37.5 weeks and until 10 minutes ago, I wasnt booked ANYWHERE!

[Bogeyface]

You gotta love useless midwives

I had said since my booking appointment that I wanted to book for home, all ok but was told I needed a visit from the supervisor of midwives i my 3rd trimester to warn me of the huge risk I was taking (their words!) because this is number 6. OK.

Then when I was 36 weeks I had an appointment with a consultant to discuss my severe SPD and the care plan for that, including possible early induction, which i told my communtiy MW about. She then cancelled my home booking without discussing it or saying a word to me. I am seeing the consultant again next week (when I will be 38 weeks on the nose) to discuss it again and I made it clear that if I went into labour before that then I would stick with the homebirth, so they obviously didnt book me in at hospital.

I found out today that I was not booked anywhere, and should have a birthing box here ready if I go into labour and should have had it for a week now. The supervisor came round half an hour ago in a fluster to do my home visit (and gave me all the scare stories to try and get me to change my mind) The midwife team have gone into overdrive because although I usually go over my EDD, in theory I could go into labour at any time and as my last labour was 3 hours and an induction, it wont be a slow one! My midwife just said "oh i thought you had changed your mind..." which begs the question why she didnt confirm my hospital booking, and the supervisor didnt seem too impressed so I think there may be a bollocking happening somewhere along the line!

I am booked now but I am cross because if I had gone into labour last night say, then there would have been a right old panic and I would probably have ended up in hospital simply because no one was prepared for my homebirth!

they would have brought a home birth kit with them if they needed to. Our trust does not drop them off in advance routinely. If you went into labour before 37 weeks you should have been in hospital anyway because that would make baby pre-term. Sorry it's been a bit of a mess but nothing has actually happened yet for you to complain about has it?

What are you complicationS? - If you are being consulatnt led it must mean that you are high risk no? In that case they would want you to go into hospital for the birth in case of complications. If a midwife is trying to get you to change your mind they must REALLY want hospital birth for you. Do you not think it wise to follow their advice?

I was consultant led and therefore 'high risk' and had a home birth. MW sometimes can be a bit over cautious in pointing out the risks - i guess if they didnt they wouldnt be given a balanced view of things - hence her trying to make you change your mind.
I think i would be a bit panicked if things werent sorted for me too - pregnancy seems so bloody uncertain you at least want your labour plans noted!

I hope you get the birth you want. Mine was a fab experience that I'm v glad i opted for - 2 hrs from having 'wind' to him shooting out. I wouldnt have made it to hospital anyway!!!

Reikizen - I didnt say I was going to complain, i was just shocked that it turns out I hadnt got a booking. I would have thought that there would be a fail safe that ensured every woman was booked somewhere and not just left floating as it were.

Bearslikehoney - I am not consultant led, i saw the consultant because my SPD is so bad that nothing more can be done by the physio so she suggested I see the consultant to see if she had anything she can do. I am technically high risk as this is my 6th child, thats all. No CS, no PPH, no problems at all. All that has been suggested is early induction if my cervix is favourable, and it was based on that the MW cancelled my home booking despite me saying that I wasnt sure I would go for it or not.

Boos - My last birth was induced and was still on 3 hours, so I dont think I would make it to hospital either with babysitters getting here and then getting to the hospital! That was one of my main reasons for home booking. As I said, I am only high risk because this is my 6th pregnancy although the study they cited has been proven to be flawed and inaccurate but they still have to go through the motions so that I cant sue them if anything goes wrong I suppose. I was just really shocked that there is a glaring hole in the system that means that a pg woman can be received care from community MW, scans etc and have no booking in place for 8 weeks! I am glad yours went well, it sounds like just the birth I am hoping for :)

Aargh sorry for awful grammar etc! In the middle of "words" with DH (who is a git but that isnt relevant to this :o )

Thanks bogey, I wasnt sure what you meant by SPD (I understand now but can't spell it!!)

Where are you? They really support home births in South Somerset. I considered one with this pg (my 2nd) but am expecting twins and need a cs. Mind you I had a MW who couldn't say the word "sex" - she told me dh and I needed to avoid "eeeeerrrrrrrm, making ermmmmm, you know, love." (I keep having bleeds). Some are rubbish, some are fab. Good luck on your baby's birth x

I am in Staffordshire and in my town they do support home births but seem to have a terrible fear of doctors! If the doctor says you shouldnt do something then the MW all fall over themselves to make sure you know how irresponsible you are being by going against their advice, despite the fact that you may have studied the risk against your own circumstances far more than the doctor has!

Mind you, the MW did say to me earlier (I think she could read my mind!) that I was nowhere near the highest risk HB they had had. She said that I was almost within normal bounds but for it being number 6, but she had had women who had been told that their baby would die and they still went ahead, and sure enough they lost their babies :(

Well midwives are not trained Dr's are they? The whole point about a patient being reffered to a Dr for care is because the Dr knows more than the midwife and has more experiece in dealing with the case. I wonder how many people would start complaining if a homebirth went wrong and they didnt get appropriate care?

sorry spelling ref!

Hi Bogey, good luck with your homebirth! You've obviously thought it through a lot. Just make sure that if push comes to shove (so to speak) you can get to the hospital quickly if anything goes wrong and the baby needs to be born immediately or needs a paediatrician at the birth, eg meconium aspiration. Eg check an ambulance can get to you in 5-10 mins and the journey to the hospital is only a few minutes even in the rush hour.

It's so sad to hear what you say about the women who were told their babies would die if they had home births but they went ahead anyway. Do you think they truly accepted the risk or that they didn't actually believe the midwives?

I saw something similar in North America a few years ago. The family were very religious and convinced God would not allow a problem with their homebirth as they were devout and had not sinned. They refused to go to hospital when problems arose during the birth, despite the midwife's insistance due to the prolonged labour and abnormal heartbeat. When the baby was finally born it turned out the cord was wrapped around her neck three times. The baby was brought to hospital immediately but had suffered such severe brain damage during the birth that a scan of her brain looked like an untuned TV set. She died in her family's arms. It was so sad. I didn't have a chance to follow up the family, so don't know if they regretted their decision or if they accepted the death as "God's will". Everyone agreed a planned homebirth had been acceptable and that the midwife behaved appropriately throughout. The only indication there was a problem came during the birth itself and the problem was caused by the family refusing to attend hospital during the birth when the midwife advised them to.

That is awful :(

I dont know about these other women, or even whether the MW was telling the truth, although I did hear about a woman locally who's HB baby died a few years back so maybe thats what she meant. SHe did roll her eyes in a "she was warned but didnt listen" kind of way though, so who knows what her reasons were? Did the US couple get arrested? I thought that HB wasnt legal over there? Or that there is a legal issue with it anyway.

I would never dream of putting the baby in danger. We live in a village on the outskirts of a small town and even in my car at rush hour it is no longer than 10 minutes to hospital, and blue lighted is about 4 (I know this thanks to an exploding appendix :o). If there is a good reason why I should go in (other than this is one too many babies for their protocol!) then I will of course.

Funnily enough, no one wanted to answer me when I asked why the consultant was considering induction as preferable to HB despite there being more proven risks with induction. I wonder why.............