Considering a home birth - pros and cons? (birthing pool)

[xx~Lor~xx]

Hello ladies,

I hope you don't mind me popping in here. I am currently 10 weeks pregnant with my third. My other two children's births and labours were very straightforward and uncomplicated, and so I've been considering the option of a home birth for this one, I have mentioned it to my doctor and midwife who think I would be perfect for a home birth.

BUT... I'm not sure. I'm not sure WHY I'm not sure though. Could you give me some pros and cons of home births? Why you chose one, if you have had one or having one? What you found good about them etc? What do you do with your other little ones (if you have other children)? Oh and I would definately want a water birth, so how easy was it to hire/ expensive/ have/ fill up/ find a place to have a birthing pool?

For me it's either the midwife centre, or a home birth, but I have to make my decision within the next month I think as it depends which midwife team I have...

Sorry for all the questions! Any help would be greatly appreciated so I can make a proper decision.

 

[booflebump]

Hiring/purchasing/borrowing/setting up a pool is very straightforward as long as you have a willing DH to pump it up and empty it

You really do have to be comfortable with the idea of home birth - a great website to read is homebirth.org.uk which has the answers to just about every home birth question there is

xxx

 

[MindUtopia]

This is my first, so obviously I've not done it yet. But for me, having a home birth was just the right choice. I know my body knows what it's doing and will do what it needs to do if I'm relaxed, feeling positive and in a calm, peaceful environment, so for me that would be easiest to achieve at home. I'm not someone who loves to be in a doctor's office or a hospital, especially if I'm not actually 'sick'. I want to be in control and have the lights the way I want them, and the food I like, and to be able to tell people I need more quiet or privacy and also for my husband to not have to leave after the birth and for me and baby to not have to travel right after. So being at home is just right. Read some of the home birth stories, and maybe think of reading some books that are very home or natural birth focused. Ina May Gaskin's Guide to Childbirth is great if you haven't already read it.

As for the pool, look into if there is a pool hire in your local area. We have a home birth group here that does free birth pool loans, all you have to do is buy a liner for it for £30. That's what I'll be doing.

 

[elohcin]

My first was a pretty good hospital birth, I had an epidural, things went well, and I went home 14 hours after she was born.

My 2nd two were unassisted home births. Let me tell you, AMAZING experiences and I never want to have to go back to a hospital if I can help it!! There is seriously NO comparison to the experiences (at least for me). With my homebirths, I was in charge. I got to labor how I wanted and how I knew that I needed to. No badgering about monitoring, no having to be where they wanted me to be, no directed pushing, etc. There is so much freedom in homebirth that it really makes for a more satisfying experience.

My 3rd child was born in our bathtub, and it wasn't a planned waterbirth (if I was planning it I would have gone for something more comfortable LOL) but that's where I felt comfortable at the time and that's where it happened. He was a huge baby with a huge head and I love knowing that I did it perfectly naturally at home (not even a hint of a tear) when at the hospital they probably would have sectioned me for failure to progress and told me he was too big to come out (because I was complete for 6 hours with no budging on his part! Until I reached in a broke my water... ).

My children were present at each birth. I thought laboring in the middle of the night would work to my advantage but each time they woke up and STAYED awake for the entire labor. I really liked it though. DH kept them out of the way most of the time (I like to labor alone, quietly, so that worked for me).

Do educate yourself well. Read lots of birth stories. Make yourself very comfortable with it. Get excited about homebirth!

 

[blessedmomma]

great post elohcin! sounds lovely

stalking this thread. hope to hear more...

 

[PrincessKay]

This was my first baby and i knew i'd always wanted to have her at home. The idea of going to hospital scared the life out of me and the thought of OH having to go home after i'd given birth and me go onto the ward with baby was just a nightmare. Anyway i had baby at home no problems at all but then afterwards the placenta didnt come away properly causing lots of blood loss and a transfer to hospital, once there i was cleaned up, settled down with OH and baby for the night and went home the next morning. The only reason they let him stay was because i said i would go home with him if he went (i wouldnt have - but it worked)

Pro's
Your own environment
You can walk do whatever you want - its your house!
More relaxed
Own bed (i obv didnt get to stay in mine)
Birthing pool so relaxing
Whole birthing process so relaxing
Midwives were brilliant and didnt interfere when not necessary
Did all they could for me before deciding it was best to go to hospital

Con's (this doesnt happen to everyone obviously)
Didnt get to see my daughter get weighed or dressed as her and OH were in a different room while i was being sorted out
Being in the ambulance for about 15 minutes alone whilst they tried to get a line in or something - ive never felt so lonely in my life!
The mess - i lost about a litre and a half of blood so you can imagine the mess, luckly my mum cleaned my whole house while we were in hospital.

Overall, the birth was perfect, i would do it again tomorrow if i could. If i knew what was gonna happen after i'd have still stayed at home, MW said it would have happened even if i was in hosp. Im so proud to have had my daughter at home and i would recommend it to anyone. Yes i had to go to hospital but i was only there about 12 hours in total and it was necessary.

Obviously you've had 2 children before with no complications after the birth so i think you will be an A* pupil

My 'cons' list would have been empty if i didnt have to go to hospital

Sorry to bore you with the details....