1st baby homebirth

SophL

Well-Known Member
Joined
Dec 20, 2011
Messages
327
Reaction score
0
Are there any other ladies hoping to have a homebirth with their first baby?

I'd like a bit of moral support that there are others out there giving it a go. Whenever it comes up people seem really surprised. I have to defend my choice, but then feel self concious that if it doesn't go to plan I'll get lots of "I told you so" or knowing looks.

I know that it doesn't really matter what others think but I have just started my maternity leave and so suddenly have a lot of spare time for thinking, haha.
 
I'm going to be having our first baby at home too :thumbup: Everyone has been fine so far about it but haven't told the inlaws :rofl:
 
Im having a home birth and this is my first baby too! i totally understand where u r coming from, EVERYONE ive told looks surprised and i get the whole "ur so brave, i could never do that" thing. one of my friends gave birth a few months ago and she was at a birthing centre and ended up getting transferred to the main hospital as she needed forceps (she got too tired to push the baby out) and it was around a 40-45 minute transfer time. im having the birth at my sisters flat which is a 6 minute drive from the hospital, yet she still thinks im crazy and soo brave for doing it (??) ive tried explaining to her that its exactly the same as what she was doing in terms of no doctors around etc, apart from if i need to get transferred im sooo close. she still doesnt get it!lol. i think its great that there are a few of us wanting home births, i truly feel it will benefit our babies being born into a calm atmosphere (and with less medical interventions) and benefit us as mums during labour too :)x
 
Thank you so much ladies, I feel so much better for that! I was the only person at my antenatal class wanting a homebirth so it is lovely to hear others wanting the same. I am also very close to the hospital and agree that it is exactly the same care you would recieve at a midwife led unit but even better because there is no chance of sharing your midwife with anyone else!
 
me me me! We're planning a homebirth too. And our due dates are really close together SophL- we can wait together!

Tooooootally get the "brave" as well as "crazy" and "OMG you're gonna be in so much pain" comments. It's like people think we just decided this on a whim and did no research whatsoever before choosing this. What makes me especially mad is when we talk to a few certain friends about it and all they can come up with is scare stories- like "oh you're gonna hate it with my first I was in so much pain I couldn't mvoe blah blah blah." Yes, it will probably be painful. NO, I don't prefer to dwell on that fact, don't need to hear scarey labor stories right now, and instead of being supportive, why are you trying to tear me down? :growlmad:

Anyways. End mini rant lol!

Has anyone started gathering supplies yet for the birth? Our midwife gave us a list of things to have on hand- towels (doing a waterbirth), washcloths to use as compresses, gatorade or some energy drink... the one thing that's got me baffled on the list is liquid chlorophyll? She's got it down to use as a "clotting factor booster' and vitamin k supplement. I looked it up on Amazon and the stuff just looks plain nasty. :( not looking forward to drinking it!
 
Im planning on a home birth! Like a few of you I am about 5mins from the hospital.
Had a few people be a bit funny about it but its not there choice my oh supports me totally and the midwives have been great about it!
Hopefully going to have a water birth!

I know I will be more relaxed at home and I can have the environment I want.

I was shocked when the midwife said homebirths were getting more common, as have not really met anyone else planning one!
 
I hope you ladies don't mind me jumping in here (i'm still 2nd tri, 25 weeks).

I'm really hoping I can have a home birth of my first too. However, i'm not that close to the hospital, about 25-30minutes by car, presumably faster my ambulance......are any of you that far away?
 
I hope you ladies don't mind me jumping in here (i'm still 2nd tri, 25 weeks).

I'm really hoping I can have a home birth of my first too. However, i'm not that close to the hospital, about 25-30minutes by car, presumably faster my ambulance......are any of you that far away?

My preferred hospital (the one that's 100% covered by my insurance) is about 30-40 minutes away. If the need arises we can go there but if it's truly an emergency there's a second and third tier hospital (insurance pays everything but a $2000 deductible) that are 15 and 5 minutes away, respectively.

Either way, I'm not toooo worried about it. It's good to have contingency plans but I'm low risk so really think we'll be just fine!
 
I hope you ladies don't mind me jumping in here (i'm still 2nd tri, 25 weeks).

I'm really hoping I can have a home birth of my first too. However, i'm not that close to the hospital, about 25-30minutes by car, presumably faster my ambulance......are any of you that far away?

Yup - I'm about that. Doesn't concern me - if anything deviates from the norm in labour, the midwives will advise transfer well before an 'emergency' occurs xxx
 
I'm a first baby home birth hopeful too. I haven't really come up against any disapproval or anything.

I live 10 minutes from the hospital anyway so it's no big deal.
 
Thank you for all your replies, I'm very pleased to hear that there are so many of us out there.

ace28 - I'm sorry to hear that you have come up against some negative comments, but as you say you have researched it well and are doing what you feel is best for you and your baby. I have started getting some towels and waterproof bits together for the birth but I haven't heard of having to provide vit K etc myself, I think it is just different in the UK.

Moonbeam1 - Good luck with your waterbirth, it sounds lovely! It's great to be in control of and comfortable in our own birthing environments :).

