Mums to be to decide who / where and when their baby will be delivered.

[LilyLoo]

More midwives at least 3,000 to give women choice by 2009.
Reality or not ?

One mum told not to smile as she wouldn't get on to labour ward if she doesn't look in pain. {shock]
Can't see this happening myself sorry to be a cynic.

Not.

This was my thread on the matter.

it'll never happen

no real choice IMHO until there are more midwives etc. All the MWs where i live did home births in their OWN TIME ... they were over worked and over stretched but all lovely - had a MW deliver my baby who i had never met but was a star ...

How lovely it would be and how naive you are when you expecting your first baby. I nearly gave birth in the waiting room because i didn't look in pain so wasn't examined. To say the midwife was shocked when she returned from her meeting was understatement. Good job the catering staff brought me my dinner and noticed i was about to give birth!

Have friend who is a childs nurse. She can't get a job but is on an agency books. She is getting loads of work at higher pay than if she had full time job.

I'm desperate for another homebirth but have been told I may have to go in as my hospital is shirt of midwives.

I'm half a mile out of radius of a hospital that has loads of midwives but they won't tak eme as I'm out of area, by only half a sodding mile or so!

3 women who had homebirths planned just recently, through my local hospital, were told when they were in labour that they'd have to go in.

I might just refuse to leave the house if this happens to me.

At the monent I'm trying to book myself in for a hom ebirth but also see if a local birth centre will take me if no-one will come out to me when I go into labour.

It's really pissing me off.

I've spoken to about 12 people and written 5 letters! I'll only know if I can have a home birth the day I go into labour!

cross fingers for you,teecee. I was told the same but got a homebirth thank god, with a wonderful mw!

That is awful TeeCee.

teecee, it's really worth getting at least 1 of the mws on side if you can. I really got to know one of my mws during my pg and I think that was why she was willing to go that extra mile for me when I was in labour (she basically carried on working after a hosp shift to be wiht me at home when she should have been off duty, a true saint!)
Hopefully you'll find one who'd feel it had made their year to be at a homebirth (there are quite a few who feel like this!)and will work the system as far as possible to try to be there for you. They have to warn you about coming in in case though.

I had a home birth and midwife was good. HOwever I think you have to be really tough to get it.

mind you - tbh we could have done it without midwife at a push (no pun intended) and if there was to be a next time I would be happy to do it with just DH (DH used to be a nurse)

How do I get a midwife on my side?
I t might just bee to early for that. I'm only 15 weeks so not really in the system propely yet.

I'm currently inder Queen Charlottes (NHS) hospital as they are fab and my eldest has Down's yndroem so I was put straight under their care with no 2 and again with this one.
(I had a home birth with them last time but an unoffucial one, she was really pro home birth and although the hospital was out of my area she happened to live really near me so it all worked out really well)

Now I've had a hom ebirth I don't want anything else.

My local hospital, althought improved / improving, has had 10 maternal deaths. Loads of midwives have left hennce they can't guarantee me my home birth as they are really short there.

I want a home birth so have to go through them but do NOT want to go in when it comes to it. Don't know what else to do tbh.

I didn't say anything until I was 30 weeks and had had loads of checks so they knew me and bubs were okay.
I found it easier to have the conversation when they had been telling me for 24 weeks that I was doing great and there were no problems, it gave them less room to say things like "what if something goes wrong"

TC - are you signed up to the HomebirthUK yahoo group (linked to www.homebirth.org.uk) ? It's a great group if you need support to make it clear to your midwives that you will be planning a homebirth and that you expect them to support you. If they're so short staffed then you really don't want to be in their hospital

cocoloco - no not yet but will look at that now.

Why is this so hard aye.
Todays' news really pissed me off. I'm bloody desperate for a home birth, I'm having a home birth, somehow, but it's not being made easy. No-one's said 'yes no problem that's great', not even slightly!

It's not that hard if you're prepared to put your foot down and stand up to them (like I did when I had my last baby, I was very stroppy and ended up with exactly the service I wanted - I would tell you to read my birth story on the homebirth site but then I'd have to reveal myself!)

But of course you'd rather be supported by your midwives rather than have to be confrontational, or have the worry of not knowing what will happen when you phone up in labour. I don't know why they make it so difficult when homebirths save the NHS money fgs!

I'm not a push over, I will get this home birth. More than happy to do foot stomping and as my eldest has SN's I'm used to fighting for things I shouldn't have to!

TeeCee are you at Queen Charlottes in London? If so, go and see the head midwife on the natural birth floor. Her name is Debbie Gould and she is wonderful and will help you figure it all out. I hope she is still there. She delivered my dd by vbac 4.5 years ago and was the nicest midwife I ever met in the uk.

Thanks for the name, I will do that, thank you. xx

Good for you TC
homebirthuk group

Massively appreciate the link and all your posts.
Sorry this turned into a help TeeCee thread!

Teecee, take a look at the AIMS website www.aims.org.uk.
I found this site helpful when I was trying to get my first home birth booked.
I used their letter as a basis for my own letter to the local head of maternity.
They never promised me a home birth but I think the fact I wrote the letter made them extra careful about trying to help me and I did get my home birth (three midwives in total, first one left as the others came).
They are not promising me anything this time round either (depsite my easy and relatively fast first labour) but I have no intentions of going to hospital to give birth if all is well...

Joined Yahoo site and emailed the people at Aims.
Thanks all.

The natural birth floor at Queen Charlotte's is pretty lovely. They have rooms with special beds that you can co-sleep with your baby and your husband can spend the night too.

I know it's lovely, you're spot on, had DD1 at a birth centre which was exactly the same and was planning on having DD2 at Queen Charlotte's BC. However once you've had one at home you can't compare! And if it works at the time I'd like DD1 to be there again at the end and maybe dd2. There's no place like home