Does anyone regret having a home birth?

[Thankyouandgoodnight]

I thought that I would ask the question to get a balanced view to go with other homebirth threads going at the moment. As I ask this, I know that I will find it difficult to hear what people on this thread say but nonetheless, I think that it's important...

No, my last 2 were HB and words cannot effectively describe the difference.

Bloody amazing.

if it goes well then it's the best thing.

No i would always choose home birth over hospital if possible.

My homebirth was wonderful / relaxing / relatively pain free and much, much nicer all round than my hospital birth. However, my baby took two minutes to start breathing and only did so after being given oxygen. My first baby (hospital birth) also took a while to breath and had to be given oxygen to get started. Given that both babies needed help to get going, I'm not sure if I would go for another homebirth if I got pregnant again. Having said that, my midwife said that not breathing for a bit is not necessarily a problem, so maybe I am being unnecessarily cautious.

I really wish I'd had a home birth first time around. I probably would not be trying to plan a VBA2C now.

would still recommend it even though my last one was a bit of a disaster. My other 2 were great and I hated being in hospital first time

I'd still plan another one despite transferring with my 3rd HBAC - if I was having another that is! The way i see it, planning a homebirth means taking responsibility for yourself in a way which is terrifically empowering, even if utimately you change your mind or transfer in because of a complication -you have , by the act of planning, said that you are not afraid of your body, that you believe in your ability to birth and that you have given due consideration to this huge amazing event which you are the owner of. Sorry if i sound a bit evangelistic -but, it's necessary I think

I think you are right. As soon as I got to hospital, I felt I lost control- it was taken from me, and things went wrong thereafter.

I had to transfer too, after the event. Still no regrets though, and agree with jamila, hospital was horrible in comparison, very disempowering.

I think I've said this on here before, but hospital with ds was like a medical problem that had to be 'solved' and then home birth three years later with dd was like a natural family happening like Christmas morning or a birthday, which it was...! Sorry if that sounds flippant, of course it hurt, but it just wasn't a scary experience at all.

ON THE DOWN SIDE - the only neg comment I could make about the whole thing was missing out on that special time I had with ds at hospital when everyone else had gone away and it was just me and him in a quiet ward, staring at each other.

At home, my parents were staying for a week, my dh and friends and neighbours were in the garden wetting the baby's head as we tried to get some sleep...

Just be very strct about your space and who can visit! It's worth it though, even just to have your own toilet and shower aftrwards!

very far from regretting it, it was the best decision i ever made in my life
am still on a high from it and dd has just turned 2!

hellsbells76 - I felt the same after my homebirth with ds1 nearly, gulp, 5 years ago now.

It's hard to explain to people how it makes you feel to have done things in your own way - how strong it makes you feel.

Sorry to the OP - this thread hasn't turned out as you wanted.

But there is a lady here called Riven whose homebirth was difficult - her darling daughter was damaged at the birth, so Riven has terrible regrets. I always feel very sad when I read Riven's posts that things turned out this way for her.

I do think it's important that women aren't told that birth at home has 'no risks' - there will always be some risk associated with birth - the risks of homebirth are different from those risks you are exposed to when you opt to go to hospital.

All four at home and cannot imagine what wit would be like in hospital/ People always say 'god you are brave' and I reply that I think you are brave to go into hospital.

We did make sure that the baby and I stayed in bed for two weeks - yes two weeks.

Dh would take them off work, or work form home around the others. He would make sure we didn't have too many visitors and allow the baby and me to have quiet special time.

In those first two weeks I rarely left the room, maybe a visit out to the park. It was truly wonderful. the old fashioned confinement

Not regret exactly, but am aware that it might have been better to have been in hospital in some ways, although worse in others.

I had a very slow first labour (28+ hours established labour, 3 hours pushing) which meant I was absolutely exhausted by the time it came to pushing (despite having done everything to conserve my strength that you can do at home, like eat!). I had to have an episiotomy basically because I was too tired to push that extra little bit to get his head out. That healed really badly and gave me pain for about 9 months until I had treatment. Also meant I couldn't have sex in that time... It also really weakened my pelvic floor and I still (2 yrs later) have stress incontinence and get a dragging achey pain when I get tired, despite being quite good at doing my PF exercises.

If I'd been in hospital I doubt I'd have been 'allowed' to labour that long, and while it was absolutely what I wanted to do at the time, and why I fought the constant suggestions that I should go into hospital(did in the end), with hindsight I might not have had such bad longterm effects if I'd had a drip and a quicker labour.

But you just don't know what would have happened - if I had had a drip I might have not been able to cope with the pain, had an epidural, lost ability to push, c-section, subsequent difficulty breastfeeding (which was hard enough anyway) the whole casade of interventions and possible problems. And I might have had a badly healing episiotomy anyway. Pelvic floor stuff I think would have been better if had had quicker labour.

Am still planning homebirth for this next baby, but that's because second labours are usually quicker (and if it shows any signs of being v slow I will demand to go into hospital and be given a drip!)

Have had two homebirths. No regrets. Absolutely amazing. Feel very empowered and completely echo other post which talks about acknowledging your body's abilities. All other women I know who have had homebirths - about a dozen, not many, but surely is unusual given the low rates? - are equally as effusive.

With regards to the drawbacks (lines being drawn about visits) - my two were early and so for at least 24 hours after their arrival, I told noone. I got to wallow with them in my own surroundings before the onslaught of wellwishers.

I didn't know anything about babies before I went through pregnancy/birth myself. I don't know where the idea of homebirth came from but it has to be the best decision I've made.

Thank you everyone for your replies - I was a bit apprehensive about the responses, fully expecting a slurry of negative experiences and some heart breaking stories. I know it sounds strange but I do want to be able to make an informed decision and to hear both sides as it were BUT it is so good to hear such positive stories and although I am asking for it, I would find it very hard to hear unhappy endings.