FTM -Home birth due to Covid

[Bumblebee111]

I’m 20 weeks. Whenever I mention home birth everyone shudders but I do understand why, I know women who have had major complications but I also know women who have flown through labour, I know home births are dependant on how your pregnancy is going and if you are high risk or not etc. I’m starting to consider it greatly because it means the world to me to have my partner there as well as my mum & sister etc which I/we cannot do due to Covid so am I crazy? I’d like to hear positive & to be honest even negative home birth stories if you ladies have them, I’m petrified either way but it’s just becoming an option more and more in my mind regardless. And I remember hearing ‘birth is not a medical procedure’ from somewhere and that is what makes me think I can do it at home again that is not to say I’m not aware of how it can also go wrong.

Personally I would not risk it. I understand wanting your family there but far more important than that is coming out of the birth with both you and your baby alive and well. That's the goal, everything else is window dressing.

It's all very well saying birth is not a medical procedure, but in a state of nature childbirth has had a historically high mortality rate. Often a medical procedure during birth is the difference between life and death, health and injury.

I have a friend who used to be an obstetrician and I know she would strongly advise anyone against this. Others will disagree and maybe if you are low risk you will very likely be fine. I just don't think the risk is worth taking.

I'm very much in favour of home births, but only for second or subsequent babies because you have an idea of how your body copes in labour.

I had a home birth with DC3 and it was truly one of the best experiences of my life. But I went for it only because I'd had a normal delivery with DC2 after a forceps with DC1, my midwife was happy that I was very low risk, and I was ten minutes from the hospital if it became necessary.

I wouldn't even have considered it for my first baby as I just didn't have a clue what would happen. I couldn't predict my pain levels, needing an epidural and then needing a forceps delivery. DC2 on the other hand was very easy and I was fine with gas and air.

However, discuss it with your midwife and do your research before you decide. You will need your partner to be 100 per cent on board as well if you decide it's the right thing for you.

@Inkpaperstars I totally understand where you are coming from, most points you have made is sort of why I would be afraid to have a home birth. You are right mine and babies health is first before my wants and needs. I still do long for home birth but your points I suppose are exactly my fears and why I wouldn’t go ahead I just wish it wasn’t that way for my own benefit haha

@DramaAlpaca Thanks for your reply & I know it’s not typically recommended for first pregnancies/deliveries however more to your point of how the body will deal with contractions this is my 2nd pregnancy 1st child to be technical (if all is well) and I know how my body will cope in that sense when it comes to pain and contractions but I do of course know where you are coming from. I’m only around 15 mins From my hospital if that makes a difference, and partner is happy to be there whatever I decide and is supportive of a potential home birth, I’m doing research as I go but it’s so hard as it’s very 50/50 to me it just seems amazing but I just have what if In the back of my mind

I had home births for my first and second babies and both were hugely positive, straightforward experiences. I was in the care of a midwife team who were very supportive of home birth and I had said with DC1 I was keen to have a home birth if possible but hadn’t made a fixed decision on it. In the end when the midwife came out to see me when I was in established labour I was already 9cm dilated so she called the second midwife straight away and we stayed at home. Because you have two midwives with you throughout - and they’re the same midwives, not changing due to hospital shift patterns - the support is amazing. I felt so much more relaxed and psychologically safe being at home - and that in turn I think helped my labour to progress more quickly and effectively. Ditto with DC2. I was low risk and I knew that if there was an issue, an ambulance would have been there in minutes and the hospital was 15 mins drive away (prob 10 mins in ambulance) - we are in London.
6 weeks ago I was induced early at 37+3 with DC3, on the labour ward, and that was a very different, much more medicalised experience - I didn’t feel supported and looked after in the same way although of course rationally I was in the best place if something went wrong, and given the circumstances that was where I needed to be.
Could you ask your midwife to talk you through how it works for home births in your area - and exactly what they do to make it safe, what happens in an emergency and when you need to transfer to hospital - so you have all the information to make a decision, and talk things through with your partner?
It’s also worth doublechecking, if you haven’t already, whether your hospital is offering home births at the moment. Earlier in the year they weren’t in my area of London due to midwife shortages / Covid.
I hadn’t realised until I had DC1 at home that it seems relatively unusual to have a home birth with your first. And because I was lucky to have had straightforward labours, and was able to cope with contractions without pain relief, I’d choose home birth every time! (Not going to have a fourth though...) Otherwise a midwife-led birth centre in hospital would be (for me) the other best option.

