Mum-to-be with breech baby is shunning hospital for home water birth

[TheHerald]

A mum-to-be who has been advised to have a C-section because her baby is breech is instead raising £2,000 for a private delivery at home in a birthing pool. www.plymouthherald.co.uk/Plymouth-mum-determined-breech-baby-boy-home/story-25901543-detail/story.html

CS are primarily risky for the mother, due to the risks associated with surgery. Whilst there are risks of respiratory issues for baby (which are almost always curable if a baby is not premature); if a baby is being delivered by ELCS over 39 weeks and the mum is not already in labour the risks to the baby are vanishingly small.

No-one could offer my unborn DD the same statistics with a VB. I was happy that the serious risks to me of ELCS, in their 100,000s to 1, were risks worth taking.

It's not a popular view on here, nor a popular view in general but having done both VB and ELCS I know which I'd promote.

I think there is probably a more sensible middle way. If this woman would agree to jettison her sister as birthing partner and agree not to film then she could give birth in hospital with the independent midwife with her. Other people have said that this woman is very experienced with natural breeches so hopefully that would mean that she would have the best chance of getting the natural breech birth she wants but also would be close to the emergency care if needed. I know people like to bang on about home births but I've always been pretty much of the opinion that once you're actually giving birth it would make very little difference if you were in a room in New York, Timbuktu or Tokyo as long as it was relatively comfortable, you just don't care where you are.

I have to say I judge her a bit for seeming to put things like having her sister there, fairy lights, pictures up and a souvenir video over safety.