UK ladies... I want a home birth

[Lizzybee]

I cant help but worry, my living room is downstairs - this is where dogs live. Bathroom on 1st floor and bedroom on floor above that. I'm worried she will say no because of too many stairs etc! Eventhough she says they cant refuse!

 

[Smiler82]

Hmm yeah they can't refuse you completely, the can just make a recommendation. I'm sure they can't say no just because of the stairs. They will ask you to try going to the toilet during your labour and also they like to examine you on the bed as it is easier than the sofa, so just be aware you will have to go up and down. Best to do it in between contractions is my advice Maybe it'd make life easier if you planned to give birth in the bedroom? That way the dogs can stay downstairs and makes no difference re the bathroom as you'd have to climb stairs wherever you were.

 

[MandaAnda]

Or you may not want vaginal examinations at all. I stipulated that WAY before the birth. I birthed in the pool in the front room. I then got out and settled on the sofa to cuddle and feed baby (for nearly two hours), and that's where I birthed the placenta and was checked for tears (none!). I wasn't on the bed for anything. My only toilet and bathroom are upstairs, so after the cord was cut and I'd had a drink, my doula and one midwife came upstairs with me in case I needed help, as I'd passed out after my first birth when I went for a shower, even though I didn't lose much blood at all (midwives also like you to do a wee before they go, which I did). I had a wee, my doula helped me have a quick shower and both helped me into my pyjamas. Then we all went back downstairs.

They can advise all they like, and you can consider and decide whether to accept that advice or recommendation. But no one can tell you that you must or must not do anything in relation to your home, your pregnancy, your birth, your body, or your baby. You're the only one who does the allowing. (And if you're fine with the stairs, that's all that matters - they're actually good as you may find going up and down keeps labour going or that a stubborn placenta may shift after a walk up to the loo.)

 

[belle254]

Both of mine were home births, although I was in the unique position of having a mother who was a midwife!
Both babies born in the same house, although my first was more straightforward. 5.5 hours long start to finish, no tears, a daughter born downstairs on the living room rug! Minimal clean up, as inco pads and an old rug were used.
My second was more complicated. Baby was bigger and back to back, so labour was more like 10 hours. After my waters broke it was insanely fast, about half an hour until birth, and I didn't have time to move downstairs (where my daughter was awake) with all the gas and air and equipment so ended up giving birth in the weirdest position (baby got stuck) and had my son in my new bedroom, on beige carpets No tears, and he was 3lbs heavier than my first.
Not the best idea! The staining took weeks to get out!

But I'd definitely recommend inco pads, or if you don't have access to them an old shower curtain or old rugs spread out everywhere, just invade something happens when you least expect it! x

 

[Mrs Cupcake]

my second baby was an unplanned homebirth so we didnt have anythign ready. the midwife wanted bin bags and we only had one! lol. we just put lots of old towels on the floor. i was examined on the bed. i gave birth on the bedroom floor holding onto the end of the bed. i have an en-suite so used that for going to the loo.

my dog just laid in the corridor outside the room and was fine. my mum snuck into the house to take him away and didnt even realise we were at home as she thought we had gone to the hospital to have the baby! lol.

im sure the dogs will be fine.

im not sure going up and down stairs will be easy in labour...

 

[Lizzybee]

Feeling loads more confident now, went to a meeting that put my mind at ease