First time home births?

[ftm87]

Hi there, I'm 34 weeks tomorrow and my trust have just reinstated home births after having to stop this service for a while. I'm not going to lie - I'm a bit of a wimp with a fairly low pain threshold but I can't help wondering if this could be worth exploring as an option? The idea of having my husband with me throughout (not having to wait until I'm in established labour), being in my home and able to just sleep in my own bed sounds wonderful. Whilst of course I'm anxious about labour, I'm similarly anxious about being in hospital during a pandemic and especially being without my husband when I need him. I'm 33 and low risk, with no problems throughout pregnancy so far. Just curious to know if any first time mums had a positive experience of home birth, especially if like me you're not necessarily the toughest of cookies! My hospital is a 20 min drive away so I wouldn't be too far if I did need to transfer. Thank you 😊

Hey can’t give any advise as I haven’t popped yet but would seriously recommend the Facebook page homebirth uk for loads of info and stories 🙃

Thanks so much. I will look it up now!

I wouldn’t entertain one personally.
I was low risk with my first. I underestimated the pain and ended up with an epidural, followed by forceps.
I wouldn’t have liked to have been transferred in the middle of it.

I had a homebirth with my first. It was quite a last minute decision for various reasons. I hired a birth pool which was very helpful. I was entirely prepared to transfer to hospital if needed, but I didn't need to. I'm also a wimp with pain and was fine just with the gas and air the midwifes brought.

I think realistically more than half of people having their first baby at home end up rushed to hospital. Much much more likely to be successful with second child.

If it's urgent you would need an ambulance and they are in short supply at the moment.

I think it's a risk

Not for your first. Your husband will be able to be with you for labour unless you go in stupidly early and then he will have to wait until you’re in established.

It depends how you really feel.
Regardless of the fact that it's your first or subsequent pregancy you need to trust your guts on this.If you feel prepared for such mentally it will definitely be quite positive experience.If your pregnancy was uneventful and there is no risk,just trust your body.If you made some preparation regarding birth ie hypnobirthing,breathing techniques it will be even more beneficial as that ads to calmer mind.
Also look at the births of close relatives (mum,grandma etc).Did they have history of difficult births requiring inteventions?If not,rest reassured that your body will do the job,you just need right mindset as sometimes stressed and anxious mind may hinder how the labour is progressing.
Hope it all goes the way you want.

Does your trust have a birth centre close to the hospital? First birth is a tricky one as you dont know if it's going to go the wrong way until it happens. A birth centre is more homely and a relaxed environment in comparison with the labour ward so could be a meet in the middle option

Hi OP, I'm 36 weeks with my first baby and have been planning a HB since the start of this pregnancy, more or less. I recommend checking out the NHS Birth Place Decisions pdf to give some good information about the risks, etc: www.nhs.uk/conditions/pregnancy-and-baby/documents/birth_place_decision_support_generic_2_.pdf

The transfer in rate for ftm is smaller than a pp mentioned, closer to 45% (though that's still quite high), and mainly due to maternal exhaustion rather than sudden emergencies. Since I've been cared for by the HB team at my trust since the start, I have a lot of confidence in their experience and ability to foresee problems before become emergencies. Obviously I have no idea how I'll deal with the pain of childbirth, but I know when I'm in pain I like to be alone in a dark room, so I'm hoping I'll deal with it better in my own space! Plus the whole Covid thing, as you say.

I had one. It was lovely. I had a senior midwife, a midwife and a student midwife all to myself. They explained that at the first sight of anything wrong, we would be transferred to hospital. I also lived close to the hospital. I had a birthpool and gas and air. I also had pethidine at home but didn't use it. Afterwards the midwives cleaned up and me, DH and new baby went straight to bed.

However... You need to be where YOU think you will be most relaxed. If you think you'd be too worried about being in pain/something going wrong then you probably won't be able to relax. For me, I found the hospital environment stressed me out more than those concerns. Oh and I'm a COMPLETE wimp, says everyone that knows me! Caveat: the pain is different for everyone of course

If you're low risk then there's no reason why you can't consider it. I didn't do any special prep or anything, there isn't really anything you do differently

Thank you for this very helpful reply. My mother had a natural birth with me (in hospital) and found it horrendous, which does of course make me nervous. She had the epidural for my two siblings and had much more positive experiences. I think I'll chat to my midwife next week and go from there...

I've heard the position of the baby changes how childbirth feels, therefore wanting different pain relief.
I would find out what position your baby is in before deciding home vs hospital.

Sorry everyone, I don't think I've quite got the hang of how to reply to individual posters (first thread!) but thanks for your thoughtful and honest replies. To answer Screwcorona's question, yes, my trust have a midwife-led birth centre with a labour ward downstairs. I'd been planning to start in the MLU but reading about the home birth service being reintroduced from this week has just made me curious to explore all options 😊

I had my first dc at home. Was great. Be flexible.

