Home birth- what are my rights?

[Pearls18]

We have moved to a new area (in London) and the hospital here has a HORRIFIC reputation, I'll be damned that I'll be giving birth there unless there is good medical reason to. The midwives also don't have a good rep. I have two options: this hospital, or home. There are no midwife units and all other hospitals are too far (I gave birth within 4 hours last time, 26 mins pushing so I don't want to risk a journey especially in London). I am also desperate for a water birth again, so a home birth feels natural for me this time. I hear stories about midwives not being supportive, or saying they can't come out to you. What will happen if I point blank tell them on the phone I am NOT coming in?? I know people here who have had home births but as I haven't announced yet I'm holding off asking them

 

[MrsSmartie]

They have a duty of care to attend you. If they cannot come out due to staff and you refuse to come in they should send out an on call supervisor of midwives. They cannot 'make' you do anything and they cannot knowingly leave you unattended to freebirth. So all the rights are with you. But don't listen to reputation. Have an open conversation with your midwife and express your anxieties with her before having to resort to demands etc. and hopefully you will be pleasantly surprised. Most midwives love homebirth and very much support it. X

 

[MandaAnda]

I'm in West London, so I'm not sure if we've the same local hospital. But there are certainly a few I wouldn't want to go to. Basically, you've a right to home birth and to be attended. They can advise on anything, and it's your choice (hopefully an informed one) whether to agree or not. This is a great fb page (website as well, in the about section). https://www.facebook.com/HomeBirthersAndHopefuls I'll PM you my fb profile link as well. x

 

[ljo1984]

They have to attend! And also the above fb group is fantastic and there is a homebirthers and hopefuls website too which had any info you can think of on there. Xx

 

[Blah11]

My community midwives are really pro homebirth. My area only had 8 home births the year I had roman so they were all really excited and hoped they would be on call lol, i think the attitude towards homebirth is changing (again?!) So you might be surprised at the support you get x

 

[Pearls18]

My community midwives are really pro homebirth. My area only had 8 home births the year I had roman so they were all really excited and hoped they would be on call lol, i think the attitude towards homebirth is changing (again?!) So you might be surprised at the support you get x

My home town was really pro home birth, they were encouraging it for my first birth when it was the last thing I wanted back then, we were very rural which I think is why they encouraged it but it was why I was put off, we were 40 miles from the hospital.

I'm more confident now, I don't know how supportive the midwives are here, (Manda do you know?) I know a few people who have had them here, I just don't know if I will have a fight or not because I am so sure this is what I want. The hospital was in the news recently for having someone give birth in the waiting room as they are so busy they make women labour in triage until delivery.....so I worried they couldn't spare midwives often.x

 

[Blah11]

Yeah when I was in having my daughter I laboured for about 10 hours in a room just off of triage. I heard a woman give birth next door too.

 

[MindUtopia]

So happy to see your news! Congrats!! As everyone else has said, yes, they have a duty of care and have to attend. I think the bigger question might just be, do you want them to? I would get a sense of what the community midwives (or whoever would attend you) are like in your early appointments and how supportive/experienced they are with home birth. Frankly, I know if it was me I wouldn't want to have a home birth with midwives I knew wouldn't be supportive or hadn't attended many home births anymore than I would want to be in hospital. If you get a sense they actually are more supportive than you expected, it might help to reassure you that it's the best decision for you. If you feel like they aren't, it gives you time to plan accordingly and make sure you have the right support on the day (whether that's trying to go private or hire a doula or whatever). On that topic, would you consider using an independent midwife? Would you think about hiring a doula so you know you had an extra birth supporter there with you in case the midwives are difficult to deal with? My birth was great and I generally felt really well supported by the midwives who attended (home birth is pretty common around here), but I still think I might consider going with an IM next time if I can. There were a few things that bothered me about my care (particularly them pushing for a vaginal exam and the frequent and fairly intrusive monitoring which involved making me stand up everytime they wanted to use the doppler even though I wasn't having a water birth). I know I could have declined all this, but I would have liked more support in doing that than I got. I think IMs are usually a bit better about these things. Of course, they aren't cheap, so that's a consideration.

Anyway, congrats again on your pregnancy!! Hope you end up deciding on a home birth!

 

[summer rain]

I'm inclined to agree with MindUtopia and her suggestions are very good, last time the midwife team were not supportive of homebirth on the whole and while I could have forced them to come I really didn't want someone who resented being there delivering my baby. As it happened the weather was so appalling with 5 foot high snowdrifts on the day that the roads in our area weren't accessible for regular cars, we had a big American seven seater at the time so we managed to bust our way out and onto the clearer roads to the hospital. We ended up going to the due to be closed maternity unit at a smaller local hospital, many mums were of the impression it was already closed or was not as good as the newer big hospital (even though that one has been in the news for killing mums and babies ) so they stayed well away. Consequently I had a wonderful experience there as there were only two ladies and two midwives in the unit and the doctors were nowhere to be seen, and when I had given birth to him because the post natal ward had been closed, I got to stay in the delivery suite being waited on hand and foot. xx

 

[MandaAnda]

Unfortunately, from around my EDD, IMs are up in the air. The government are saying they need to have public indemnity insurance by mid-October, yet there is no one to insure them. There's a big campaign to save it.