Also to say that you can plan for home birth and change your mind / transfer into hospital at the eleventh hour - but you can’t do it the other way round! It actually helped me to feel that I was keeping the options open in that way: if I had found early labour at home impossibly challenging, we would have gone to hospital. As it was I felt ‘in the zone’ and when the midwife said I had progressed that far already, it was easy to make the decision to stay at home.

Wow @BirdsDoIt I feel like your experiences are exactly my ‘expectations’ I guess, I am also in London! The second part of your message is I guess how I think, I believe if I got to a certain point where I felt I needed too I could transfer, honestly if my partner drove me we would be 9 mins away from my hospital! And at least I feel more in control of my own experience, again that is not to say it’s all breezy. Your experience in feeling safe and physiologically well is very reassuring as this is what I expected from a home birth and I definitely need to discuss the ins and outs with a midwife as at this point I havent come face to face with one yet but I do feel your experience has reassured my original decision and knowing I can change my mind if need be. Being in London too I do hope it will still be an option in terms of midwife availability, I will see midwife in a week so I will ask then (fingers crossed)

I had a brilliant home birth with my first baby and I'm planning one with my second - even more so due to Covid. Have a chat with your midwife. Also there is the Birthplace study for statistics on birth options which I found interesting and reassuring.

I also highly recommend The Positive Birth Company Digital pack if you want to look at hypnobirthing, wherever you decide to give birth. All the best x

@Emelene that is so reassuring to hear thank you for sharing your experience also I will be doing hypnobirthing/ purchasing positive birth company digital pack as I’ve heard many good things x

Following as I'm in the same position, but further along. My midwife has said she's happy to set up two birth plans, one for home and one for hospital, so I can decide at the time (possibly based on what the restrictions are at the time).

I had a home birth with my first baby 4 weeks ago! It was amazing, felt very safe with the community midwives and went very well. Really positive experience. Definitely recommend hypnobirthing.

However the hospital policy (not in London) was that I could still only have 1 birth partner due to Covid so unfortunately my mum couldn’t be there.

I just had DC2 at home. (DC1 was born in hospital.) It was a very positive experience.
I was in two minds about whether to go for a home birth but as a PP said, if you plan a home birth you can always change your mind and go into hospital, so planning one just keeps your options open.
Officially I was still only allowed to have one birth partner, but as it turns out everything went so fast and the first midwife only just arrived in time (I was already pushing), my doula and DH were both with me and the midwife was too busy checking on me and baby to kick one of them out of the room. The second midwife didn't arrive until after baby was born. If they had arrived sooner they might have enforced the rule about just one birth partner.
I think it's very unlikely that you'll get away with three birth partners, is it really necessary to have both your mum and sister there for the birth? Could you not just have one of them and then have the other come and visit after you've had the baby?

In the run up to the birth I found this website helpful and reassuring
www.homebirth.org.uk/

I understand completely the desire to give birth at home with your partner and mum there, especially in covid times but be careful.

In the end, the only thing that really matters is that you and baby come home live and healthy. I had an uneventful pregnancy and Labour until the midwife lost the baby's heartbeat. In those circumstances, we had 3 minutes, and you can't transfer to hospital in 3 minutes.

I was in hosp and they got ds out in 1m45. He's fine but it was an appalling heart stopping moment. So plan by all means but don't lose sight of what is really important.

Midwifery support for home births was stopped where I live because of covid, so you need to check your local service. Interestingly, it wasn't just a staffing issue it was that ambulance times were lengthy at the peak and so a transfer couldn't be guaranteed. Take a look at your local midwife led unit or birthing centre, it's a nice happy medium between home birth and hospital?

