I never thought I'd say this but I'm considering a home birth - would love you hear your HB experiencs, good and bad

[GhoulsAreLoud]

I had a horrible, medicalised hospital birth which ended in failed ventouse, forceps and a nasty episiotomy.

With hindsight I now know that DD's position was very poor and I could have done more to get her into a better position before labour, so that's on my list for next time.

I also remember who f*cking horrible labour felt literally the minute we got to hospital. I really want to avoid that again.

I just wanted to hear a few home birth stories while I mull over what I should do this time...

Was going to put this in chat as this section is not very fast-moving..

I know lots of you lovely mners have had homebirths!

Well I had a homebirth 4 months ago and it went really well. Contractions began about midday when I was 1 day overdue. Called midwife, got DD1 sent off to grandparents. I got my living room all ready for the birth. And kind of rocked on my hands and knees till the midwife arrived. When she arrived and examined me I was fully dilated (I labour fast but thought I would be only 6 or 7 cms). So no time for pain relief, She popped my waters for me to bring on the pushing sensation, so started pushing while still on hands and knees and literally 2 pushed later she was out and was not even 4 oclock! By 6 oclock everything had been packed up and living room tidied and I was up in a nice cosy bed enjoying getting to know my little baby. Was a really lovely homebirth and it couldnt of gone better.
Was rather different to my first labour which was in hospital and strapped to the bed on my back with legs in the air!
Hope that your labour goes a lot smoother than your last

grammar is terrible, typing one handed while balancing said 4 month old on my knee!

That's a great story, thanks snugsy (and congratulations!)

I too hope to avoid the stirrups of doom this time round.

smugsy

Oh go for it!

My hb was just the best experience and I would recommend anyone to consider one if there's no obvious reasons why you shouldn't.

I had dd 4 years ago in hospital...straightforward pg and labour, but delivered in classic 'lying on back on the bed' pose! Mainly because it was my first and I had little idea how else births could go.

After speaking to friends who had delivered at home, when I discovered I was pg again I made the decision to go for a hb. I loved the idea of being in my own environment, being more relaxed and in control. And I was desperate to avoid the horrendous postnatal ward after birth!

Ds was born 9 weeks ago at home without any complications. My pg was straightforward again, and my mw was supportive of my plans. I read and researched lots as my dh was a little apprehensive, but ultimately supportive too.

We hired a pool although as it happened I was only in there for an hour as it slowed my contractions down. Ds was born after 5 hours labour and was a truely amazing experience....being able to relax with him on the sofa immediately after was fab.

Lots of luck with your birth

Oh and from the male perspective dh said he felt so much more useful this time....the mw's were very 'hands-off' so I felt more supported by dh.....and he even disappeared at one point to make bacon rolls for everyone!

I had a fantastic home waterbirth with ds2 after an emerg section with ds1.

DS2 birth laid a lot of ghosts to rest that surrounded ds1 birth. I am still on a high over it one year on.

birth story here

Whatever your decision, I hope your experience seconf time around does the same for you as it has for me

THanks everyone.

Ilike, great birth story - your DS was exactly the same weight as my DD was - I had been worrying about having another giant baby at home but maybe I shouldn't

Had a wonderful homebirth for my first baby who is now 7 months old. I had a very long latent labour stage getting to the magic 4cm (had first contraction on the Wednesday, was finally 4cm dilated by 11pm on Saturday night, with virtually no sleep inbetween), and I'm glad I was at home as I'm pretty sure if I'd been in the hospital, the MWs and Drs would have wanted to hurry things along which would probably have led to a whole load of interventions.

I was absolutely exhausted by the end of it, but I'm so glad I was at home for the hard part, as I think I would have thrown in the towel and opted for pain relief (something to help me sleep!) had I been elsewhere, and I'm pretty sure my straight-forward delivery (no tears, alert happy baby) was a result of feeling so relaxed and comfortable at home, surrounded by attentive midwives and amazing DH. Having 2 midwives all to yourself is reason enough to consider a HB, if you ask me.

I absolutely agree that getting the baby into the right position makes things a whole lot easier.. I did loads to try and get her into a good position, and I don't know what did the trick, but I think walking the dog for an hour twice a day, every day until I had my first contraction really helped, and plenty of ante-natal yoga, bouncing and sitting on my swiss ball watching the telly to pass the last weeks, and then lots of walking up and down the stairs when the contractions started!

Good luck, whatever you decide to do.

ds1 was 9lb 3oz, so I was expecting to have another big baby. I totally believe I will just have big babies. I am tall and all of the babies on both sides have been on the big side. Acceptance and belief in yourself and your body helps dispel the fear and worry.

