Why homebirth?

[Castanet]

I have been reading different threads on MN and the number of people who insist on having a homebirth is astounding. What is so great about it and why are so many people willing to take a chance with the wellbeing of their baby, because if things go wrong, and they do, sometimes, wouldn't you want to have all the medical help and expertise of the best consultants at hand? Just wondering.

also in a hospital unless you were high risk you would still only have a m/wife delivering you, although I understand the point about having specialists on hand.
As I said I had two hospital births which were just as pleasant [well lo2 was a little stressful as I said!] as the homebirth, so really am on the fence about this one.

Castanet, are you pregnant? Is this your first? Are you from the UK, I know the setup is different in other countries.
I don't really understand why you would want or need a consultant involved in a normal birth. Midwives are the experts in normal birth, obstetricians are the experts if there are problems.

Agree, in the event of an emergency hospitals are not necessarily the safest places to be unfortunately. Consultants make the wrong decisions, you are not given an emergency c/s until it's too late, midwives won't react properly. Just ask on here about mistakes made in hospitals that have cost mums their babies, there are some Mumsnetters that have had terrible experiences at the hands of so called specialists.

Whereas at home the midwives refuse to take any chances. Any sign of things going wrong and they send for the ambulance. They are much more cautious and because many of them have been involved with you from early on, they know what is normal for you and what is not. They provide a much higher level of care. Therefore I believe it is safer to deliver at home.

Yes I'm pregnant, yes it's my first and yes, I live in London.
What I'm after here is the logical reasoning in favour of the homebirth, I have decided how my little one will be born long time ago and this thread is not about me. I have been simply wondering WHY do some mothers so strongly favour homebirth as to my mind, it's not the safest option for the baby.
It's interesting to read everybodys opinions but again, so far I see no clear reasoning apart from the comfort of the mother.

I am preggers with number one so no prior experience other than that of my friends. I have chosen a midwife-led unit, 10 minutes from the hospital if I need to transfer. I don't think a home birth would ever be right/comfortable for you Castanet because you want the reassurance of being at hospital so I don't think you would ever be convinced otherwise. But I doubt very much that anyone on here is intending to sacrifice the safety of their baby - they have come to a balanced decision based on the information available...Ultimately if you have a hospital birth and the next person has a home birth and you are both happy - what is the problem?

Rhubarb, so in effect, you will take double chance with the wellbeing of your child as if things go wrong, you'll still trust your baby to the 'specialists who can make terribly wrong decisions' and add the risk of losing time through having to call the ambulance and go to hospital anyway. Makes no sense, sorry.

I suppose for me the stressful quick delivery of lo2, at hospital, may be an argument for staying at home, where I could have relaxed in my mind and not fretted about giving birth in the car etc, as he had to be checked later on for any signs of shock.
Had I stayed home for him, he wouldn't have been so stressed either.

I'm getting back up on the fence now.

sarahloumadam, as I pointed out, this thread is not about me but the reasoning behind homebirth. Thank you for your reply though!

Look at the statistics if you want logic.

Read about the cases were things have gone wrong in the hospitals and why. A lot of the problems could be avoided if better care was given in hospital.

Did you see the recent documentary done on midwives in one London hospital?

There are a shortage of midwives in the hospital, so you end up being cared for by an assistant. They are very stressed and if things go wrong, they might not pick up on it if they are ultra busy and using assistants to cover for them. And of course there is MRSA and the fact that many maternity units are filthy. One Mumsnetter went to have a bath only to find the bath clogged up with blood from another new mum. She had to clean it up herself.

All in all, home is a safer place to be.

Castanet you do sound rather blinkered, imo!! You seem to have the bit in your teeth about how hospital births are great and fab and you just wont let go!

I would also like to pick up on your point about a specialist/consultant delivering your baby. Well, unless you are planning to have a CS or you have an "emergency" CS, I'm afraid you'll "just" be getting a midwife!

Evidence is there with regard to homebirths being more intervention-free than hospital births. You just have to choose to actually read it rather than waving away evidence and putting your hands over your ears and singing "la la la, i'm not listening!".

