Pretty much set on homebirth but stories and encouragement welcome!

[Mummy2Corban]

Hello ladies!

So I'm nearly 33 weeks preggo and I'm pretty much set on having a homebirth. My midwife will be coming around at 36 weeks to talk about it. I have a tiny part of doubt in my mind but I'm guessing this is natural? Just want advice, stories and general encouragement! Please!

Xxx

 

[Feronia]

Yay, go for it! Home birth is the best -- once you do it once you'll never want to do it any other way. Feel free to read my home birth story. I'm planning my second one in February!

 

[Hoping4Four]

It's definitely normal to feel a little unsure, the "norm" is to give birth in hospital and not everyone is supportive of home birth.. I find that doctors are usually dead against it whereas midwives are all for it!

I had a home birth planned with my third baby but unfortunately it couldn't happen in the end.. My waters broke and after 24 hours I still hadn't gone into labour, and NHS policy is to induce after that long. I'm not saying this to put you off or worry you, but sometimes things don't go to plan and I think it's important to be aware of what can happen. I had my heart set on giving birth at home; a hospital birth wasn't in my mind at all, and I felt so sad afterwards when it couldn't happen. No-one understood why I was so upset because "all that matters is having a healthy baby". Of course I knew that, but I still felt sad about it. This time I'm still planning on a home birth and I've got everything I need for it, but I'll be preparing for a hospital birth too.

Saying that, the majority of home births in the UK are successful and don't require hospital transfer so I think my situation was particularly unlucky. It's a very safe way to give birth providing you're low risk, and it seems like such a calm, wonderful way to bring a baby into the world!

One of the things that appeals to me about home birth is having my own space afterwards. I've been on a shared postnatal ward 3 times before so I know what a luxury it will be to have my own bathroom and bed!! And family visits can be on your own terms - you can have your family round to meet the new addition as soon as you're ready, without visiting hours or restrictions.

It's also important to me to not be away from my older children for too long. I don't want them to be there for the birth but I want them to meet their baby brother/sister as soon as everything's cleaned up and we're settled into bed.

I recommend watching some home birth videos on YouTube if you're still feeling unsure about it. Some are really amazing and usually make me cry!

All the best.. I hope you get the birth you want

 

[Mummy2Corban]

ThAnk you ladies. I love sure to read your story hunz

I do want a homebirth but also understand other things can come into play which might prevent that. My first I had on labour and delivery a and second on a midwife led unit so if I was unable to homebirth I would request midwife led. As my dd is only gonna be 18 months I'd also like it if I didn't just disappear and then reappear with a baby so that also warms me to a homebirth.

Any tips for what may come in handy?

Xxx

 

[Feronia]

Your midwife should give you a supply list of things to get, and oftentimes they give you some supplies as well. If a water birth appeals to you, look into renting a tub and setting it up once you're 37 weeks. Other than that, I got most of my supplies from a dollar store -- inexpensive shower curtains for the floor and bed, hydrogen peroxide, towels, and baby blankets. You'll need a place to store the placenta (like a mixing bowl), and straws are very handy so you don't have to move much in order to take a drink. Pre-made meals or someone to cook you something during labour is very nice! My DH made me smoothies and a stir fry while I laboured, and it was awesome.

Music you love and essential oils are also nice to have!

 

[bumphope]

My home birth was amazing. I always knew it would be the right thing for me, I'm not a doctory sort of person, I knew if I went to hospital I would freak, things would slow down and I'd end up with a birth I didn't want... So it was absolutely the right thing to do.

My labour was about 12 hours and was fine. I was never honestly in pain and never thought I couldn't do it, nor did I even consider taking as much as a paracetamol or a sniff of gas and air. I had definitely had enough by the time she came, but it was more that I'd had enough of the intensity than the pain, because there just wasn't anything I could call pain.

Anyway, at the end, my placenta didn't want to come out (I pushed for 5 hours, I think my uterus was tired!) and my temp went up 2 degrees so they wanted to transfer us for precautionary antibiotics. I didn't really mind, and once we were there it was actually not as bad as I had built it up to be.

I guess I'm saying that most transfers aren't because of a major complication, birth is normal after all. I wouldn't have had that birth in hospital (they like to intervene after 2 hours pushing) and we transferred slowly and calmly after the birth. I believe most transfers for first babies are for pain relief rather than an emergency... You can so do it! Good luck!

X

 

[Mummy2Corban]

Ahhh thank you Hun! I know I can do it without pain relief and love the idea of being at home. Got my 36 week midwife appointment coming up in the next few weeks so I'm looking forward to talking things through with the midwife!

Xx

 

[bumphope]

Course you can! Are you hypno birthing? I found that a-mazing! X

 

[Mummy2Corban]

No I'm not hypno birthing Hun. I'll google it in a bit and have a little read up xx

 

[2ndtimeAbz]

I had a home birth with ds after a pretty rough induction with dd, TTC #3 in December and planning a home birth then to! My birth story is in my sig I'd recommend hiring a tens machine and stock up on cereal bars and other healthy high energy stuff. In terms of equipment one thing we nearly messed up on was a bowl as I got sick during transition. Good luck and if you're after lots more birth stories try the 'homebirthers and hopefuls' sticky thread