Low intervention - homebirth

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Hi. Just wondering if any ladies are currently pregnant and planning a homebirth?

I have self referred and noted on my form that I’ll be having a homebirth. I have my first booking appointment in 2 weeks.

Just looking for some positive stories on the process so far and how to navigate avoiding landing on the intervention conveyor belt.

not looking for opinions from people who are against homebirth/haven’t experienced it

I remember when my dog gave birth alone laying alone in a corner with a towel. You could do the same with no intervention whatsoever, no midwife nosing, no one ruining the wonderful time of labour, ohh such a powerful moment as I recall it. You’ll be there listening to the lovely contractions your body will start producing for you and if you hear a ‘crack!’… no worries, it’s just a third degree tear ! Good luck!

My question to you is instead what makes women on this thread hate science?

.. Elaborate?

Come on, you’ve had loads to say.

Men don’t own science and childbirth, do they?

Unfortunately they can’t elaborate further. Misogyny is in women like them who believe that men own science and childbirth, and based on this they refuse science and safe childbirth.

I don’t need that, just how right now a woman’s maternity care is rooted in misogyny - today.

I actually think it’s more rooted in women believing that they are more powerful than science and medicine, and we’re just not.

I’ve had a home birth and a hospital birth in the Netherlands (I’ve lived here since 2017).
In that sense Dutch studies are useless/totally inapplicable to the U.K. context as it’s a totally different culture and society.
They actively encourage home birth and all pregnant women are sent a ‘zorgpakket’ by their insurer, which contains some basics needed for a home birth (plastic sheeting, latex gloves, surgical scissors etc.) - the midwife brings the rest. Care is entirely midwife-led, totally unlike in Britain; I did not see a single doctor during either of my low-risk pregnancies (obviously in other cases you are sent straight to a doctor).
You’re also obliged to hire bed raisers (or raise your bed with supermarket delivery/beer crates!) so that your bed is at the right height for midwives and maternity nurses to examine you and deliver the baby.
As soon as the baby is born you are visited daily in your home by maternity nurses for 4 hours a day for a week postpartum. They check you (temperature, blood pressure, stitches) and baby, and help with anything that is needed in the house (cleaning, cooking, shopping, laundry, taking older kids to school…anything that is needed).
This means they are MUCH more set up for home birth than in the U.K.
I had my first child in hospital and had a very good experience there (very Zen 10-hour labour) ; we planned to repeat said experience with our second child.
However, our youngest had other ideas!! I went into labour at 5am, 12 days early. We called the midwife (they always come over to your house to examine you first and see if you need to go to hospital yet) expecting to be told it was nothing and to rest (the sensations I was experiencing were nothing like the labour I’d had with my first child so I literally didn’t recognise it as labour). She arrived at 6am, examined me and said “well, I guess we’re doing this here”. By the time she had set the bed up etc with all the stuff from the zorgpakket he was practically ready to be born (he was born at 7am so it was a 2-hour labour from start to finish).
As nice as it was to be able to use my own shower and bed etc straight after delivery, I actually preferred my first labour as the second one was so fast as to be scary. Home birth does not always equal the labour that you want.
As it is, I had no issues but some women do need to be transported to hospital immediately after birth (e.g. if there is a haemorrhage or the placenta does not come out fully or of its own accord) so do be aware of that. Again, a home birth offers no guarantees.
For what it’s worth, I also took all scans and checks throughout both pregnancies and labours/births and so deeply urge you to do more research from reliable sources and to reconsider your stance on this point. I know someone whose baby died. It is no joke.

Thank you for sharing this! Another poster has responded with the type of care received.

Regarding the scans - I can assure you that the research both my husband and I have done which includes the actual testing, conditions, risks, benefits etc is likely more than everyone that’s posted on here combined. Neither of us will be convinced to ‘just have the scans’ by some randoms on mumsnet as we’ve done a LOT of research.

Can you share your research? I've never heard of risks associated with scans.

I think the whole discussion around scans in this thread has been particularly emotive as some women (including myself) have children who might not have survived if they hadn't had a scan. In my case it was a late scan.

@SleeplessInWherever I agree it’s women believing they know everything. Like the op. Everyone else, including the experts (and I don’t care what sex they are!) are dismissed because of ideology and reports from other, non comparable, countries!

