Hospital vs home birth?

[JackiePed]

Argh-- no matter what I say it's getting twisted. Obviously there's no point in continuing. All done.

 

[lynnikins]

T
[*]After birth: how strict are you going to be about breastfeeding? If nurses think baby is jaundiced or having problems, are you ok with giving baby a bottle of formula to ensure hydration, or do you want to stick it out with breastfeeding to ensure proper foundations for breastfeeding?

.

I would like to just metion that as the mother of a son who was jaundice quite extremely post birth tno the point they were going to do a double blood transfusion completely replacing all his blood when he was just 36 hours old. that i had advice ( that has since been researched and found to be accurate ) that Formula feeding does NOTHING to improve Jaundice levels in a newborn and in fact can harm the process of thier bodies naturally disposing of it. now my sons condition was due to a very rare complication that was unexpected and non-preventable but the best advice with jaundice is actually to BF on demand not to give formula as the "little and often" feeding pattern of a BF newborn encourages them to "poop out" the billirubin causing the jaundice alot faster than formula which can badly consipate a newborn

 

[JackiePed]

Lynnikins -- that was actually one of the mistakes that I made when I had my first daughter. Though I had done my research beyond baby books, and had considered things like how I felt about pain medication and certain interventions, I hadn't dreamed I would be told that I needed to give my daughter a formula bottle because she was jaundiced and not peeing-- so.... I had never really looked into it. I thought it was going to be simple. Baby comes out, baby breastfeeds, right?
When a nurse told me that, I felt like I'd better make a split decision. I was, of course, worried about dehydration, and so I went ahead with it. After that, breastfeeding was a NIGHTMARE! I almost gave up, spent alot of time in tears, and finally after literally over a week, and having to 'trick' my daughter into breastfeeding (give her the bottle and get her going, then quickly switch her to the breast), she finally caught on. And... her jaundice didn't seem to improve any more quickly than I would have expected it to clear had she remained breastfed.

I regret not having considered that issue beforehand, so that I knew I could say, "We'll be ok breastfeeding, thanks." I didn't know enough about a baby's needs, etc... to really feel confident saying no to the offer of a bottle of formula. All I knew was she hadn't peed much, was supposed to, and was yellow and that wasn't good, and that nothing that seemed 'hydrating' was coming out of my breasts yet. I learned and was ready (though the issue didn't arise) with my second baby.

 

[queenlavera]

I would love to have a home birth, but I have diabetes and high blood pressure both conditions that need to be treated and monitored during labor. I am not even going to be allowed to go into labor on my own. (which sucks-probably will get pitocin, which I don't want and will ask if nipple stimulation or positioning can be done first) I have nothing against either decision but it appears with my situation hospital birth is the choice for me.

 

[lynnikins]

I would love to have a home birth, but I have diabetes and high blood pressure both conditions that need to be treated and monitored during labor. I am not even going to be allowed to go into labor on my own. (which sucks-probably will get pitocin, which I don't want and will ask if nipple stimulation or positioning can be done first) I have nothing against either decision but it appears with my situation hospital birth is the choice for me.

neither of these condtions mean you can be forced into a hospital birth or things you dont want hun, yes they do raise the risks but so long as they are being managed then neither are exclusive of a Natural labor and birth if that is what you want, obviously you need to find medical professionals who are willing to support your choices if you wanted to push for your rights in your birth but please dont feel that you cant have the birth you want and desire because of manageable condtions. Obviously i speak without knowledge of your medical history beyond what you have disclosed but I do know that in the UK although there would be alot of pressure from consultants to have a hospital birth then women have successfully Homebirthed with GD and High BP as both your sugar level and BP can be monitored throughout labor and action taken if there is cause for concern from either.

Im looking at a tough road myself since my last son was 10lb12oz born induced at 11 days overdue and this one i ideally want to have at home when baby is ready and im prepared that may be 42 wks or beyond as long pregnancys DO run in my family so with the size of my previous babies and the expectation that im not going to have one much if any smaller then they will be likely talking induction at my due date or very soon after to "prevent" any number of problems occuring which have no reason to occur if everything with my health and baby's health is fine.