@toolazytothinkofausername

I've heard the position of the baby changes how childbirth feels, therefore wanting different pain relief. I would find out what position your baby is in before deciding home vs hospital.

Re the position of the baby, I still haven't been told this as I'm guessing it's still too early? I'll ask my midwife if she can tell at my next appointment when I'll be nearly 35 weeks. Definitely something to bear in mind!

I had my first baby at home (pre lockdown).
I had a birth pool which was wonderful, and gas and air. I had diamorphine but didn't use it.
I had a relatively long labour and was exhausted, I think if I'd been in hospital I would have had an epidural.
I had to transfer after the birth for a haemorrhage (not too severe) and stay overnight. A night on labour ward confirmed why I hadn't wanted to be there!

OP it might be worth looking at something like the positive birth company hypnotherapy as that REALLY helped me make a decision and feel confident in having a home birth.
The 45% transfer rate for a first birth doesn't mean emergency transfers (though some obviously will be) - lots will be because the women decided they wanted more pain relief, or because labour was taking a while.
My home birth was a dream but it was a second baby.

I was entertaining a home birth when I was in the mind of ‘my body is meant to do this, I’ll be fine’, but since I didn’t know what a contraction felt like or how I would cope I decided on an alongside MLU so labour ward was a few seconds away if I needed epidural.

I’m so glad I did, baby’s head turned sideways in pool whilst on G and A. Couldn’t cope with the pain totally freaked out and ten minutes later I had a spinal catheter yippee.

That is simply not possible from home.

I’d err towards a hospital birth for your first tbh. Not from a safety perspective or anything, but purely because you don’t know how you’ll manage your very personal type of labour pain. It’s not about being a wuss about pain, it’s out of your control!

I’d have loved a home birth, but both my babies were back to back and very slooooow, painful labours. I’d been transferred from the MLU to the main hospital in an ambulance due to failure to progress with DC1 and it was hellish, despite only being a five minute drive! There was no way G&A/the birthing pool/hypnobirthing mantras were touching the sides of the pain when my babies were trying to exit in the wrong position.

I worked my way up the Pain Relief Ladder and when I eventually got something that worked (Remifentanil), that’s when things got moving progress wise and I actually managed to fall asleep between contractions.

So for the first I’d just want to be somewhere where IF your current pain relief isn’t working, you can get access quickly and easily to the next method.

I had a home birth for my first. Had the most amazing 121 care, couldn't have faulted it. Midwife was with me from 11am until 1am the next morning, and when she popped out for a break another one (who id met already) came to be with me whilst she was out. A second midwife also came out for the for the birth itself. I didn't have to think about anything. My labour was long, and there were some times when I doubted whether I could cope, but I wouldn't change it for the world. It was amazing.

I felt totally safe, the whole time. She helped me upstairs and helped me shower afterwards. She was wonderful!

I had my first born at home (and my second) and it was lovely. Mw's brought all equipment with them and stayed by my side every minute. When they first arrived my bp was high and I was advised that I might need to transfer to hospital but I wouldn't be classed as an emergency. They gave me gas and air and that brought my bp down. MW also detected that baby was back to back, so she moved me to an all fours position to encourage baby to move and it worked, with him turning not long before delivery.
Before DC1, I did a hypnobirthing course, which I wasn't entirely convinced about but I do believe it kept me calm and removed the fear and now I am quite the convert to it . I thought labour was unmanagable and said to myself if the MW came and said I was less than 2cm dilated then I was off to hospital for a big fat epidural but when she arrived, she found I was a good 6-7cm dilated and that cheered me up (that and the g&a).
While I had a lovely post birth shower in my own home, the mw's cleaned up and my best friend changed my sheets (dh accidentally missed the birth) and then I curled up in my own bed and it was bliss.

As I said, DC2 was also born at home and my only regret was not doing another hypnobirthing course!

I probably wouldn’t advise a home birth for first pregnancy; simply because they tend to be longer/trickier. I think it’s 50% chance of needing a hospital transfer.

That aside, I think they are a great option for subsequent pregnancies.

All the best with whatever you decide.

Yes I had homebirths for both of mine. The first was faster than I expected so I didn't have time to get on the G&A; I won't lie, the pain was shocking (and I am generally considered to be a tough cookie). But I was very well cared-for and the best thing about it was the snuggling in my own bed afterwards with tea and cake . I know plenty of people who had successful first time HB's, they're not the rare occurrence they're often held to be. But if pain is a major worry for you then you might want to be somewhere you have more pain relief options.

Had a home birth with my third. Wouldn't have with my first.

Had a home birth with my first. Wouldn't have had a choice either way as it turned out as I was told I was in "early stages" and left to it by the midwife and delivered an hour later. Am on strict instruction to have another with any subsequents and told they won't leave me next time