This sounds a lot like the home birth experience I received - the midwife delivered the pack rather than insurers and I didn’t have to raise the bed but the midwife came out to me when I thought I was in labour and confirmed no contraindications so we proceeded at home. Then the second midwife came out, stayed until the baby was safely delivered and then one would stay for a number of hours after to ensure no PPH or similar was likely. One of them then came back each day for the first ten days (although not for four hours, especially after the first couple of days).

Coincidentally a couple of the midwives on my home birth team had worked in other European systems where home births were commoner (one in the Netherlands). I spent a lot of time looking at the numbers at the time, I’ve repeated the exercise in recent years for the next generation - I’ve yet to find figures that for a normal healthy pregnancy there is a safety advantage for hospital over home. The numbers point the other way, especially for post natal infection and recovery. The Netherlands certainly used to have a better safety record than the UK for maternity services (I last looked a couple of years ago).

However I did have all the regular checks during pregnancy and would have switched if risk factors arose.

The only scan I am opting out of is the first scan, not the later one. I don't claim to 'know everything', I just mentioned that I have done my research (and a lot of it) because several people keep posting that I 'should get the 12 week scan' and that I am 'putting my baby at risk'. I have to respond to this somehow and I am dammed if I do, dammed if I don't.

I cannot share my research on here because firstly there's too much of it and secondly I believe each person needs to find their own path with researching what individual care is best for them. I have signposted a good starting point of aims.org.uk - if you start there, it will lead you to further resources - it's an interesting rabbit hole to go down!

Oh come on, I wouldn’t advocate near free birthing but have you never attended an NHS clinic? Never been called by your first name whilst expected to address medics by their title, whilst male patients are “Mr”?

There have been multiple reports into the woeful failures in NHS maternity services - the patriarchal top down ethos which does not listen to women has been called out more than once in those reports. Its just a pity the reports end up being filed with no actual changes being effected. The problems are multiplied if you are a minority woman, especially black or mixed race.

In all reality though, what would the first scan tell OP? It’s checking viability and if the pregnancy isn’t viable then it’s likely she will miscarry. there’s nothing that can be done at 12 weeks.

yes at the 12 week scan you can have your screening for downs / Edward’s etc.

The OP clearly understands the risks of disability etc so if that’s something she is willing to accept then it’s not for us to judge.

She’s already said the second scan she will have, this will give a better understanding and still give OP options should she want them.

No, that is not my experience of NHS clinics at all. Of the two consultants I was cared by, the male consultant was the kindest, had the best bedside manner and was the more respectful of my wishes. The male doctor who looked after me when my daughter was born was also so lovely and very respectful of my preferences. The worst was a (female) midwife who was rude, dismissive, and, as it turns out - completely wrong.

As to the maternity scandals - if you’ve actually read the reports, you’ll see that the root cause is a “natural birth” “non intervention” ideology taken to extremes, when doctors should have been called in to intervene much earlier.

and just to add, OP has clearly said:

1. she isn’t going to have 12 week scan but will have the 20 week
2. understands that medical intervention may be necessary
3. she is not opting for free birthing
4. would like to explore home birth unless it becomes a non-option

why are you still going at her ?

Something we agree on!
It's nice if that level of postnatal help was offered, but staying at home waiting for the NHS appointments was annoying enough.

I think the concern isn't actually so much opting out of the scan, but that the OP seems to think that the scan is a risk. It shows a degree of believing in woo 'science' and is a red flag for what else that's standard practice the OP may think is dangerous. Things that might actually be risky.

Ultimately, it is of course a choice for the OP, and she's entitled to decline the scan, but it's undeniably odd to not want to see your baby.

I’ve read several of the reports and the top down management and poor attention to research data (actual data) was raised multiple times. A religious obsession against intervention is as bad as the earlier obsession that all birth should be medically managed resulting in injuries and problem births. Incidentally that is not cited as cause in all the reports, its raised a significant factor in a couple of them. Ideology superseding actual data is a problem whether it drives to non intervention or over medicalisation.

You individually may have experienced a good male doctor. Most of us have. Most of us have also experienced the other kind. Both experiences are irrelevant anecdotes to the systemic data on problems for women in the NHS both as patients and staff. My experience of NHS clinics is that first name for women is the default whilst title is the default for men. The poor treatment often received by minority women is also well documented in multiple reports.

The data still shows that for a normal healthy pregnancy with no contraindications complications arise less frequently and post natal recovery/infection rates are better at home (or it did when I went through it again a couple of years back). For complications or higher risk pregnancies the data points the other way.