Homebirth at 36 weeks.

[offtobuttonmoon]

Had appointment with midwife today who told me that they would refuse me a homebirth if I went into labour at 36 weeks. I never bothered saying anything because the birth is a little way off. My last baby was born at 36 plus 5 weeks.

If I do labour at this gestation then I want to stay at home and she will have to support me with this choice.

Has anyone else had a similar experience? Did you have quite a battle on your hands?

I've had 2 of my 3 at 35 weeks, after premature rupture of membranes at 34 weeks, and been told homebirth is out of the question before 37 weeks, as some babies at 35 or 36 weeks experience problems - DS was in an incubator for 2 days at 35 weeks. Obviously quite a difference between 35+0 and 36+5. Maybe arguing that your dates, as on blue notes, are a bit wrong would work..? Don't know what else to suggest apart from not doing all the things that can set contractions off... (Sorry, stating the obvious here).

I'm Due in June and would love a homebirth, but with my history I doubt it will happen...

well, where i live, they wont bring the kit round until bang on 37 BUT thats just where I am - i asked for it later but they just fluffed it and refused. it depends on how hardcore you want to go, i mean i would hate to go into labour at home and have nothing there, but if you are happy to wait and let them bring stuff round at the last minute (hour, whatever) then just sit it out. the only thing they cando is section you because you are putting baby at risk, which i very very very much doubt they would do.

NB i have one friend who wante HBs and didnt get them because there simply werent enough midwifes, so they had to go into hospital.

I chose that I would stop at home from 35 weeks if I felt safe.

I had a flutter at 34 and I told the midwife I was staying put but it was my second child I was a good size etc
I was armed with information and it was a choice I made - you can always be monitored at home if you do go pop and then go in if need be.

I had my kit at 35 weeks because I had a previous history of very very quick births and the MW knew that I would come in if I felt unsafe or concerned in ANY way.

my first child arrived at 36 weeks my second at 37+5

Thanks so much for your responses.
I love the HB web sites and www.aims.org.uk/

I really want to enjoy my pregnancy and not have to worry about conflict. Hate it!

Ours is a very positive HB area and it's 37+ here too, though there's no kit to drop off, they just bring it with them when they come. My first was born (planned) at home at 37 +5 (search my name various stories!) and was very mucousy for a while. The homebirth website has some fabulous stories but does also say that babies born at or before 36 weeks are markedly more like to suffer breathing difficulties of various degrees. And even just a few days makes a difference, it really does. I'd happily do a HB at 36+5 or +6 but at 36 dead, I just don't know. That's a month early, and I'm fairly certain I wouldn't do it at 35 weeks unless it was a top of the scale baby size wise. Ds1 was only 6lb 4 at nearly 38 weeks, so another two weeks early would have put him at barely 5lb.

But beyond all this, and as you know, they can't just 'refuse' you a HB, so if you're happy with your choice stand your ground and do the broken record trick - 'I'm having this baby at home right now, I expect you to attend and will hold you responsible if anything goes wrong etc' Repeat ad nauseum!

sparkle12mar08 thank you so much for your kind reply. I am so rubbish on mumsnet. I have tried to run your HB search and failed. I always end up welling up when I read HB stories, esp. with my pregnancy hormones at large.

My DD was 36+5 and was over 3 kilo's, BF within 15 mins and has never stopped!

Personally I wouldn't do a homebirth at 36 weeks.

My dd was born in hospital at 37 + 3 and my dd was born at home at what I thought was 37 + 0, but on reflection was probably more like 36 + 5. Both of my children needed help to breath. My ds took 2 mins with oxygen before he took a breath by himself and his apgar score was only 6 at 1 minute. He was HUGE and so birth weight wasn't a factor. I suspect the fact that they were both early contributed to their breathing problems. The problems clearly weren't major and the midwives dealt with them very well, however, I wonder how much worse it could have been if they were born a week earlier.

offtobuttonmoon, do you know if this baby is another girl? DS's consultant in SCBU told me that girls born at 35-36 weeks generally do better than boys... My experiences bear that out
DS born at 35+0, I'd gone into labour naturally, easy delivery with only g&a, he arrived weighing 7 pounds 6 ounces! Taken away instantly as very low apgar, needed 12 hours in incubator in neonatal intensive care, followed by 36 hours in regular cot on IV in neonatal special care. Then 2 days of phototherapy in my hospital room for jaundice.
DD2 born at 35+0 after induction, another easy delivery with only g&a, she was 6 pounds 5 ounces, so still a great weight but significantly smaller than ds. Midwife sent paediatrician away instantly, she was clearly fine. They wanted me to stay in hospital for 48 hours with her, and at last minute her jaundice started and she had 2 days of phototherapy in my room....

Both times, major drag, and would have much rather been at home - in terms of the deliveries themselves there was no need for me to be in hospital. But if you do end up delivering pre37 weeks at home, just be aware that the baby might end of with a clinical need that involves the 2 of you going into hospital immediately or after a few days.

Fingers crossed for you that baby hangs on in there until 37 so that you don't end up having to deal with this conflict that you're dreading... last thing you need when pg is that kind of stress...

Obviously they have to put a date on 'term' and it's 37 weeks. Some later babies and some earlier babies behave as if they are the other way round but the line must be drawn somewhere. Babies born before 37 weeks are more likely to have short term problems with breathing, temperature and blood glucose levels. They also sometimes have problems with sucking and jaundice. Most will not but as we cannot predict which will have a problem they all need a period of monitoring which cannot be done at home.

However if you have a good size baby who does not struggle during your labour then they will be less likely to have used precious reserves of energy but again until the actual birth you won't know if that will be the case.