Home birth

[zscaler]

Hello!

I wondered if anyone has had a home birth or is considering one? If so, I would love to hear your thoughts!

I’ve always liked the idea of a home birth, and with everything that’s current happening with CV19 it’s more appealing than ever. I mentioned it to my midwife and she says that home births are currently not available but likely will be by December (when I am due), so it’s certainly something we can consider later on.

Obviously all depends on me having a healthy pregnancy and it being considered safe by my midwife, I will be totally led by why she and other professionals think is safe. It was really encouraging to me though that she was positive about the idea.

Has anyone had a home birth experience, good or bad? Would anyone consider one for a first pregnancy?

Thanks so much everyone, all the experiences - good and bad - are so helpful to hear.

@Wolfgirrl

@twinklestars15

It's not opinion though is it? 45% of mums planning a first home birth end up in hospital.

You say this as if it’s a bad thing. That’s the good thing about modern medicine and the homebirth system. If you need / want to go to hospital you can - it shouldn’t be seen as a failure.

OP - I tried for a homebirth with no.3. Unfortunately found out I had Group B strep (Swab results from 2 days previous came back) as I was in labour. I transferred in to hospital for iv antibiotics. This was by far my best labour though. I loved labouring at home watching homes under the hammer and despite ending up in the back of my mums car during transition i felt in control the whole way through. Baby was born without any interventions - my first labour without syntocin - or pain relief (didn’t need it at home no time in hospital!)

I’m still very pro home birth and I’ve read a lot of evidence to support It. Will consider it for fourth baby - only thing holding me back is the toddler at home and the amazing toast you get on labour ward!

A friends baby is severely disabled because of a situation that occurred during a home birth. If they had been in hospital he would have been delivered quicker and not have the injuries he has now.

From a personal point of view, I haemorrhaged badly for both of my births. I have no medical history for this so was very unexpected. If I'd have been at home either time I would have died.

As you can see I am actively against hone births and agree with poster above that it's more for the mothers experience than the safety of the delivery.

Personally never considered a homebirth for two reasons :

• would want medical help available fast - 10 minutes is not fast enough

• I have zero interest in pain and plan on asking for an epidural. I've seen/heard of lots of people who go all whale songs and candles, only to change their minds halfway through when it gets really bad - and who then get told it's too late. No thanks. I was induced for my first so maybe it was more painful than natural labour but it was absolute agony, the worst pain I ever felt, and I'm so glad I was able to have the epidural (I'd have had it from the get go but doc said I had to be 5cm dilated first).

@Moo678

Well if the transfer is by ambulance, plus the fact you will have 2 midwives all to yourself at home, you could argue it is a stretch of NHS resources.

If modern medicine is so great (which it is) then I wouldn't be trying to avoid it with a home birth!

Not with first.
I wanted one with my first however because I'd had fertility treatment I was refused.
I nearly died giving birth due to something they couldn't have predicted if it had been a home birth I'd have not survived.

I had two home births. The births were great but aftercare is ime shoddy because the system just isn't prepared for it.

And as an alternative view my births would have gone a lot worse If I had tried for hospital births - one would have been on the roadside, the other would have still been a homebirth. I decided that an attended birth was safest, and the best odds of that were with a homebirth.

You have some great advice and comments here already :) Just wanted to say that you are doing the right thing by seeking as much information as possible, to be able to make whatever decision is right for you. Try not to be swayed by strong opinions that are not evidence based, and fear-mongering about hospitals (eg I think comments that hospital birth means you are more likely to have CS/forceps etc are a bit unhelpful and not necessarily true when you look at evidence). Some good research has already been discussed by PP, when you do look at research make sure that the groups are divided based on intended place of delivery rather than on where people actually delivered (a flaw of lots of reporting).
Overall it’s better to decide on homebirth based on confidence in your decision and comfort at home, than on being afraid of the hospital - and one absolute requirement for planned homebirth is that you have no reluctance to transfer if/when recommended.
Agree with PP that an alongside MLU gives the best of both worlds.
FWIW I have had one hospital birth - just wasn’t game for homebirth for first baby - but considering homebirth this time (rapid first labour means I may have no choice!).
Good luck :)