Home births?

Question

Has anyone had or been a birth partner at a home delivery?

Im seriously considering it after being on the maternity ward and opening the bedside cabinet next to my bed only to find a used sanitary towel and dirty tissues, aswell as used bedpans in the bathroom waiting to be emptied. Im just wondering if im putting baby and myself in immediate danger of infections as soon as shes born. I know its not the nurses/midwifes fault they do a wonderful job im not blaming them. I just want the best for baby.

Answer 1

first of all you should have reported these disgusting finds, you are entitled to be treated in a healthy environment. i haven't had a home birth so can not advice but i did have an epidural and feel i would have this again so will have my next child in a hospital xx

Answer 2

I gave birth at a birth center, which was (essentially) just like giving birth at home. No operating room, no heavy medical equipment, no Doctors, no constant fetal monitoring, no IV's, no vaccums, forceps etc. I was attended by two Midwives, and my husband was my birth coach.
I am a huge advocate for homebirth. I plan on a home birth with my next child if I can find a Midwife closer to where we live.

There are always the "what if" something goes wrong questions. And there are many people both in an outside the Medical community who believe Midwives are ignorant. Unable to safely deliver a baby or know proper proceedure. This is totally false. Midwives complete many many courses of schooling (including becoming registered nurses and attending live births) to learn how to deliver babies.
Now that having been said, a Midwife is NOT a Doctor. This being the case, no GOOD Midwife would ever deliver your child at home were there high risks (Preclampsia, twins, heart condition, breech position etc etc...), nor would they continue a home birth if there were signs of maternal or fetal distress.
Midwives pay very close attention to the laboring mother. Blood pressure, heart rate, temperature, comfort level...and also closely monitor the baby's heartrate using a Doppler machine. At the sign of any difficulties, the Midwife would NEVER hesitate to immediately call an Ambulance to transport the mother and unborn baby to a nearby Hospital. Some people believe Midwives would let a mother or child DIE sooner than seek assistance from a Hospital. Again, FALSE.
Many people have mentioned the dangers of an "unsterile" environment. Again, within reason, this is silly. The reason most newborns in the Hospital undergo such rigourous testing is BECAUSE of the super sterile environment. A baby's natural flora and bacteria are healthy (again, within reason). Freshly laundered towels, bedding, and clothing..along with clean water and sterilized instruments for a home birth are perfectly safe. Midwives do use medical sterilization for any and all equipement that is used in multiple births. And as for actual tools used, everything is taken out of a brand new SEALED package at the birth, never beforehand.

There are dozens of accurate case studies and statistics that show that women who labor in the Hospital are more likely to recieve c-sections or other "interventions" for unnecessary reasons. Things like misreading the heart and contraction montiors, or because of the effect of drugs administered for maternal pain relief.
I'm certain a number of people will disagree and argue my viewpoints here, and that is their right. But 3+ years of research on my part; as well as education in the subject and I feel confident about where I stand.

I say if you are healthy and have no complications during your pregnancy, go for a home birth! It would certainly be a beautiful and unique experience.

Answer 3

I think you should talk to your midwife about your concerns/worries and research home births on the internet/in books. Home births can be wonderful laid back events where the whole family can be involved. Should anything go wrong though you would need to be transferred via ambulance to the hospital.
There is no excuse for dirty hospital wards and as each hospital has targets to meet re cleanliness of their hospital hopefully you will not meet the mess you saw last time and if you do ask for the ward manager. Good luck with your decision.

Answer 4

All 4 of mine were born in the same hospital, and after each birth I've toyed with the idea of a home birth. The hospital in question is the largest teaching hospital in Yorkshire, so there is a lot of student participation, I know they've all got to start somewhere but you do end up feeling like a guinea pig. Saying that I've had no major problems apart from my last delivery when I had to tell the midwives the head was crowning, they were reluctant to even look as they weren't due to check me again for another half an hour....how ridiculous is that.

Answer 5

I have had three hospital births and would have liked a home birth but as I had complications during my first delivery I was advised against it. I had midwife only deliveries for my last 2 which were very straightforward and used the pool for my first 2 (our local maternity unit has 3 birthing pools built in) and they were filling the tub for my third when i delivered as only laboured for 2hrs with him. My first daughter would never have survived if I had been at home. She was in resuscitation for an hour after her assisted delivery - I only had problems in the last 20 minutes of my labour. If I were you I would have complained not just to the ward staff but to the board of directors of the hospital. If you had a normal delivery and have a pregnancy with no complications and your local midwife team is supportive go for it. My community midwife and I spent a long time discussing my needs and she was all for home births in the right circumstances.

Answer 6

I think you are overreacting. Most maternity wards are spotless and an isolated case is not really enough evidence to support the infection theory. There are many things that can go wrong at birth and the safest place is in the maternity ward. The journey from the womb is probably the most hazardous we will ever take in our lives. Just think about what can you do if there are serious complications like you bleeding to death, or the cord being round the babies neck. You should give your baby the best chance, and that is in the maternity wing where they have all the facilities for birthing your baby. I know in days gone by people had their babies at home, but they also had many more fatalities from both mother and child.

