the advice. We're only about 10 mins max from the hospital. There is a midwife birthing centre we could book with but it's miles away, so I think the choice is home or hosp.

If I could have a look round the Royal Sussex I'd feel easier about booking there. Hmmmmm. Decisions, decisions. Thanks!

I had DD at Royal Sussex and found it absolutely amazing, the MW were great and it was run like a MW-led unit. Great experience. Low rate of intervention etc. They really gave me the confidence to do it without drugs (although I had G&A).
Having said that, most of my labour happened at home, so in a way if you're only 10 min from hospital you might as well try to do the whole thing at home?
I wouldn't worry about the ratings, I know several people who had great experiences at the RSH.

Ask your community mw if she will do you a personal tour of the unit and she might well arrange to meet you there one day to quickly show you around.

I had my first baby at home, I also had no confidence in the hospital. I's important that you feel comfortable with your choice, there is certainly evidence to suggest that maternal comfort level has an effect on the length and progress of labour.

I went into labour, waited awhile, called my other half, called the midwife, waters went, other half turned up, midwife turned up, baby turned up. I didn't use any equipment other than a pile of towels, had no tear or stitches, and no stains on my carpet. It was a healthy pregnancy.....and the labour issues (fast birth, meconium, and cord round neck) wer dealt with happily and safely at home.

Of course the beauty of planning a home birth is that you can always change your mind.....unless the baby is actually crowning, you can always decide to head to the hospital. It's a bit more difficult the other way around! I've read many places that the most common reason to transfer is exhaustion and/or for pain relief. Not real emergencies

Hope you get what you hope for, there's no reason you should be excluded from a homebirth just for reasons of first pregnancy.

I totally agree with Tangle.

I had a HB with my first (quite complex delivery) with an independent midwife, who thinks first timers are ideal candidates, because if things go wrong, they tend to go wrong very slowly (ie things just stop happening).

I had the nightmare of a non breathing baby born at home, but all the interventions that would have taken place in hospital happened in my living room, then an ambulance, anyway. (Oxygen, bag and mask, etc) and she is absolutely fine now.

Would definitely go for another HB.

Personally (don't shout at me), I would definetly have first at hospital just in case.
If that all went fine, then would shell them out at home after that
But the hospital food was soooo good, yes really !

I had DS1 and DS2 at home. Wouldn't have had it any other way. It's your decision. A really good one if you have an uncomplicated pregnancy but even if not it's still up to you. I don't think any of us would take a risk with our unborn child that we hadn't weighed up. I felt the risks were worse for me if I was in hospital. Listen to medical advice which relates to you and your baby (not statistics for everyone) and then make your decision (after thought on your own if necessary). Homebirth was wonderful for me and for my sister who had DD1 and DD2 in hospital and then third baby DS1 at home. Your baby, your pregnancy, your choice.

lilacclaire - it's a personal decision and everyone has to do what they feel most comfortable with. If you'd feel happier in hospital for you first then that's the right place for you to be .

homebirthbackwards - that sounds stressful . Glad everything worked out for you and DD. My transfer was for me (didn't handle the amount of blood I lost well and the stitching needed would have been awkward at home), but it certainly wasn't a mad panic. The IM's also had the view that it was important to have the best 1st experience of birth you can so that you can carry that (hopefully) positive experience forward with you. I'd certainly do it again

Bit of a rant but research shows that more risks if you have your baby in hospital.

Have heard lots of horror stories from friends about RSCH - as I live in Brighton - not necessarily about the birth itself but the care - basically if you have a normal birth it appears that you are ignored and left to it (one friend delivered in ante-natal ward as midwife refused to believe induction had worked so quickly so wouldn't come to see her until 'appointed time') but if you have 'complications' and interventions galore the you will enjoy a whole audience of midwives, doctors and students..

I sound really cynical because I work in health and social care so am aware that generally in the west we are passive recipients of the medical model - whereas actually this is a choice you make, so my advice is to make a conscious informed decision rather than hoping something will happen without planning for it.

