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Pregnancy

Talk about every stage of pregnancy, from early symptoms to preparing for birth.

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Original poster

Is it normal for midwives to suggest a home birth when you had more than two babies ?

33 replies

LilyLoo · 22/05/2007 20:27

I was just wondering why they do this ?
I had suggsetion made to me today . Neighbour had one last week it's her 4th and friends also having one it's her 3rd.

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Catz · 22/05/2007 20:33

I think there's a general push towards home births (at least where I live) I've been asked twice to consider home birth and this is my 1st and I'm about 20 mins from the hospital. Three people I know have recently had their 1st at home (though all lived close to hospital). The impression I got was that they were trying to encourag home birth, not sure whether this is out of concern for mothers or a lackof beds but I'd have thought that it was quite midwife intensive to have lots of home births.

tortoiseSHELL · 22/05/2007 20:34

It is cheaper for the NHS to have homebirths actually, and a lot nicer for the mother as well (and I would venture to say the baby!). I've had one hospital and two home births, the home ones were an order of magnitude more fantastic than the hospital one!

THere's something nice about settling back in your own bed with a nice cup of your own tea, and having a bath in your own bath!

Original poster

LilyLoo · 22/05/2007 20:52

I am quite tempted to be honest after my hospital experiences. So it is being oushed more then in general i hope it's for the benefit to the mums and babies and not because it's cheaper though

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lulumama · 22/05/2007 20:54

home births should be offered to every mum, for first , second, and in fact all babies ( with some valid exceptions) but they aren;t !

i know 2 women who have had their 3rd babies at home and loved it, and am doula-ing for a lady , due her 3rd , any minute now..also a home birth!

i can think of nothing nicer, after you have had a baby , than to get in your own bath , then your own bed!

Original poster

LilyLoo · 22/05/2007 20:57

i agree lulu i am seriously considering this as last pg was trouble free and natural the only down side was the lack of care in hospital.
First pg was an induction so slightly different.

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lulumama · 22/05/2007 20:59

our PCT wants to increase home births, as it is less than 1%......it is as safe as hospital birth, and i know there are a lot of positive stories on mumnset and here!

CorrieDale · 22/05/2007 21:00

I think that if enough midwives can be recruited to make the increase in home births viable, then it's a win-win thing. It's cheaper so more money can be spent on looking after sick people, and it's nicer for mother and baby. And, I should imagine, nicer for a midwife to do what she was trained to do, rather than being bossed around by registrars, or studying traces.

lucysmum · 22/05/2007 21:02

my midwife kept suggesting this for my third pregnancy. DH said no way and i think i preferred knowing i was close to medical help if needed. in the event dd3 got stuck (shoulder dystocia - big baby, overdue - classic signs apparently) and the MW who visited me at home afterwards said 'oh, good job you didn't have her at home...' grrr !

apeainapod · 22/05/2007 21:03

I think by now my MW knows that any suggestion apart from hospital, drugs, intervention won't get a positive answer!

Although in saying that........
It keeps crossing my crazy mind to have a home birth now - number 4, but I just don't think that I am brave enough. Although the fact that the hospital is 50 minutes away and my MW is 1 minute down the road might actually play a part in my thinking.

OK scenario - what happens if the baby gets stuck or one of us gets into difficulties - what happens? Surely there is a higher risk of 'disaster' by the time you have waited for the ambulance etc etc....

Original poster

LilyLoo · 22/05/2007 21:07

lulu is it statisically as safe then ?
i only 15 min from hospital anyway and would love to have a midwife throughout the birth who didn't have to look after lots of other people if it happened to be a busy night.

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OpenUnilecturer · 22/05/2007 21:09

I had number two at home - number one in hospital was ok but they did not want me to squat and then the midwife went off for her dinner and told me to wait till she came finished her pudding - how the heck do you wait!

Home birth was lovely, 2 year old asleep in the next room, I could stand up all the way through with no one telling me to lie on my back.

DH ran me a lovely bath afterwards with candles and brought me a tuna sandwich to eat - if you are not nervous about birth I would recommend it. Still got the amniotic fluid stains on the rug.