Answer 7

I had a standard hospital delivery for my eldest. After that, I wanted home births, but the doctor wouldn't let me, even though I had a normal delivery..

So I just went into hospital when I was well advanced in labour, had the babies, and came back out a couple of hours later.

This suited me really, because I think I would have been too nervous at home, worrying in case something went wrong.

But lots of women in the UK have home births now, and so long as you are low risk you can have one if you want one.

I can remember a time (when I was a child) when everyone had their babies at home. My mum helped the midwife deliver our next door neighbour's twins. Even though one of them was breech, the midwife managed to do everything just fine.

My eldest daughter is having her second baby soon. She is going into a maternity unit where they have a birthing pool. She used it last time and said it really helped a lot with the pain.

I wish you all the very best with your pregnancy and hope you have the kind of birth you want. xx

Answer 8

I am planning one for my next one, whenever that is. A home is actually more sterile than a hospital... people go to the hospital that are sick for goodness sake. Unfortunately, what you experienced isn't isolated. Do some serious research, so that you know what to do in the case of an emergency. Don't just rely on a midwife. Contrary to what one here said, you CAN have homebirths if you have twins and if the baby is breech. Being allowed to change positions for birthing, something they don't allow you to do in the hospital, takes care of a big baby that dr.'s claim won't fit through the canal. Gravity makes a big difference! There are countries where home birthing is the norm, and their infant mortality rates are LOWER than the U.S. where we run to the hospital for something as natural as giving birth. That should tell us something. Go with your heart on this one, and good luck to you! Here's some links where you can go and read birth stories. Also, you can join the Yahoo group for c-birth (might be c_birth_). It's a group for those who totally support unassisted home births, and they don't take kindly to those who are pro-midwives, but you will learn A LOT about how to combat the so-called 'emergencies'. Keep in mind, that most of what is done in a hospital as far as interventions are not because the baby needed it, but to cover the hospital's butts as far as insurance reasons. Certainly there are always things that come up that require medical intervention, but that should be the only time that going to a hospital is necessary. In the end, it's YOUR decision, nobody else's.
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/
this one is pro unassisted, but her birth stories are amazing! This is the main link to her page, scan through her site for birth stories and facts about birthing at home. She has been featured on several different documentaries and interviews, she truly is amazing.

http://www.birthscene.com/
This one I got by putting in midwife attended births. There are links down the side for homebirth, midwives, and birth stories, should be pretty informative.

Just play around with words on your search and you can come up with a lot more than these two. Good luck!

Answer 9

I agree with Fussy. My wife and I were able to avoid some unnecessary procedures like the Vitamin K shot (not proven to actually perform it's intended function) and the blinding ointment they put in newborns' eyes. The instruments used in hospitals, however effective they can be, were designed with problematic births in mind. EFM is very often read improperly and often leads to unnecessary c-sections, and forceps or vacuums are used far too often as well (one would think that doctors would be a bit more patient, but I guess golf games and more $$ outweigh ethics and integrity). The hospital and doctors are great for their original purpose, but $$ and ignorance have caused their use to be abused. If you take a good class for birthing and natural pain management, you may be surprised at how amazing a natural home birth can be! Good luck and best wishes!

Answer 10

I had 2 home births and 2 military hospital births. I had complications with both hospital births and none with the other 2. Too much interference from the hospitals caused the problems i believe, and lots of nice homely reassurance from the district midwives that birth is not an illness - its a natural procedure- made the home births wonderful. I was surrounded by my own people and things.
However, take advice. When things go wrong, they go wrong fast.
With lots of back up at home, a home birth cannot be beaten, but you must have that back up and a trouble free history and pregnancy.

Answer 11

My best friend delivered her third child (9lb 10 oz) at home (planned). She loved it. Her other kids and her husband were there.

Because of some complications (early bleeding and dilation, etc), it was suggested that I not do a home birth. My husband also has three siblings who died right at or immediately after birth, so, he really wanted me to be in a hospital, just in case. However, my hospital experience left much to be desired (not horrible; it's just that the OB/GYN who delivered her was just a miserable ***** who wanted to manage every portion of our labor and birth, and wanted my husband (who's done two combat tours in Iraq) to leave because "the blood might make him faint", the nurses were suddenly unsupportive of breast-feeding and rooming-in), they wanted to put me on an IV the minute I got there (I had to sign waivers left and right), etc., they told me to STOP pushing so the doc could catch the baby (like HELL! My husband could've caught if necessary. :-) I got her out in three pushes total). If I ever have another child, it will be at home or in a mid-wife birthing center, at least, unless there are glaring counter-indications.
Depending on what state you are in, there will be various regulations regarding midwifery and whether there will need to be a doctor willing to step in in case of complications, whether the midwife must have privileges at a hospital, etc. Find out the regs in your area, and take that into consideration. Your personal medical situation will also dictate whether you should or should not be in a hospital or not.