Pro's and Cons?

[shortie1990]

Of NOT going to hospital, IE, home birth or birthing centre

I want to find some facts so I can decide where I want to give birth, but I can't seem to find any, When i've looked at the new birthing centres opened near by, theres comments slating this saying its incredibly dangerous etc etc and should be in a hospital and women who chose not to birth in hospital with the right medical attention to hand are being selfish..

but its not a medical illness, its a natural process..!

pro's and cons, and experiences, good and bad please

 

[lozzy21]

For me i think if your going to go to a birth centre you might as well stay at home, they can do exactly the same at the birth centre that they can do at home.

In a hospital depending on how busy it is you could be sharing your midwife with 2/3 other women, at a birth centre or at home you usually have 1-1 care for all of your labour. At home you have all of your stuff there, you can do what ever you want when you want. You can continue on with your daily routine until you feel the need to slow down. You can eat when you want, sleep when you want, there wont be some one else in the bath/birthpool. Your less likely to need other pain relief or intervention at home.

The only pro to a hospital is there is doctors on site BUT if your midwife thinks you need extra care they will recommend transfer. Also your less likely to need the doctor in the first place if your at home.

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

WSS!

 

[shortie1990]

The only problem with birthing at home is gettin the right space and having to hire a pool, which our home isn't really big enough for, which is why I'm swaying more to the birthing centre

 

[Kess]

If you want actual facts and figures, The Fathers Homebirth Handbook has a chapter on risk with summaries and referrences for all of the major studies undertaken on the relative safety of homebirth and hospital birth. Overall, for a normal pregnancy, homebirth is at least as safe as hospital. I copied a bunch of summaries down a while back when people in the main section were lying about the safety of homebirth (saying, like you've encountered, that home is dangerous etc), let me see if I can find the thread.

 

[moomin_troll]

in hospital with my first i was either being rushed or just ignored by the mws who i could hear just gossiping at the front desk. i wasnt encouraged to move around as its easier for them to just have u flat on ur back.
i was cut because it was easier for the mw, she pushed me to have the injection after the release the placenta....she couldnt wait for that tho she just pulled it out.

once i had my baby i was in a room with 2 other girls, all of us getting ignored and couldnt sleep.

so i was set on having a HB this time, u get *well should get* better one to one care. ur more relaxed as ur in ur own space, ur not rushed because they need the beds (my bed was actualy taken during my labour because someone else needed it)

theres less chance of running into complications during a HB and then u get to lie in ur own bed and relax after.

hospitals can be great when u need them but the average birth doesnt. i can only think of positives about having a homebirth, but i can think of too many negatives for a hospital birth

 

[Kess]

Found it!

https://www.babyandbump.com/pregnancy-second-trimester/550790-just-found-out-cant-have-homebirth-because-politics-3.html

 

[lilacmonkey87]

your exactly right - its a natural process. everyone is different - some women are comforted more by being in hospital, they feel more relaxed but not everyone wants this. those people who are saying homebirthers are selfish are just frightened by a womans choice to birth naturally and at home. it makes them uncomfortable and thats why they lash out with hurtful comments. at the end of the day it is the womans choice, you will only labour and deliver this baby once and it is your right to decide where.

i feel very strongly about a womans choice during labour and believe that no one has the right to tell you how and where you should labour. i gave birth to my first baby in march at home, with no pain relief...all i had to work with was profanity but as much as that EPI seemed appealing during the worst contractions i wouldnt change anything what i did. you can find my birth story here https://www.babyandbump.com/birth-stories-announcements/577525-long-birth-luca-miles-homebirth.html - it is a 100% honest account of what my experiance was like.

in the home environment you are more relaxed, free to move around if you wish - not worrying about listening to the lady in the next room shouting through the pushing stage - no crappy hospital food - you can have whoever you want there with you during labour - you can have that waterbirth that youve always wanted - everything is set up for baby right there at home - not having to listen to other babies crying on the postnatal ward when all you want to do is rest - having a midwife all to yourself throughout labour and a second one for the birth instead of shifts clocking on and off and staff just popping in and out. there wont be any chance of your partner being sent home if your already at home - he wont have to go all the way to the canteen to get you that cup of tea or whatever. these are but a few examples. get yourself a scrap of paper and write down for each option hospital home and birthing centre, what you think the pros and cons are. you might surprise yourself.

www.homebirth.org.uk is a very good website for some information for homebirth - it has a page full of "what if" questions and answers.

this is your choice dont let other peoples negative thoughts sway your decision. and probs by the time you get to 37 weeks or so im sure you'll have a clear decision made in your mind about what you want and dont want etc

hope this helps

Zoe

 

[shortie1990]

Kess - thanks for the info, very helpful!

 

[Samantha675]

People who think home birth is not safe no nothing about it. It doesn't take long to find information on the web about the safety of home birth. It is just cultural. In Holland, where the majority of women birth at home, no one even thinks about it. It is just part of normal culture. When you go against the norm, then people balk and have to start spouting crap that makes their choices valid.

I have read time and time again that for a normal pregnancy, home birth is just as safe as a hospital birth. I just watched Pregnant in America, and one person who was being interviewed even said that home was cleaner, that hospitals are just full of germs and sick people. When else in our lives do we take a healthy experience to a place where everyone else is sick?

 

[Mum2b_Claire]

 

[Nikki_d72]

For me, the three biggest reasons to HB will be 1:that I know I'll be more relaxed at home, I was very scared in hospital last time and felt like a fish out of water and it had disastrous consequences for my labour. 2: I'll be far away from unneccessary interventions and not on the clock,nor having to fight hospital protocol, especially as it's VBAC and there is a lot of protocol around that. 3: giving my baby the gentlest entrance into the world as possible, with no loud noises, no bright lights, and familiar voices (and no-one will whip him/her away from me to do "checks" that could wait).

Lovely side-effects will be: being able to eat and drink what I like; getting on with my routine for as long as possible to ignore contractions, rather than clock-watching in an empty boring labour room, thereby seeming to shorten labour; knowing I don't have to decide to get into the car and drive to hospital - judge/worry/wonder when that should be; having my own experienced midwife with me the whole time; having my own birthing pool that I can use how I like; choosing how many support people I have and who can/cannot enter the space; not having to fight for what I want against policy; my DH having an active part in the birth of his child and not feeling like a bystander while the medical teams do their thing; my DD being with us and being able to witness the birth of her baby brother or sister (which she's wild with excitement about, she's 8); being able to choose delayed cord clamping and a natural 3rd stage, unless there is PPH; and best of all, all being able to snuggle up together afterwards in our own bed - the midwives will go home, not my DH and DD. That is a wonderful thing for me, I hated the first night after the birth of my DD, alone and a bit shocked and I know DH never slept a wink until he was able to come back in to see us, it was cruel.