I delivered my baby myself at home - AMA

[notyouraverageuser]

I only have positive things to say about my labour/birth, and with it also being a fairly unusual scenario I thought I'd offer to share some insight for anyone considering a home birth, or just anyone curious in general. So feel free to ask anything. :-)

Thank you, and I hope you had a similarly positive experience? And don't worry, it's not for everyone as you say and that's fine.

I’m confused. Was it a ‘free birth’ you were after?

That's correct, I wasn't alone. But I still delivered DC myself so I don't think I've said anything inaccurate.

Was this your first baby?

Just wanted to say congrats OP!

I had my first baby at home and am pregnant again now with our second and plan to do the same. Our midwife arrived about 20 minutes before baby was born, I was already in the pool and my body was pushing!

We called paramedics when we realised that the midwife might not get there. In our case it was because someone else was giving birth on the same night. The paramedics didn’t really do anything, they suggested I get in the pool as we had it set up and I was grateful for that.

This time I’ll have more confidence with carrying on with just me and DH before the midwife gets there.

Eitherway it was a great experience for me and my family, I really do believe it gave me and DS the best start.

To be frank, I think you were just lucky that things didn't go wrong and it's not really a situation I would want to play Russian Roulette in.

I personally don't know why anyone would choose a homebirth if they don't live incredibly close to a hospital. And true free birthers, which it doesn't sound like you are OP, are reckless IMO.

I'm glad that both you and baby came through it all ok.

Congratulations by the way. And honestly, after each of my births I just desperately wanted to be home in bed with them, not spending a sleepless night on a ward.

Also, how was your postnatal care (heel prick test, hearing check/paediatric check)? Did home birth affect the delivery of that service or was it prompt and satisfactory?

Congrats - glad all went well.
I too delivered my baby at home, together with dh and no-one else there. Not planned just a super speedy delivery … loved it ❤️

After my Homebirth they did the top to toe check at home a day or two after the birth and we had an appointment to go to the hospital for the hearing test when DS was around 10 days old.

We had a midwife visit the house everyday for a few days afterwards and then every couple of days until baby regained birth weight.

So for us the after service was great!

Sorry meant to quote this, please see my posts above ☝️

I think, especially if you’ve delivered before, you kind of have a hunch that the likelihood of a home birth going well is very much in your favour. I know that when I was pregnant with DC3, home birth was very much suggested by my midwife team as an option for those who’d had a history of straight forward deliveries. The choice was presented to me. I chose the epidural and grim hospital ward! 😆 I had very happy hospital births, but I can certainly see the appeal of home births! 100% see the appeal.

What a horrible question.

To be clear I didn't wander into the decision unaware of what can go wrong (quite the opposite in terms of the amount of research and preparation that went into it), and I'd never encourage anyone to enter into the choice without being fully informed, medically supported and having a solid plan of "what if X, Y, Z".

Shoulder dystocia wasn't an immediate concern, and I naturally positioned in the most optimal way to allow baby to pass through my pelvis. I was also aware of both hands on and off maneuvers, and would have attended hospital if there was any indication it was happening (much the same as what would have happened had midwives been there).

Cord prolapse would have been straight to hospital, but again that would have been no different regardless who was there. My waters didn't break till 5 minutes before delivery though so it didn't cross my mind as a potential worry at the time.

I had mitigated the risk of hemorrhaging as best I could pre-labour, as well as being prepared for it moreso than midwives would have been if it did happen. I also, again, would have attended hospital if I'd had any bleeding during labour.

Baby not breathing would have required resuscitation, for which we were equipped for if it had have been necessary.

Hope that helps answer your question.

Congratulations qnd a big well done.

I was considering a home birth with baby number 6 early this year but ended up in hospital and had an emergency c section so all in all its a good job I didn't have the home birth. Only God knows what would have happened.

What were your pain relief options? Or did you just try and breathe and cope, if so you are a superstar!

Aw I did this too OP, my second baby (third I had midwives for 6 minutes). I was booked with midwives second time but I just never felt the need to call.

Hands down the best moment of my life when my body birthed her.

How would you have felt if you’d have to have baby in hospital with intervention?

Birth is such an emotive subject. Before my eldest I read lots about women such as yourself who ‘birthed’ naturally at home or even in nature (I got really into the free birthing thing!) Unfortunately despite me having a easy pregnancy I had complications, losing a lot of blood. My husband still won’t talk about what he saw/exactly what happened. I felt such a failure for a long time. I think women who have babies at home make a brave choice and are lucky if it all goes well. I was lucky to walk out with my baby at the end of it all. I read your posts with a memory of what I hoped it would be like and I’m so glad I’ve come to accept that no matter the birth you have, it ultimately doesn’t matter.

I planned a home birth for my first baby as I had a real fear of hospitals. Luckily we were ten minutes from a hospital and at a time where ambulances arrived within minutes as my baby had a true knot and had to be rushed to hospital where I had emergency section under general anaesthetic and luckily she was able to be resuscitated and otherwise healthy. There was nothing prior to birth to alert me to this and we were really lucky my midwife was so quick to contact hospital at the first sign there was a problem. I had my second baby under elected section and would never advise anyone to have a home birth after my experience. I am pleased for those who have had happy home births but in my experience those mums are always so positive about home births, and stories about where things go wrong are rarer so just trying to give both sides.

How far away from the hospital are you? We have two hospitals about an hour either way so I never felt we could opt for a home birth, if things did go wrong I felt an hour was just far too long.

This happened to me with all 3 of my DC, all shot out in less than half an hour. I found it absolutely terrifying that something could go wrong, but the experience itself was absolutely lovely!

Thank you, I really wouldn't say brave though, it is just what felt right for us.

Absolutely if I had've been deemed as having any risk factors then things would have been a lot different. As it stood I attended all appointments, approved for a home birth, and so there was nothing specific as a reason not to, just people's fear.

I think I was so put off by the fact I spend so much time in a hospital normally. Even with dimmed lights and some music, there was never going to be any getting away from the fact I was in a clinical environment and that in itself filled me with anxiety. I didn't want to have people coming in and interrupting my focus, asking me questions or making requests of me because I know what it's like to be on the professional side.

It's the complete opposite to how most people feel and so I realise that it can be hard to comprehend. And yes I did a considerable amount of research, which after doing actually made me feel stronger about my decision.

I'm inclined to agree with you on that one as well now 😂 mine ranged from every 7-15 minutes to suddenly I felt like I could barely distinguish between some of them, to actively pushing all within about an hour.

No, just a home birth. The intention to free birth would have arisen if the home birthing service had been suspended that night, but as it was a case of delivering before the midwives arrived, it was a "born before arrival" rather than a free birth.

Yes.

I'm so happy to hear this! Congratulations on the second pregnancy and I hope it all goes as you envision. :-)

And yes, paramedics will get as least involved in a birth as they can get away with. 😉