_Nell - As was said earlier there are many midwife led units with a similar transfer time and women give birth safely in them all the time. I hope all goes well with the rest of your pregnancy.

Booflebump - I totally agree! Midwives do this all the time and we can trust their clinical judgement.

tinytabby - It's lovely to hear of a person who has come up against no negative comments and stands so confident in their choice. Thank you, I will aim to be more like you!

Thank you again everyone, I really appreciate you taking the time to reply.
 
I think it's really important to be as positive as possible. My midwife helps - I told her i had packed a hospital bag and she said, 'What for? You're not going to hospital!'

I think homebirths will become more common as they cost the NHS less and are in many ways safer for low risk women than hospital.

I wish you all the best with your home birth! Perhaps we can come back to this thread with our stories when the time comes.
 
I'm a 'first time home birth hopeful' too!! :happydance:

I am so excited! We are about 15 minutes from the hospital. As far as responses go, my in-laws have been amazing! They have embraced it totally. And my parents just think I'm crazy. I live in California so everyone is pretty open-minded about home births.

And really home births speak for themselves. As someone mentioned its the same as being at a birthing center, except you have the undivided attention of your midwife. I am so excited to avoid all the bureaucracy and silly "standard procedures" of a hospital. That kind of stuff infuriates me!

I just can't wait to bring my little girl into this world in the peace and quiet of our home!
 
Are there any other ladies hoping to have a homebirth with their first baby?

I'd like a bit of moral support that there are others out there giving it a go. Whenever it comes up people seem really surprised. I have to defend my choice, but then feel self concious that if it doesn't go to plan I'll get lots of "I told you so" or knowing looks.

I know that it doesn't really matter what others think but I have just started my maternity leave and so suddenly have a lot of spare time for thinking, haha.

I'm planning a home birth and this is my first. I think part of what makes other people's opinions not bother me so much is that I've actually looked into the safety of home birth whereas most people act on misinformed fear. Part of that misinformation is the idea that if something goes wrong, the problem will arise within seconds and you won't have access to medical interventions. The thing is, if you talk to doctors, they "experience" this kind of emergency but if you talk to homebirth midwives, they say that they don't really come across those kinds of emergencies. If you end up in the hospital and people say "I told you so," just remind them that you also "told them so" that at least trying a home birth was perfectly safe and that you weren't willing to put yourself or your child at risk IF a complication arose. The point of home birth isn't to have a birth at home at any cost. There is an appropriate time to head to the hospital and midwives are trained to determine if and when that time arises.

As for actual responses I've gotten, I started talking about homebirth before I got pregnant and my dad didn't like the idea because he worked for a government agency for a while that did a variety of health type investigations. He investigated tattooists, midwives, places that do hearing aides, salons, and a bunch of other seemingly random things. Anyway, he investigated a lot of homebirth horror stories. His stories convinced one of my sisters that home births are scary. My mom had a more balanced perspective on it and I think she had conversations with my dad where she pointed out to him that what he saw was the worst case scenario and that it's not all like that. From other people, I've had positive responses, responses of curiosity, and not a lot of "you're going to kill your baby" kind of responses. It's actually hard for me to think of the negative responses because I suppose I sort of let them bounce off me and I don't pay much attention. I also don't really talk about it a lot.
 
Hey just popping back to third tri :)

I had my first at home 13days ago without any pain relief not even gas and air.

I done a thread in the annoucment section about all the details :)

Xx
 
Me, I am hoping to have a home birth with my first too!
 
This is not my first sorry, but it will be my first home birth. If I could go back in time, I would have done it the first time around. I think you all are making great decisions, you are low risk (presumably) and being at home in your own comfort is what I wish I did the first time around! Good luck!
 
I am! The more I read and researched about hospitals the more scared I became about giving birth in one. I have two wonderful midwives I am working with and feel very comfortable and confident with them. My family would raise their eyebrows and say the what ifs but when I told them the other side of the coin they could definitely understand why I would choose to stay home.
Hoping I won't need to be transferred.
I'm due October 15
 
That sounds like a lovely idea to come back and share the positive experiences we have. Looking forward to hearing all your stories.
 
I hope you don't mind me resurrecting this thread but we have just come to the decision (a little on the late side admittedly) that we want to have a home birth and this is our first baby. My reasons for the choice are because I was getting so anxious about going to hospital, particularly having to stay afterwards. I was also anxious about how we were getting there and back as OH doesn't drive. His parents have offered to take us but I didn't really want to rely on other people. I am also really not keen on having an epidural but know that if I am at the hospital and hurting it wont take much for me to agree to one (I can be a bit of a pain wimp).

My mw is coming to to see us on Thursday just to get a feel for the house and parking outside, that sort of thing. I have started to look at getting a birthing pool and am just getting really excited at the thought of being able to have my baby girl in the comfort and peace of my own home :)
 

Users who are viewing this thread

Members online

No members online now.

Latest posts

Forum statistics

Threads
1,650,307
Messages
27,144,875
Members
255,759
Latest member
boom2211
Back
Top
monitoring_string = "c48fb0faa520c8dfff8c4deab485d3d2"
<-- Admiral -->