I think that perhaps after the birth of your first baby you might be in a better position to form an opinion of what a hospital birth is like, good or bad.

You are also assuming that hospitals "out in the sticks" lack the proper personnel to deal with emergencies etc. I think you are also blinkered on that point.

You do not lose time in an ambulance. As I have said, they have to get the theatre ready anyway, you aren't just wheeled down there straight away you know! You have to wait for the anaesthetist, the surgeon, the theatre. All of these things can be got ready whilst you are making your way there in the ambulance, so no time is lost.

And as I have already stated, you get much more one-on-one care at home, the midwives are more attentive to you and can pick up on things much more quickly than in a very busy maternity ward where you might not see the same midwife from one minute to the next.

But it seems to me that you are not interested in any of this. I could quote stats until I was blue in the face. You just want to tell us all that we are negligent for having our babies at home and make yourself superior somehow for not putting your unborn child "at risk".

So for the reasons I think you are out for a fight, I am bowing out.

Rhubarb, I have looked at statistics and vast majority of babies in this country are born in hospitals. Things can go wrong anywhere but the question is, if your baby needs immediate medical intervention to survive would you rather be at home with a midwife or at the hospital with specialists at hand?

specialists are not just "at hand".

If you need immediate medical care you could be waiting up to an hour in hospital to get it.

You are incredibly naive.

Can I suggest that you go private because if you go with the NHS you will get a very nasty wake-up call.

I'd be really interested if you could find any evidence that home-birth isn't the safest option as you suggest. I don't think I've ever heard on these boards any stories about babies dying or being in danger during a home-birth, although I have about hospital, medicalised births

Of course that may jsut be because statistically more people go for the hostpital option than the home option, and also that generally you will only be allowed a home birth in low-risk circumstance. That's why I'd love for you to find any information to back up your feeling that hsopital births are safer.

Castanet - have you not been reading any replies?????

As people have said, no emergency is actually "sudden". There is time to spot things if anything is going to go wrong and then the MWs will stick you in an ambulance straight away.

Ah bugger, i cant be bothered to reply to you any more.

Trip trap!

I not against hospital births, but don't see how they're especially more medically helpful, either. Statistically, for low-risk pregnancies, outcomes for both mother and baby are equally good if not better for planned homebirths than for hospital births -- and both mothers and neonates from low-risk pregnancies do sometimes die in hospital, too.

A good MW can tell whether labour is progressing steadily, and whether a transfer to hospital is advisable. That's part of their job. They're pretty incredibly cautious in my experience.

Boy if you think homebirth is nutty, you try the Freebirth movement. Even I'm a skeptic on that one.

Why are some respondents getting personal? There's no need for that.... If a reasonable discussion is too much, then I guess there's no need to continue. Thank you all who bothered to answer. Everybody is entiteled to their opinion, all I was looking for was a logical reasoning for homebirth and pointed out the essence of the replies which amounted to mum's comfort. Personal insults and onset of hysteria are so uncalled for.
Regards.

Rhubarb (etc.) -- I thought private hospitals all transferred their most emergency cases to NHS, anyway?!

How long does it take to get a true emergency C-section in hospital? Do they just put you under a General anesthetic because an epidural would otherwise take so long?

I was told (is this correct?) that it takes 45-60 minutes to get the doctor to come with the instrument tray for the epidural, 15-30 minutes to set the instruments up, 5 minutes to insert it and start the dose, 30 minutes or so for it to take affect? That's a minimum 90 minutes, right, of which half is the waiting for the doctor to set foot in the room, right?

I think MWs at homebirths are equipped and trained to do resuscitation on the infant, as good as you can get in hospital... am I wrong?

No you didn't. "Rhubarb, so in effect, you will take double chance with the wellbeing of your child as if things go wrong"

That is rather personal is it not? You are in effect, accusing me of not caring about the wellbeing of my unborn child.

You asked for logical evidence, we gave you some but you didn't respond, you just told us that we are all wrong and you are right and so you have ended the thread.