Good luck with however you choose to proceed with your labor/delivery plans and i hope you are happy with the outcome

 

[Lara310809]

I thought you had to have a medical professional there. I thought the only people that didn't were the ones that specifically chose to hide their labour to the professionals I'm too much of a chicken to do it differently though

ive never seen any law (in the UK anyway) that says u must have a health care provider there. personaly i wouldnt have a unassisted birth but ive seen so many videos of women giving birth in water with only them and there oh and its amazing

Just to clarify (in case anyone thinks I'm quoting law), I have no idea whether it's law or not; I actually doubt it's illegal to give birth without medical professionals present, but I just assumed it was needed.

I agree that it's lovely for those couples that want to labour by themselves; they make it an intimate event for only them and their baby and that's great... for them. LOL, I would much rather have 30 medics peering between my legs than have to rely on my OH if somethign went wrong My MIL is a retired MW, and I wouldn't even agree to labour at home with her, even though she knows what she's doing; simply because of the lack of emergency care if needed. But yeah, it's a choice for each couple. I admire those that choose to go it alone; they have more confidence than I do!

 

[Periwinkle]

I am interested in home birthing and will be asking the midwife at my next appointment more about them.

Our bedroom is so small though, you can barely walk round the bed. We'd need a slim midwife if we did have one!

 

[PeanutBean]

Periwinkle, you don't have to give birth in the bedroom, i planned to be in a pool in the kitchen and ended up on the settee in the sitting room.

 

[Periwinkle]

That is a good point, thanks. I need to look into the pool thing too.

 

[PeanutBean]

It's one of the great things about homebirth, you can have one leg up a wall, bend over the stairs, drop the babe whilst leaning over the kitchen sink, whatever your body tells you to do without feeling self conscious.

 

[Lara310809]

Before I had my daughter I thought that water births were kinda stupid. Like it was a modern idea that was catching on like a fashion, and that people were opting for them because their favourite celebrity had one too and they thought it would be cool; but not that it actually had any benefit.

I stand corrected though; even if it has no other benefit, labouring in warm water is so relaxing. I got by on nothing but a little gas and air once I was in the hospital birth, whereas before I hadn't had the bath and I was hyperventilating with each contraction. I wish I could have stayed in there; water really helps more than you think.

 

[Ashley8806]

Hospital birth any day. If things were to go wrong and they needed to get the baby out right away, I would hate to risk not getting to the hospital in time, where if you're there, you're there already. That's just my opinion, but I couldn't do home birth anyway. I know some places will let you VBAC at home, but I wouldn't even consider it considering the risk of uterine rupture and only having 3 minutes to get baby out at the most.

 

[Ashley8806]

Plus it is very hard to find anyone to do homebirths around here... not many midwives willing to do homebirths, just assist in the hospital births.

 

[Deethehippy]

I have had a hospital birth and a home birth and the home birth was like 1000 times better.
I was in the comfort of my own home and could do as i wished (take a shower/bath in a clean bathroom, watch tv, listen to music, eat etc etc) Afterwards i was also in my own bed with all of babies things there.
My hospital birth i was virtually ignored and just left in a room because everyone was busy and the aftercare sucked, i was also too scared to go to the toilets because i had to either leave baby or try to take him with me. Home births are just as safe and you get two midwives there at the pushing part.

 

[MandaAnda]

Hospital birth any day. If things were to go wrong and they needed to get the baby out right away, I would hate to risk not getting to the hospital in time, where if you're there, you're there already. That's just my opinion, but I couldn't do home birth anyway. I know some places will let you VBAC at home, but I wouldn't even consider it considering the risk of uterine rupture and only having 3 minutes to get baby out at the most.

^^ This is the perfect example of why those of us who have researched birth extensively enough to be confident in home birthing (and those who have done the same but still feel hospital is their comfort zone) want to share that information. Risk of uterine rupture for a VBAC is actually incredibly small, so there's not much risk to consider at all. And the risk increases with certain interventions, such as augmenting labour, which is only available to be used in hospital.