SoupDragon · 22/05/2007 21:09

It's statistically safer in fact for a normal, low risk pregnancy.

fannyannie · 22/05/2007 21:10

my MW with DS1 (my first pg) thought I'd be an 'ideal' candidate for a homebirth - and really hoped I'd go into labour during an antenatal class as they "had everything they needed at the surgery" , .

Sadly for her I had a CS in hospital.

apeainapod · 22/05/2007 21:13

I think all pg mners should be 'asssigned' mn doulas for 10 months!

Any questions we all have could be directed to teh one person and get 'straight and honest' answers rather than be told what we should be doing........

lulumama · 22/05/2007 21:27

what is the name of that study soupy, is it the happy birthday or something?

Original poster

LilyLoo · 23/05/2007 08:59

good idea apea!

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apeainapod · 23/05/2007 09:58

I think lulmama should be take the lead - I think she kind of knows what she's talking about!!!!!

A friend just had a home birth this morning - 2 tanks of gas and air -ooohhhhh it gave me goosebumps. I think I'll stick to the hospital - unless anyone out there is willing to take on the challenge of convincing me that a home birth is better!

LunarSea · 23/05/2007 09:58

I was told to plan a home birth if I have another one (which I almost certainly won't), after ds2 arrived so fast that we didn't get to the hospital which is only about 6 minutes away!

Original poster

LilyLoo · 23/05/2007 10:00

Will be more than i had opportunity for last time apea. Luckily somone came to take my dinner away from a side room and noticed i was about to give birth any minute dd came 6 min later. Just enough time to get to labour ward

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apeainapod · 23/05/2007 11:32

Lily and Lunar - you were both very quick!!

I had DS1 in literally 48 hours, DS2 in 15 hours and DD in less than 2 hours.

Another case for me to go to the hospital is that the DR is saying my 16 weeks old bump is more in line with an 18/19 week old bump - we're looking at a big one! The other 3 were 7.8, 8.4 and 8.10. Ouch.....

StripeyKnickersSpottySocks · 23/05/2007 11:53

I'm halfway thru writing a 4000 word essay on homebirth.....zzzzzzzzz.

But yes, it should be offerred to everyone. Women should be able to make an informed choice about where the ywant their baby. There are all sorts of benefits, research shows women need less pain relief as they cope better and quicker in their own homes. Women having homebirths are less likely to have medical intervention, so avoid all the risks that go with these interventions.

And the research does show that for low risk women homebirth is as safe as hospital.

Snaf · 23/05/2007 12:05

How can that possibly be boring, stripy?

Summary of the Birthday Trust report here For low-risk women homebirth is as safe as hospital birth and in terms of morbidity/lower rates of intervention is it in many ways safer. Much reduced chance of section, instrumental delivery and other interventions, plus healthier babies (higher Apgar scores) and better breastfeeding rates. Plus the psychological advantage of being on home turf makes for less need for pharmacological pain relief and 'easier' labours (although this may of course be relative! )

As lulu says, home birth should be offered as a valid choice for all healthy women - and seen through by the maternity services, not simply paid-lip-service-to, iyswim

Absolutely, corriedale

SoupDragon · 23/05/2007 12:06

I think it's just Birthday rather than "happy birthday", Lulu. Can't remember the full name!

SoupDragon · 23/05/2007 12:07

See, Snaf(u) knows what it's called.

As I'm very fond of saying, the best bit of the homebirth for me was that BabyDragon got to have our home address on her birth certificate under "place of birth".

lulumama · 23/05/2007 12:09

apea...i'll online doula you !!

i think summerfruit has just had a 9 lb + baby at home..second baby!

for me , the appeal is not having the slightly hysterical journey to hospital

not having to worry about being sent home because you are not in labour

you get the holy grail of one to one care

you can mobilise, vocalise and labour as you want to, without being told off for making to much noise or interfering with being monitored

you can eat and drink when you need to

you can adopt whatever position is best for you, not one that fits with the birthing room and its equipment

you can bath in your own bath afterwards and get in your own bed

women always had babies at home.that was the norm for a long time !

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