Silly girl! Is it the hormones getting to your brain?

people wouldnt have a home birth if they werent convinced they could do it, there is only i think 1 person on this thread who is having their 1st by homebirth, everyone else has had 1 or more babies in hospital before being confident enough to. If you are scared something is going to go wrong, then you are right, being in a hospital with the right equipment is the best option, but for all of us who know nothing is going to happen it really is the best option......

You mentioned that homebirths are for the comfort of the mother....well obviously, its us that has to give birth and 99% of us have had horrible experiences in hospitals.

Im rather confused as without trying to sound horrible, you have never given birth and are basically backing up hospital births 100% without actually experiencing one

As i say i do not mean to sound nasty, maybe its the pg hormones, but you asked why, we told you and your telling us different..........

or maybe im just reading it all wrong

There are many women (including some MNers) who have lost babies in hospital due to lack of proper care so there is an argument to be made that having a baby in a busy London Hospital IS taking a risk with your unborn baby's life.

I would doubt that anyone will be able to help you see things from another perspective because you have not come here looking for anything other than validating your own feelings.

When did birth become such a medical experience? How did consultants become the experts? What are the odds that a consultant will be present at the birth of your baby?

Sorry... What I meant to say is: You are so right! (Feel better now?)

castanet you seem to be assuming that if your in hospital you will have someone with you that will spot when things go wrong
YOU ARE SO WRONG
if you decide to have your baby in hospital be aware that there are not enough midwifes to go around and you will prob be left on your own
unless you are very lucky and happen to go into labour when there are not lots of other women in labour [ v v unlikely]

if you have a hb you WILL have a mw with you one to one
so the question you should really ask yourself if how safe is a hospital birth really ?
and what good is all the medical equipment in the world if theres no one with you to either 1. see if you need it
2. to use it

they wouldnt have a clue if anything was going wrong in hospital because no one will be with you

and for that reason i believe that a hb is far safer than hospital

sorry if that sounds a tad harsh but sadly that is the reality of the state of maternity hospitals in the country at the moment

the vast majority of women are left alone at one of the most scariest vunerable times of there lives
and when your left on your own anything can and does happen

I think it's very personal.
Foe me, I knew that to be at home i would feel confident and rlaxed to get on with it, and the home environment would enable me to avoid the more risky hi-tech approaches. AND that i would have expert help on hand - 2 qualified experienced mws, and a hospital nearby. Homebirth is NOT statistically more risky: yes, if a sudden and lethal emergency arises, but balanced against that is the lower rate of 'risky' intervention in homebirths.

I planned a homebirth (first baby) and laboured quite happily at home until I had been pushing a good long while. All without any pain relief except TENS and pool.Then went to hospital, as DS was OP and stuck. He was born with ventouse assistance - and the obstetrician said that had I been labouring in hospital DS would have been born by CS 'hours ago'. And yet he was never showing signs of stress, was born with an agpar of 9, (10 within a minute)and I avoided a serious abdominal operation.

OF COURSE medical advances and equipment have saved the lives of women who have access to them, and are partially responsible for the dramatic fall in deaths, but the Netherlands which has one of the very highest homebirth rates in the west also has a very very low mortality rate.

The role of confidence and anxiety in a woman's ability to labour has long been documented - if you feel most confident in a hospital then that is the best and safest place for you. But it isn't quite as straightforward as that for every woman who is a statistic!.

lol Rhubarb. I was also wondering where the personal insults were coming from, if not directly from her by calling us selfish and irresponsible!

I think this is an interesting question.
Before having a child, I didn't really understand why women wanted a homebirth.
Even though I had a generally positive experience with my hospital birth, and I'm going to have a hospital birth this time, I now appreciate some of the failings of hospital birth and the advantages of home birth.
Castanet, I see you are expecting twins, congratulations. But your experience of pregnancy and birth will therefore be more medically led than it is for the rest of us who are having singletons. I think you have an innacuarate view of what giving birth in an NHS hospital is like, and the extent of expert consultant involvement. It's really not like that for the rest of us.