HT: Home birth

Yes I had a homebirth for my son 5.5months ago - was great being able to snuggle up in our own bed after he was born and no one had to get kicked out once visiting hours were over lol. Would definitely choose another home birth if we had any more kids (not that we're planning to have anymore).

My next will be a home birth. I wanted one for number 1 but was induced + low lying placenta so hospital seemed the place to be. My only concern is that I tore badly with ds and needed a significant stitch up job by an ob and would hate having the same thing happen and have to hospital in afterwards. Light shed on that situation appreciated!

Bowie wrote: My next will be a home birth. I wanted one for number 1 but was induced + low lying placenta so hospital seemed the place to be. My only concern is that I tore badly with ds and needed a significant stitch up job by an ob and would hate having the same thing happen and have to hospital in afterwards. Light shed on that situation appreciated!

I also had a bad tear (3rd deg) in hospital and researched on web, with midwife etc on secondary tear risk. I came to the conclusion there was no extra risk so decided on home birth. My 2nd baby was smaller (8pd 12 as opposed to 9pd 9) but I do believe being at home and in a better birthing position (on knees as opposed to back after an epidural) contributed to having just a tiny tear requiring a couple of stitches which the midwife did at home. Good luck with your decision and birth!

I had a homebirth with ds. Best thing ever. The worst part of dd laboir was the trip to hospital. It was nice to be at home . Much more relaxing and really just better overall.

We had a pool set up and he was born in the water.    I totally recommend it.

Bowie wrote: My next will be a home birth. I wanted one for number 1 but was induced + low lying placenta so hospital seemed the place to be. My only concern is that I tore badly with ds and needed a significant stitch up job by an ob and would hate having the same thing happen and have to hospital in afterwards. Light shed on that situation appreciated!

I guess it would depend on how badly you tear and how experienced the MW is. I had a 2nd degree tear (due to DS coming out bum-first and my MW having to pull his head out - sounds worse than it was lol) and my MW just stitched it up herself while I lay on the couch. Luckily for me I had a very experienced MW!

With my first I never considered a homebirth but immediately after having my daughter I did for the next and that is still the plan. However, at the end of the day I just want to go with the flow because the main thing is a happy and healthy baby.

A mojor point that made me decide I wanted a homebirth was basically just the way my partner and I were treated in hospital after the birth where he was pretty much made to feel not welcome by the staff. For us it's important that it's my partner and I and our baby... As a result of being asked to leave constantly etc he found it difficult to bond with our baby for a long time.

I'm not opposed to a hospital birth but would want to leave asap afterwards but I want what is going to be best for us. But at the end of the day we'll see.

I had a home birth and it was a fabulously empowering experience. I never once considered going to the hospital to give birth, but obviously it was something I had to keep at the back of my mind, in case of an emergency. We don't live very far from the hospital though, so I was never worried.

As it turned out, I would have had a home birth whether I wanted one or not, as my 9lb 3oz boy was determine to make a speedy entrance to the world

I also hypnobirthed, which enabled me to have a very peaceful birthing experience. My MW was extremely supportive in this.

Babe, I'm not sure I agree with your choice of words. I wouldn't describe home births as a "fad". I think more people are considering them in todays society, but as you pointed out, they're nothing new and people have *always* been giving birth at home. People aren't just going to stop having home births as the "fad" wears off.

I'm not sure what peoples main fears with home birth are. I'm guessing what would happen in an emergency? I think a lot of women who choose to go to hospital, end up having unnecessary interventions which lead to further problems and medical treatment, c-sections etc. There seems a bit of an obsession amongst medical staff that babies *have* to be born at 40 weeks and if you're 'late' then you need assistance. Obviously, lots of mothers have extremely positive experiences of giving birth in hospital and for a lot of people, a hospital is always going to be their first choice.

I think there's a misconception with home births that there is a lot of 'mess'. I can only speak from my own personal experience, but this was certainly not the case.

If you'd like to know anything else... just shout

yermasyada wrote: Babe, I'm not sure I agree with your choice of words. I wouldn't describe home births as a "fad". I think more people are considering them in todays society, but as you pointed out, they're nothing new and people have *always* been giving birth at home. People aren't just going to stop having home births as the "fad" wears off.

The whole 'natural' way of doing things is very popular at the moment - extended BFing, co-sleeping, home birthing. Yeah people have done them for countless years but I mean people have been circumcising for countless years yet its currently 'out-of-fad' with a big surge of people against it. At this point in time its the 'in thing' in many circles to go au natural with your baby right from day dot and the keeping up with the jones/coffee group girls could result in people who actually need intervention making the decision to have a HB. If that happens because of the current popularity and things go wrong then its going to give HBing a bad name the same as people who co-sleep without using commonsense and kill their babies give co-sleeping a bad name. I'm not against HB though, I think its a great option if its done safely

I'm planning a home birth with my first (any day now would be nice )

We dont have a birthing centre option, only home or hospital. I just like the idea of being in 'my own space' - I'm not a massive fan of hospitals. And I've been lucky to have a worry free pregnancy... And I like the idea of sleeping in my own bed straight away, and DH & I working out our own methods straight away rather than having hospital MW's giving conflicting information and confusing us

Having said that I completly understand people's preference to birth at the hospital, everyone has their own comforts and that is what is important.

But dont you get SICK & TIRED of people trying to argue with you that home births are dangerous

I should have taken a pic of my birthspace once the mw's were done - but seeing as it was just my regular tidy family room, there seemed little point! The hospital provides a linen pack that the MWs used to cover the couch and the floor around the pool and they packed it all up again afterwards. I waterbirthed so most of the gunk was in the pool which we syphoned into the paddock by the house. The MW's have those disposable absorbent pads they put under you for internals etc. I guess my point is that no it doesn't reduce the mess by having a homebirth, but that it isn't anymore your problem than it was in hospital.

My options were home or hospital, no birth centre here. And given HB MWs have more safety equipment than most birth centres, I couldn't see the reason to leave home to a birth centre. To hospital if there was medical indication, sure, but otherwise, it didnt seem worth the agony of the drive (i'm rural so its a decent trip to town).

I loved birthing on my terms, and I loved how normal it all was. I just got up one morning (albeit a little earlier than usual ), had a baby, and got on with life. I loved that I got to sit down and have toast for breakfast with my toddler just like I had the day before, only this time I had a baby in my arms rather than in my tummy.

And even if its something that might be trendy atm, its not something anyone would do purely for that reason. For most people its a safe option, for those that its not, they go to hospital. No one would gamble with their baby's life for the sake of being trendy I don't think!

CrazyCass, yes I do. Especially given my profession - I HAVE done my research. It's the main reason I don't volunteer the information. If people ask, I'm (usually, with a few justifiable exceptions) honest but I certainly don't advertise it. I also try not to push it on others - it's right for me, but everyone has different attitudes to birth and its a very personal thing.