And I agree that if you have most of labour at home then if you do need a transfer at least you will be more relaxed. Also suppose it depends on your home environment re having enough room - although I'm sure it's better than pokey dirty rooms at RSCH!

Great to hear all homebirth stories..in short you can do it!

Without the Royal Sussex, both of my 2 children would be dead,simple as that really.

I had my first at home and am hoping to have the next there too. No problems, strongly recommend, especially if you're nervous about the hospital

I had my baby at the Royal Sussex in Brighton. (the big white tower block on the hill right?)

It was the exact polar opposite to what I was expecting.

There were plenty of staff, I had my own (well 4 of them - it was a long labour) midwife the whole way through, and my own room. I was moved to a ward once the baby arrived but had the option to pay for a private room.

I was also given the option of a water birth, and encouraged to use the birthing pool as a way to relax in early labour.

All the staff were lovely, the care was top rate and so was the after care.

Its not all horror stories from that hospital I promise you.
Plus the view from the maternity ward is fabulous!

The only problem I had was the freak of a woman next to me who didnt seem to realise she would need and sanitary protection after having a baby, and snored like an elephant so didnt actually hear her new baby crying in the night until the midwife on duty woke her up.

Maybe they have stopped doing maternity ward tours as they are so busy nowadays. I know when we had ours we were sort of in the way a bit.

A friend of mine wanted a homebirth in Hove for her first baby before xmas. She was all set to go and everything was fine until she asked the midwife for gas and air and it had leaked and was empty. They called for more and when it arrived that cannister was empty also. At that point she changed her mind and they continued the birth at hospital.

But - her community midwife was totally supportive of her having her first baby at home.

Best of luck for the rest of your pregnancy x

ps. DS is 14 months so it wasn't that long ago that I had him there.

I had my dd at the RSCH just 12 weeks ago. I booked for a home birth but she decided to come 5 weeks early so had to go to hospital. I was so nervous about going as I heard such horror stories. It was absolutely fine, staff were lovely and very supportive. I took in wipes for the bathrooms, but didn't need them as everything was very clean.

I had my first at home and would recommend it, even though we had to transfer to hospital after the birth (ds inhaled meconium). I think the outcome would have been the same at a hospital birth, only I would probably have had more interventions during labour and would be blaming myself for the outcome. As it is, ds is fine and I know I gave him the best chance (drug free labour) to get through his difficult start. If there's a supportive homebirth MW team for your area, I'd definitely recommend a homebirth to anyone with a low risk pregnancy

I'm going to have a HB and it's my 1st pregnancy. I've ummed and ahhed about my decision but i know that it's what i really want. The things that worry me are not being able to cope with the pain and the hospital being a good 30mins drive away. I know that the MW's are fully supportive of my decision which makes it easier, and that they are trained to recognise potential problems so that reassures me. I don't want a hospital birth because I'm a bit scared of hospitals, want privacy and also want a water birth and there are no guarntees I'll get one if I go to hospital. I love the thought of the intimacy of a HB and feel it would be better all around for my comfort and progression to do it in the comfort of my own home so go for it I say! Good luck ElmMum!

I planned a homebirth for my first but didn't progress, eventually went to hospital and had a CS in the end. But it was a very long slow process, certainly no emergency transfer - I toddled along to be checked because I had been contracting irregularly for 3 days and there was next to nowt happening, and I was v tired and fed up!

The homebirth.org site is fab - some excellent info on there about 1st babies being ideal for a homebirth as if things aren't going well its normally happening slowly - most transfers are failure to progress or wanting pain relief not available in the home.

Once in hospital I hated it - had crash section under general anaesthetic but I had been in the ward for the best part of 12 hrs by then - the transfer to hosp was the least 'urgent' part of the whole experience

No regrets here - I am still considering a vbac at home for #2 when the time comes - not decided as yet.