Have any of you changed to a home birth VERY late in pregnancy?

[micegg]

I have always wanted a home birth but have bene put off by fear of safety and unwillingness of DH. My second child is due in just under 4 weeks (I did say very late in pregnancy) and I really would like a HB. The only thing is due to catchment areas, etc I will have to be referred to a different hospital as the com MW at my current hospital dont cover HB for my area. I was thinking of calling them tomorrow. Do any of you think its too late and have any of you done this?

BTW - I am 34 and this pregnancy is all going well as did my last pregnancy.

It is never to late even if you opt for one and go into labour and then change you mind again, it is your prerogative.

So go for the birth of your choice but be true to yourself as in your heart of hearts you will know the best place that you want to have your baby.

It is important to discuss it with your mw prior to labour but this could be done at any stage. I decided I wanted one at 36 weeks and it was a very good decision. As a midwife myself I have looked after plenty of women who have changed their minds at different stages of pregnancy. The only time I would be concerned is if a woman I did not know phoned and requested a hb when it had not been discussed antenatally, as sadly we do have to be aware of child protection issues and would be slightly wary if it was not mentioned until the day itsself.

Go for it! I had one hosp and three home births, and I'm so glad I had the HBs.

According to the NHS guidelines for your 'pregnancy schedule' you don't discuss the birth till week 36 so I'd say you were about at the right point according to the official plans. Mind you, I'm stating my plans this week (week 20) because I expect to have a fight on my hands!

Good for you - go with your instincts.

My Midwife knows although I am booked at a hospital because of health reasons if when I am due to deliver mine and babies health is OK I am going to state I want a HB very very strongly and she is going to find it hard to ignore. Thankfully the team of community midwives I am with are very pro home birth.

I moved house at about week 37 only to realise that despite being in touch with each other, my original team of mw's hadn't mentioned to my new team that i wanted a HB. The new team managed to organise it and get the equipment to us within ONE DAY!!! They were amazing.

Kaz - I had a bit of a struggle too due to really severe needle phobia so the consultant at hosp was against it but i stuck to my guns and they let me plan for what i wanted in the end. still ended up in hosp though as dd decided to be very late and my HB slot 'ran out' which was a shame.

You could always look into having an Independent Midwife. I had my first (and only) child at home with Independents - they were amazing and I had an incredible relationship with them... especially as my baby was over 3 weeks late! They take clients on at any stage, but tis expensive!

When I mentioned home birth to my midwife she just said "oh we'll discuss that at 36 weeks if you still feel the same", so I shouldn't think there will be any problem. Might depend on the attitude of the mw you speak to though...

Yes I did at 37 weeks but I had real problems with the NHS midwives who said it was too late to be included in their on cal schedule. I could have fought but I did not have the energy and used an independent midwife who was fab. You should not have to do this however. Good luck!