Best spoken through with your midwives as they can advise on what the currents restrictions are and what not, but the main thing i would check is how many birth partners you're allowed even in your own house especially with the new changes in rules- you may only be allowed midwife and husband unfortunately

My first labour was incursion and emergency c section so I wouldn't even consider a home birth but disregarding that I would only think about a home birth if I could be in the hospital within minutes. We live very rurally so an ambulance would take the best part of half an hour to get to us and the hospital is at least 45 minutes away so for that alone I wouldn't risk it. If you're near a hospital then it's less of an issue if you do need medical interventions

A home birth is never something I would have considered. I want to be where the medical equipment and professionals are in case it doesn’t go to plan. I had DD1 in hospital and it was a very positive experience and I felt very supported.

My area are not allowing home births anyway because of Covid.

Another one who wouldn't consider it - I'm too far from the hospital for a start (and they've closed our nearest ambulance station) and despite a textbook first pregnancy and being very well prepared, I still ended up in theatre to deliver DD. I laboured in the midwife led unit in a birth pool which I enjoyed and was a good compromise I thought so could be worth seeing if that would be an option for you.

I think it's worth chatting to your midwife about your concerns - the risk of Covid is still relatively small and some restrictions are lifting for pregnant women and partners across hospitals around the country.

If I think about myself and my immediate family:
If I hadn't been in hospital I would have died giving birth to my eldest
If she hadn't been in hospital My mum would have died giving birth to my younger sibling
So there's no way I would risk a home birth unless I had already had a straightforward birth.
And in both circumstances we couldnt have waited 15mins to get to hospital.

I had both my births at home. I read all the medical evidence first and I actually felt it would ve safer at home because
a) you get 2 very experienced midwives vs. 1 more junior one in a hospital shared between rooms
b) the vast majority of complications can be foreseen by the midwives. The main reason for hospital transfer is failure to progress
c) for 2nd and subsequent biths outcomes from a home birth for the mother and the baby are better than in hospital

There is statistically a very slightly higher risk of the most serious outcomes with your first birth at home. However what people don't tell you that by having your first birth at home the risk of more common but less severe outcomes is dramatically reduced. I would suggest reading up on the evidence and doing your own risk assessment. My local hospital was quite poor so this was a factor for me in the decision making.

My first home birth was back to back with an 18 hour labour. It was long and tiring and LO was born back to back weighung 9lb 2oz with a head circumference on the 98th percentile. If I had had a hospital birth I am sure it would have resulted in induction and potentially other interventions.

As it was there were plenty of opportunities for me to transfer to hospital if it had been needed.

My second home birth was a complete contrast and 9 minutes beginning to end. LO came out with the chord around his neck and the midwives used exactly the same proceedure to resusitate him that they would have in hospital. I am sure that if I had opted for a hospital birth in this case he would have been born in the car with no midwife support and I hate to think what would have happened.

Nope my baby probably would have died inside me we’re it not for the fantastic docs, midwives and consultants on the labour ward. I was a low risk pregnancy but it can all change within a blink of an eye.

Wouldn’t ever risk it again.

3 minutes after heart rate dropping I was I theatre, that just is not even an option when at home. Heart rate is only monitored every 15 minutes by midwives at home and in MLU, t’s monitored constantly in labour ward.

Some recent threads you might find helpful

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/_chat/4006862-Home-Birth

www.mumsnet.com/Talk/pregnancy/4013286-home-birth-experiences

you get 2 very experienced midwives vs. 1 more junior one in a hospital shared between rooms

The very experienced midwives are available at the hospital but they are tending to the more high risk births. If you suddenly need them, they’ll be there for you too. The doctors are also at the hospital should you need them.

I planned a HB with my first. I was with a private midwifery firm (commissioned by the NHS mind). My waters went and I didn't progress. The midwife didn't bother to come and see me for 26 hours and by the time she did baby had possibly pooped and my risk of infection due to the length of time my waters had been gone had increased. She was very lax and said we could monitor things but by this point I had lost trust and took myself to hospital. Turned out baby had pooped, and was breech, and was delivered 2 hours after we got to the hospital by EMCS. I would still encourage a home birth and would attempt one this time if it wasn't for the risk of rupture from a prior section however I what I would say is make sure you have 100% faith in your midwife, that's so important for a successful home birth. Take into account your distance from the hospital etc x

A lot of mumsnetters are very anti home birth.
But in my own experience, I got substandard care from a hospital midwife, and I know that my experience was not unusual, based on conversations with others.
OTOH, the care from the midwives who attended my home birth was excellent.