Home birth 2024/2025

[brambles89]

I know from googling that this is no new topic! However I was wondering if anyone is planning a home birth soon maybe we can share some tips and support on here?

I'm still undecided as I'm moving house and not sure It will be a possibility in the county I'm moving to so very much at the early stages of researching.

Due March 2025 💫

@IMBCRound2 would you bother with a birthing pool if you're prone to being unresponsive?! We just found we needed multiple plans for different scenarios, including potential for me to birth alone if wife needed to take our DD. My parents were also on standby but live 90mins drive away

I’m not in the UK so not sure how helpful this can be but I’m also planning a home birth if my midwife will have me. I’ve already had DC at home so it won’t be the first time.

I’ve already contacted the midwife who delivered my DS and I’m waiting to hear back from her.

Last time I had it set up- but wouldn’t get in because it meant letting go of my beloved tens machine. All those first pictures are me, baby, TeNs machine

Love this 😂

how do you actually use a TENS machine? Not the technicalities but in practice.

like do you just put it on when contractions start and ramp up the intensity as you go? How does it help with pain? When do you take it off?

I'm curious to try it!

I will happily give my hand in marriage to who ever invented that thing !! 😂

so I didn’t find labour particularly painful - id say periods are much much worse and you don’t get a cute baby at the end of them - so im possibly atypical in terms of the pain response but I would just press the button when I got a contraction? I never had to go beyond the lower levels (probably because I was mostly asleep!) but I think it did help. it was also a good distraction and a reminder to breathe- and it felt nice to ‘do’ something in that long space of time between labour starting at the point you actually push . I had gas and air as well and I think that was a similar thing , even when there wasn’t actually anything in the tank- it was just a physical reminder to keep breathing deeply and in sync with my body

in Lincolnshire, you can rent one+ a birthing pool from the midwife - but I’d be really tempted to buy one to see if they help with my periods because those hurt!!

Oh my goodness I do think this is atypical you lucky thing 🤣 I sucked on gas and air near constantly and had the Tens machine ramped up to full.

I’m considering a home birth but with my first she was in a weird position so getting in the pool completely stalled my labour. And if I don’t give birth in the pool I fear it will be a total mess.

My other consideration is honestly what if they don’t have enough gas and air for me. I went through an entire canister while I was in triage last time. They were a little shocked.

And then a bit of me is a bit fearful of what if the baby needs emergency medical attention when born. We all know a horror story or two so I’m just wondering if I can get past that fear (or even want to).

I went through a canister (22 hours… at one point my mum kindly got me a single paracetamol just in case 😂) - when the next midwife came she brought another with her . But I did have a small parade of trainee midwives wanting to see an atypical labour so I think it was easy to ask someone to bring any extras !

@Hrf1503 hahaha can I ask what a more typical usage of a TENS machine is then? 😂 do you still just press a button every contraction or did you use it differently?

my first labour sounds similar to yours - crazy long due to a poorly positioned baby. mine ended in so many unecessary interventions and was really traumatic which is why I’m going homebirth this time.

i think it’s highly unlikely that you would get to the point of having the baby and THEN there being completely surprise problems. Especially with a second birth. The midwives almost always know when things aren’t going to go smoothly and then arrange a transfer before it gets to the point of no return.

i do only live a 6 minute drive from the hospital though and could of course get there quicker with a healthy disregard to speed limits and traffic lights! That has a huge play in how safe I feel. I may feel entirely differently if I lived more rurally.

@Homehomeontherange I’m pretty sure mine was at the maximum level by the end 😂 and I pressed the button during contractions to give it the extra boost but forgot to press the button again after the contractions stopped a number of times. Would only remember when I got to the next contraction and it was still at the max.

Ok good to know they bring more gas and air 😅 maybe I pre warn them about my consumption levels. I’m only a ten minute drive from the hospital too although through a tricky one way system that gets horrendous traffic at certain times of the week.

I think our homebirth services have TENS machines available to borrow so I might give it a go! They have birth pools which I definitely want

@MixedCouple2im not sure why but it won't let me untag you whenever I go to reply!

Glad the recent replies have been relevant to my original post!

To the PP who asked about Childcare. Im also fortunate that I have family nearby however I definitely think sorting out childcare is easier at home rather than hospital. Likely to be quicker etc. Are your older children at nursery/school?

This study is very interesting and postive about the safety of home births (even suggests they might be safer than hospital for certain groups of women).

https://www.thelancet.com/journals/eclinm/article/PIIS2589-5370%2820%2930063-8/fulltext

My first child was home when my second was born, my mum was also present in case we needed to “sort childcare” but childcare for us was also part of the decision to have home birth, it was much easier for everyone that we stayed home.