As for our local midwives, I wasn't impressed with how they treated a good friend of mine (my neighbour across the road) a few times. They seemed almost determined at times to make it impossible for her. They did NOT like when she alluded to having a doula (me). However, one of them enquirer about my pool for another mum recently (I think she left it too late though or maybe got her own). So, maybe it's just some. Plus, that's the team for where I live. I'm registered at the RAF medical centre, so I fall under another team of midwives. Both times, at booking, I told them I'd be having a home birth, and they didn't try to dissuade me. This time, they did try to refer me to the consultant for my BMI (just over their guidelines). I declined the referral, and the midwife seemed to understand. They also wanted to refer me to be seen at 16 weeks due to my loss. I declined again, as I know the genetic results, have discussed them with a consultant already and I'd have had my NT scan before then. She also seemed to understand that. So, low risk, midwifery led care for me.

I think you need to be firm with what you want/need, question everything that doesn't make obvious sense to you and remember that you can change your mind about anything at any time. You run this show. I also think hubby attending my booking with me had the desired effect - I didn't expect the midwife to talk to him much, rather I wanted him there as a second pair of ears.

My NT scan is next week, and my next midwife appointment is at 16 weeks, so I'll let you know how it goes.

 

[Pearls18]

Unfortunately, from around my EDD, IMs are up in the air. The government are saying they need to have public indemnity insurance by mid-October, yet there is no one to insure them. There's a big campaign to save it.

As for our local midwives, I wasn't impressed with how they treated a good friend of mine (my neighbour across the road) a few times. They seemed almost determined at times to make it impossible for her. They did NOT like when she alluded to having a doula (me). However, one of them enquirer about my pool for another mum recently (I think she left it too late though or maybe got her own). So, maybe it's just some. Plus, that's the team for where I live. I'm registered at the RAF medical centre, so I fall under another team of midwives. Both times, at booking, I told them I'd be having a home birth, and they didn't try to dissuade me. This time, they did try to refer me to the consultant for my BMI (just over their guidelines). I declined the referral, and the midwife seemed to understand. They also wanted to refer me to be seen at 16 weeks due to my loss. I declined again, as I know the genetic results, have discussed them with a consultant already and I'd have had my NT scan before then. She also seemed to understand that. So, low risk, midwifery led care for me.

I think you need to be firm with what you want/need, question everything that doesn't make obvious sense to you and remember that you can change your mind about anything at any time. You run this show. I also think hubby attending my booking with me had the desired effect - I didn't expect the midwife to talk to him much, rather I wanted him there as a second pair of ears.

My NT scan is next week, and my next midwife appointment is at 16 weeks, so I'll let you know how it goes.

Thanks hun, I am determined this is what I want. I don't really care what the midwife is like, all I want is to be at home, in a pool with my husband there, the ambulance is only a 999 call away if things don't go to plan. I know not every pregnancy and birth is the same, but with DS I birthed within 4 hours, I had one internal (which I wanted to know how far I was), I couldn't tell you the mid wife's name she didnt have to do much! I know it could be different this time, but as you say I can change my mind if it doesn't feel right. But I do not plan on stepping foot in that hospital in labour unless something has obviously gone wrong, the midwife can sit and sulk in the corner if she wishes but I would expect more professionalism than that! Oh if only I had planned to be ahead of you instead of behind you lol. It's so tempting to just go back to Wales, well tbh I'm due over Christmas so that wouldn't be an impossibility lol, guessing it would be an admin nightmare though!!!

 

[Pearls18]

(MandaAnda and I have realised we know each other in case our conversation seems odd lol)

 

[MandaAnda]

I'll keep you update on the IM thing. We need to get together for a coffee to chat. And there are no home birth support groups in our Borough, not even NCT. I think that's part of my mission once leave starts. I just can't go back to this job. My heart is with the mamas and babies.

 

[MandaAnda]

And maybe look into having a doula. Mentored ones aren't much at all. And some give discounts for military families, even if they're experienced ones (and compiling that is another leave project, I.e. Op: Doula).

 

[irish_cob]

You may be surprised. When I went into labour I had a small bleed (which in hindsight was probably a bloody show) and phoned the hospital and they wanted me to come in, so off we went, and they were telling me all the dire things it could be, going on about haemorrhaging and all sorts and they kept me hooked up to the monitors for hours, even though the bleed was minor and had long since stopped. I got fed up and told them I was going home to get in my birth pool at home. Well they didn't like that at all, they sent progressively higher and higher people in to bully me. They couldn't give me a convincing reason to stay though, the fetal monitoring showed the baby was ok, my labour was progressing and the bleeding had stopped. So I held firm.

I had to sign about 5 bits of paper to get released saying I knew I was leaving against medical advice and they told me they'd have the midwife with me at home asap. Well we actually bumped into her at the doors of the ward, she was coming in for my notes and supplies as we were leaving and she had a face like thunder and tried to persuade me to stay on the ward but I was adamant I was going home.

I got home and my OH and doula encouraged me to get in my birth pool and it was lovely. The MW showed up 20 mins later still with a face like thunder and was less than impressed I was in the pool without having had her permission.

Well she did a few checks on me, temp, blood pressure, listened to the baby with the Doppler then did a vaginal exam to see how far along I was and I was 5cm and all the checks were fine.

Well you've never seen such a 180 degree swing in your life! She suddenly relaxed once she realised I was ok. She was chatty and friendly and lovely.

Within about an hour I had 5 MWs in my front room, and my doula! Seriously, I couldn't get rid of them! They all loved the fact I was going for a home birth and they were so positive and encouraging it was amazing! They were phoning the hospital and rearranging their shifts so they could stay with me, it was fab. I never had less than 2 midwives with me the whole time - you can't say that when you're in hospital! Honestly the midwives loved homebirths!