If people want to birth in hospital, that's fine with me. But it does irk me to hear, "oh, I'd love to homebirth, but...." or "I can't home birth because...." when those reasons are inaccurate because it spreads misinformation to women who are doing their research and trying to make a decision best for them.

 

[Snuffy]

My MW tried to talk me into a home birth last time but I wouldn't hear of it. I like to know the drugs are nearby.

As it turned out I was diagnosed with preeclampsia after 15 hours of labour and whisked swiftly off to theatre, so the right decision in my case.

 

[fides]

I would love to have a home birth, but I have diabetes and high blood pressure both conditions that need to be treated and monitored during labor. I am not even going to be allowed to go into labor on my own. (which sucks-probably will get pitocin, which I don't want and will ask if nipple stimulation or positioning can be done first) I have nothing against either decision but it appears with my situation hospital birth is the choice for me.

neither of these condtions mean you can be forced into a hospital birth or things you dont want hun, yes they do raise the risks but so long as they are being managed then neither are exclusive of a Natural labor and birth if that is what you want, obviously you need to find medical professionals who are willing to support your choices if you wanted to push for your rights in your birth but please dont feel that you cant have the birth you want and desire because of manageable condtions. Obviously i speak without knowledge of your medical history beyond what you have disclosed but I do know that in the UK although there would be alot of pressure from consultants to have a hospital birth then women have successfully Homebirthed with GD and High BP as both your sugar level and BP can be monitored throughout labor and action taken if there is cause for concern from either.

Here in the states, though, each state has its own regulations regarding midwifery and home-birth. In my state, if I develop either GD or pre-eclampsia, my midwife will have to transfer out my care before my EDD back to an OB for a hospital birth. I don't know the laws for PA, but if they're anything like here in CO, then yes, unfortunately, she technically can be forced into a hospital birth due to diabetes or high blood pressure.

Reason #312 that I am a bit jealous of the freedom I see regarding home births and such in the UK!

 

[EternalRose]

Ive had a little read through of this thread, just seems to be same ole same ole really. It saddens me a little..Going to hospital to give birth is safe. Giving birth at home is unsafe. Sigh. I urge any of you to go and ask a medical professional if hospital birth is safer, and they will not be able to give you a definitive answer. A statistician, Marjorie Tew even went as far as saying homebirth may even be safer. I say whatever decision you make about place of birth, do your research. Even if you do decide to have a hospital birth; successful births are strongly linked with state of mind. YOU can do it. As women, we need to recognise the power we hold regarding birthing our babies naturally, we are amazing, and women have been doing it for years and years without the need for any intervention. There are women, that have had orgasmic births too, you may think this is wishy washy mumbo jumbo, but this has happened and I for one am jealous! Trust Birth. Bringing our babies into the world, is not an ordeal. Should never be likened to getting your tooth pulled out at the dentist (Oh how i love that one - has that one been mentioned here yet?!) And for anyone considering a homebirth, dont let people dissuade you by telling you, 'you dont get a medal for doing it without pain relief' e.t.c e.t.c You dont need a medal, your baby is your reward. Your body, your baby, your choices.

 

[plutosblue]

I am having a hospital birth this time as its my first and I am unsure as to what to expect and would like to be in a place where if something was to happen I would be in the right place.

However if things go well I would definately consider a home birth with future children As I will have a better idea of what is happening and will have that confidence.

Everyone is different, although I do agree that birthing at a hospital seems very clinical and due to lack of staff I hear a lot of experiences where new mums are in and out in the same day just for bed space!

 

[EternalRose]

I am having a hospital birth this time as its my first and I am unsure as to what to expect and would like to be in a place where if something was to happen I would be in the right place.

However if things go well I would definately consider a home birth with future children As I will have a better idea of what is happening and will have that confidence.

Everyone is different, although I do agree that birthing at a hospital seems very clinical and due to lack of staff I hear a lot of experiences where new mums are in and out in the same day just for bed space!

Remember you always hold the power, you can still have the birth YOU want at the hospital (if being at hospital makes you feel more comfortable - thats your right) No midwife, or doctor can impose any intervention that you are not happy with.