Home births

[6lilpigs]

Firstly-whats a doulas? lol. Please don't think me silly but it sounds like some kind of tibetan monk.
Secondly- I think it is wise to have your first baby in hospital. Recently a friend of mine delivered and had to have a section as baby was stuck in her pelvis. At home the extra minutes finding this out could have been crucial. If you had a good delivery first time out then a home birth can be a great idea due to hospital infections and overstretched staff.
My sister delivered her no3 at home, he turned out to be 10lb 2oz and when delivered had an apgar score of 3/10, not breathing, blue, faint heart. He is completely fine now but a few minutes more and who knows. IF he was in hospital they may have helped earlier ,but also IF she had been monitored prenataly properly they may have started her off instead of letting her go over her due date then he wouldn't have been so big.

If your first delivery was physically fine for you and your son and your not 2 weeks over with a mini monster in there then I see no reason why you shouldn't have baby2 at home.

 

[danni2609]

I really want a home birth this time aswell my first delivery was fine so i know i can cope and i think being at home would be more relaxing.

 

[hypnorm]

Ryder - i am finding you posts very negative towards the whole home birth thing, i was hoping for responses from people who were looking in to a home birth or even better have had the experience.

I am 20 mins from the nearest hosp, so are you suggesting i am risking my baby's life? probably in an ambulance the journey would be 20 mins or less.
Now if there was immeadiate risk to my self or baby then there would be no hestitaion in going off to hosp, but i fully intend to have as much of the labour at home and i will leave it as long as i can before calling the midwife, i know what to expect this time and i will not be messed about by staff who just want the baby out so they can go home. (Ewan was born just before shift change - and suddenly they gave me a ventouse with out consultation, the baby was not in distess either.)

 

[6lilpigs]

. (Ewan was born just before shift change - and suddenly they gave me a ventouse with out consultation, the baby was not in distess either.)

My goodness that was a bit harsh, talk about cattle market. I'm sure you will be completely fine with a home delivery, even enjoy it. A lady Iknow who has 6 swears by the home birthing pool. If I could guarantee the kids wouldn't be popping in every 10 minutes asking for a sandwich I'd rpobably consider it myself lol.

Whats a doulas? lol.

 

[Moraine]

Carries and Hypno, I am from Canada, so I cant comment on what the hospital care is like in the UK. Im very sorry that it is so poor there though, here however it is very good. And you are looked after very well, we have specialist for everything.

You can have you birth room set up however you want, you can have water births etc, you can have whoever you want in your room. We have delivery doctors, specially trained nurses, a neonatal surgeon and surgery room, you can have doulas too who are very good. And you get looked after extremely well.

However, home births are more risky. The only way a home birth is safe is if you give birth with little or no complications. I personally would not be able to live with myself if I DID have some kind of complication that could have been fixed at a hospital, and lost my baby. I just couldnt do it. Simple fact is, hospital has emergency professionals and equipment available, your home does not. All you have is a midwife who is only a nurse.

Just my opinion, I find it scary when people say that home births hold no risks though... Seriously, do what you want with yourself and your family, but acknowledge that there are risks.

Im not saying that they are bad either. I may consider it one day, but just definately not for my first baby. I simply dont know what is going to happen, how im going to handle the pain etc.

Um, it isn't that fantastic at all Canadian hospitals. My sister gave birth in hospital to her first, her doctor was a gyno specialist for high risk pregnancies (even though she wasn't high risk). Her labour was going okay, but I guess the baby wasn't coming out fast enough for the doctor (fair enough, he was posterior and had a hand up by his nose) so he basically cut her down to her butthole, and then used the vaccuum as well. He also didn't stitch her up properly after. He cut her without telling her what he was doing. I was there. She hadn't been pushing for that long when he did it.

She also had problems with the way they did the epidural, she was sore for weeks after because of it. She now needs reconstructive surgery to fix what he did to her with the episiotomy. And this was a supposed specialist.

Also, my local hospital does not allow water births, which is what I want. If they did I might consider a water birth at the hospital with the midwife. I don't know why they don't allow it.

So I will be hopefully having a home birth. I don't want any doctors near me. I don't like hospitals and I would be extremely uncomfortable in one, which I'm sure wouldn't be good for me or for my delivery.

 

[carries]

A doula is a professional birthing partner. Sometimes they are midwives sometimes they arent. My friends sister is having one for her upcoming homebirth and is very exicited.

Ryder, I am afraid we are going to ahev to agree to disagree. Im really dissapointed that this thread has turned into a hospital v home argument as im sure thats not what hyponorm wanted.

Although I have alot of positive and hopeful helpful comments to make on homebirth I will be avoiding this thread as I have no doubt that it will make me a little cross if the 'debate' persists.

If you want to PM me hyponorm please feel free good luck with whatever you decide.

 

[WaitingForYou]

I say there is absolutely nothing wrong with homebirths. My mum had her first in hospital as she was only 17. And then had all the other 4 of us at home.

I dont even want to go to hospital for this baby, but I have to as it's my first. I personally hate hospital's and I feel is I gave birth at home, the attention and relaxing would be alot better for both me and my baby. If anything did happen.

Only 2.5% of all births in this country are at home. If complications occur, and mother and baby have to be transferred to hospital it is done quickly and professionally bearing in mind this only happens one in every 7 baby delivered at home. The risk of a baby dying whilst a home birth is 39% less than a baby being born in hospital. You can still have pethidine and gas and air when giving birth at home. The only one problem with giving birth at home, it the amount of districts in this country short on midwifes and lack of funds, so home births are pulled early on to save funds. As you need 2 midwives there to supervise. 'Taken from an article in the times magazine I read in May'

Hope this helped

 

[6lilpigs]

Thankyou carries, what a great idea (doulas). I would truly LOVE to be a doulas then. Without sounding silly I'm sure I could be a great help to somebody who was having their first.

 

[PeanutBean]

I am hoping to have a home birth (this is my first) and the MW is very encouraging about it and says I should be able to get a pool at home. Both home births and pools seem to lead to less need for pain relief and a more relaxed birth. Apparently my particular health authority has one of the best records for home births in the country.

My Mum had her 1st and 4th in hospital because they were induced (she had pre-eclampsia with me, the 4th, so was in for weeks before induction). My SIL has had 3 of her 4, or possibly all 4 at home. My sister had hers at home this Jan but ran out of gas and air so had to go in then nearly gave birth in the ambulance and popped as soon as she arrived in hospital anyway! lol

The MWs will not recommend a home birth if you have complications in your pregnancy but a first birth doesn't count as a complication. If the pregnancy has been normal there is no reason to suppose there will be difficulty in labour that cannot be managed by the MW. It's not as if labour is something that happens in a second. If there is difficulty as it progresses, unless you're 100 miles from a hospital, it'll not be a huge deal to then take you in to ensure everything is sound.

 

[hypnorm]

Thanks to everyone!