@IMBCRound2 I also didn’t get in the birth pool this time as was on TENS machine and decided that was better option whilst there was no one to administer gas&air

@Homehomeontherange TENS are great - used in both my labours. First used all through start of labour and took off when I got into birth pool at hospital. This time I used it up until baby was born. I was mostly at the low levels but did ramp it up towards the end. It’s on constantly and then you press the “boost” button for contractions, but like others have said towards the end I just ended up leaving it on boost. It does really help.

Honestly the best advice I can give you is do not ask mumsnet about homebirth. Absolute trash response every time. I had a homebirth first time, it was amazing. If you want to do it, do it. Do not listen to the opinion of others.

personally, my only criteria was proximity to a hospital, "just in case" @brambles89

IME, home birth is by far superior for both yourself, your baby and your family.

Good luck 💐

I had DS3 at home, no problems. My midwives suggested it after Ds2 came very shortly after I arrived at hospital - I did domino care with him so got there, had him about 45 minutes later and then went home about 3 hours later all fine after a sleep and tea and toast - we never got onto the ward that time. The worst thing about the labour was driving there and then walking in whilst in transition and feeling the urge to push so I really wanted to avoid that the next time. DD1 and DS2 were asleep when I had DS3 and stayed asleep all night, when they woke up in the morning my husband told them the baby was here. They have quite clear memories of being so excited and coming to see us. No problems in labour, I used tens and then the pool with gas and air just at the end. The midwives main concern was that I didn’t leave it too late to call them, I think they came about 2 hours before he was born that time. I know everyone says its a risk and has an opinion, I just knew my body and how it had babies by no 3, and I knew I could do it. We didn’t tell anyone our plans until after he was born as I didn’t want to hear any negativity which might influence me into believing that I couldn’t do it. I personally think my body did not go into labour until my older 2 were asleep so I didn’t have to worry about them.

I didn’t have any pain relief with my first (hospital because I was way past my due date) and my second (home). I was fine both times. It was very painful but the pain made sense and it had a purpose so it was so much easier for me to bear. The worst pain I have ever experienced in my life was kidney inflammation and I think it was at a comparable level but much harder to deal with because I knew I was sick and there was no end in sight.

I don’t like water, I only swim when I have to, I don’t like lounging by a pool, so for me the birthing pool was a big no-no. I had my DC on the sofa in the living room :-), the midwifes cleaned everything swiftly so everything looked as before giving birth five minutes later (if not better). My mum made a huge pan of scrambled eggs for everyone afterwards. Overall home birth was a fantastic experience for me, one of the most empowering and emotional experiences in my life.

One of the reasons I want to give birth at home is that I always go into prodromal labour, several times. With my first I had three false alarms and then one with my second. Every time I didn’t rush into the hospital because the midwives came to me - with my first (in NL) I was in the home birth category until I wasn’t because I went over the due date. It took a lot of stress away. I have given birth twice and both times went into spontaneous labour but I still wouldn’t know when to go to hospital and I still wouldn’t be able to tell if any stalled progress was caused by going to hospital or just another false alarm.

Hope it’s ok to join, @brambles89 did you have your home birth in the end?
I am getting myself set up so I can have a home birth if all works out but not opposed to birth centre or other options if there’s a need or if I feel like I don’t want to birth at home when the time comes. Currently 35 weeks and birth pool is ordered and I’ve started getting things together like extra towels, waterproof bed cover etc. also hiring a Tens machine.
I also haven’t told anyone apart from my sister, DH is massively on board and I have an extremely supportive midwife who has gone through all the benefits / risks and what they’d do in each eventuality.
Anybody who’s birthed at home, any essentials or things you’d recommend preparing?

I got a notification about this thread and I’m happy to say that my third was born at home three weeks ago. I had several false alarms again and the labour was much longer than with the second child but overall a great experience again.

Except for DH our cats were present, children decided to stay away but came into the room immediately after the baby came out. She was born in the amniotic sack, as was my son.

I still managed to have dinner with the rest of the family two hours before DC3 was born, although I hardly remember the food we had.

Afterwards our midwives told us that they would never say someone was too old to have a child, I’m 47 :-)

edit: typos

@FSGirl for various reasons I didn’t go ahead with planning. I relocated at 37 weeks so it was one thing I felt like I could do without to be honest! My new midwife also said that due to staffing it was quicker to drive the 50 minute drive to hospital than it was to get a midwife out.

Turns out if I had still opted for homebirth my husband would likely have had to deliver the baby as it was less than 2 hours from waters breaking and baby being born!