I only had a graze with ds2 and I believe that is due to a good labour and birth position and being in water (helps the skin to stretch)

What are your worries about size?

I'm not particularly tall myself, and I was under 7 pounds at birth, so the giant babies aren't from my side of the family.

DD had a big head, and it got stuck. She had a huge haemotoma (sp?) on her scalp until she was over two months old. I know that the issue there was position, rather than size...but I guess size just feels like another issue to get over.

Re: position, I also walked my dog every day until the end, but my main issue was the way I sat most days at work (work from home and got into a habit of sitting on the sofa with my legs beside me). I know I need to make sure my knees are lower than my stomach so will work on that this time. Going to do lots of swimming as well.

How about sitting crossed leg on the sofa? Or using a desk but sitting on a birthing ball instead of a chair?

I pretty much didn't move from all fours all through the labour and birth which I imagine helped with ds2 position.

I also done antenatal yoga which I enjoyed and helped keep me supple.

I agree it does feel like an issue to get over, and it doesn't help when the medical establishment bang on about it - expecially as it's out of your hands.

Try and go down the acceptance route. It helps you get into the right head space. Chances are you will have a good sized baby, but trust that you, your body and your baby know what they are doing. I know this sounds a bit hippyish, but many of the hurdles and fears we have are psychological.

Good luck

I tried for 2 home births and ended up with 2 emergency c/sections - transferred to hospital both times on medical advice. I was glad I tried for a home birth. I didn't feel I'd "failed" because it was not a natural delivery. Go for it, is my advice, and good luck.

At the time we lived 5 minutes drive from the hospital anyway. This helped reassure DH and my parents that a home birth would be ok, because it wouldn't take long to get there if there was a problem. With DS2 we had flashing blue lights and sirens so we got there very fast indeed .

Near us in South London the NCT run a workshop for potential home birthers. It was just one morning on a weekend. That was very useful.

GhoulsAreLoud

I had a very straightforward and easy HB with DS2: bought a nice inflatable pool, laboured for 5 hours with tens and the pool, midwife only arrived 1 hour before DS2 did. It was without doubt a fabulous improvement on the hospital birth I had with DS1 and DS2 was much healthier throughout the first months of his life, probably as a direct result.

However, having said that I think it's very important to think clearly about the risks involved and how you would manage those. All the studies I've seen on the UK situation suggest that for a straightforward healthy pregnancy, the risks of a homebirth are equivalent to those of a hospital. Which is fine - until you turn out to be the 1 in 10,000 to whom the risk applies. My feeling is that you need to do quite a bit of research and be very clear in your head about certain key questions. Things like: 'at what point would I feel a transfer is appropriate?', 'what, practically, would I need to transfer?', 'how can I support myself emotionally if I have to transfer in?'. The last thing you need is to feel that you have 'failed' in some way at home birth, as well as having a grim first birth experience.

I hope that doesn't put you off and this might not feel like an unalloyed positive post: it's not meant to, HBs are marvellous things. But they do put the emphasis on the women doing them to really understand the risks and manage them as well as they can, because you can't rely on instant full scale medical intervention.

My first birth was a lot like yours. Home birth second time around, incomparable. Still fecking hurt through (sorry ) but absolutely no comparison in terms of dignity, comfort, doing what I wanted, being in my own bed afterwards, decent food etc. IME midwives love home births. Big babies, by the way, 9lb 10oz and 9lb respectively. Good luck!

though, not through

Oh, GhoulsAreLoud,

Look what I found on YouTube: I think this sums up perfectly the atmosphere of a good home birth.

Am blubbing rather unashamedly at my desk now

Had rubbish labour in hospital first time round - horrible midwife, dirty facilities and was very scared. Completely different story with DS2 five months ago when I stayed at home in pool using hypnobirthing.

After I had a show in the evening we had a takeaway and early night. At 1am I woke up and we watched some TV and snacked. At 3am I got in the pool. Midwife arrived at 8am (after several forceful conversations with midwife unit about their resources!) Jack was born at 9am weighing 8lb 9oz with no pain relief.

It was so lovely being at home in familiar surroundings with access to anything I might want. I felt in control of my labour and so felt really relaxed. Midwife left me to it and did no internal examinations at all. DS1 was there for the birth which was lovely. 3 hours after Jack's birth I was dressed and drinking tea with my neighbours!

Go for it! There's loadsa info on www.homebirth.co.uk which will allay any fears you might have.