Should I consider a homebirth this time around?

[duchesse]

I had two utterly uneventful and lovely homebirths 14 and 11.5 years ago. At the time, we lived less than 10 minutes from the hospital and I was in my late 20s.

This time around, we live in rural Devon, about 20 minutes from the nearest large hospital, and I am now 41.

Our hospital is having a midwive unit built that should be finished by the time this one is born, and that includes three birthing pools. Am quite fancying the idea of a water birth...

What I wanted to know is this: Are there any extra risks associated with increased age that would be more likely picked up in hospital during labour? Or am I just as likely to have a perfectly uneventful birth as I was in my 20s?

ooh have a lovely homebirth again..
can't explain it but if you have done it twice before then do it again

The homebirth site is usually pretty well researched and this page about older mums seems to say there isn't really enough evidence to decide one way or the other.

Have a dig around and maybe post on the homebirthUK mailgroup - there are some MWs active on there at the moment that would be able to give you an opinion based on a LOT of practical experience of HB.

But my gut feel would be to HB again unless something crops up

Thanks ladies! That homebirth site is good, Tangle. Thanks. Loads of positive elderly codger birth stories too.

loopy- do you live over towards Dartmoor?

My midwife's face fell when I said I quite fancied using the midwife unit at hospital. I think she's keen on home births. I may well reconsider, always assuming that our house is not filled with builders in August!

loopy- forgot to mention there are plans for an Exeter area meet-up that you might be interested in: here.

I probably won't go this time because I don't "know" any of those ladies, but you might.