Home births?

Question

Has anyone else on Answers had a baby at home? If so, what made you choose to have your baby at home instead of in hospital? Has anyone planned a home birth but ended up giving birth in hospital? If so, why and how did you feel afterward? Anyone who has had a baby in hospital, did you consider having a home birth, and if so why did you decide against it? Anyone who planned a hospital birth all along, why did you not consider birthing at home as an option?

Also is there anyone out there who is really pro-home birth or pro-hospital birth and if so, why do you feel so strongly one way or the other?

Sorry for the multi-faceted questions, basically I'm just after all points of view.

Thanks in advance, your opinions would really help.

Answer 1

I had one hospital birth (which i hated) and two home births. One planned and one by accident. I was supposed to be on the domino programme for my daughter and didn't call the midwife in time to go to the hospital so when i had my third child i planned a home birth which went smoothly, even though he took only 38 minutes start to finish and i delivered him myself, but my midwife was on holiday and the one the hospital sent insisted i went in to have stitches for a farting little tear. I ended up staying in for 3 days, falling out with all the staff which was exactly what i was trying to avoid, on my one planned home birth.
I'm very pro home birth, under the right circumstances, as it's comfortable, you can move around exactly as you wish, familiar surroundings and no need for child care in the middle of the night. You really can listen to your own body and go at your own pace. My daughter fitted right in with the family and there was very little disruption.
My hospital birth i didn't like the confinement of the epidural, i didn't like the attitude of the holier than thous, tutting when my water broke over the bed and they let me try for the toilet when i thought i needed it (first time mum at this point) then said "oh isn't she good, she's breathed the baby's head down all by herself" No love, i was trying to have a crap and that's what happened.
If everything's as it should be - home birth every time. I'd do it again in a heart beat.

Answer 2

I am going through the same at the moment. The care in my area is awful. With my first child i was based in Bournemouth and the care was excellent. I had no reason to even think of having a home birth. But where i am now i haven't had any parentcraft classes, there is no waterbirth fascilities, i haven't seen the same midwife twice and am now 37 weeks. I have also been told that if i go to the local hospital to deliver i have to leave 3 hours after (all being well) and go home. I have now booked for a home birth (if there are any midwives available) as i want to get into my own bath and bed with my new baby and young daughter at home. Why not. The only reason i would now go to hospital is to have an epidural, which i had last time and didn't work for me anyway.
If the standard of care was higher i would probably go to the local hospital, but why when everything they can offer there i can have at home anyway?
Sorry to rant sore subject at the moment
Hope that helps

Answer 3

Honestly I have never even considered a home birth. I don't think there's anything wrong with it and I don't by any means think less of women who choose them, as long as they are educated about it.

My first baby was a regular hospital birth. We "failed to progress" and after 17 hours of labor I begged the doctors to just cut me open and get it over with. I was exhausted and just wanted it done.

Because my ob-gyn figured that subsequent babies are typically bigger than the first, she told me I was a good candidate for a planned c-section. Remembering my exhausting experience from my first child and desperately wanting to be more able to focus and enjoy my baby after giving birth, I agreed. My baby decided to be born 8 days before my planned c-section, so I went to the hospital when my water broke and had the c-section about an hour later.

I didn't have any complications with either c-section, and while I hear that there are lots of risks associated with them, I breastfed both babies less than an hour after giving birth. They were both very healthy and I healed quickly from both surgeries. I'm not sure if I will have any more children at this point, but if I do I will probably just have another planned c-section. Honestly, I'm a baby when it comes to pain, and after two fairly good experiences I don't quite feel comfortable trying something different.

But that being said, do your research and decide what you want for yourself. If I had done the research on c-sections prior to giving birth, I probably would have resisted each of them more at the time. I don't know, maybe I wouldn't have.

Anyway, that's my experience. Good luck!

Answer 4

Baby #1 - unmedicated hospital birth. Doc wasn't on call. Fired unsupportive jerk of an on-call doc and had a resident catch the baby. Being my first, hospital birth was what I was comfortable with. My mom had scarey birth experiences and I'm sure that colored my own perception.

Baby #2 - freestanding birth center waterbirth with midwife.

Baby #3 - home waterbirth with midwife.

I would never go to an OB again without a strong medical reason. I would never birth in a hospital again without a strong medical reason. I would also never have another baby "on land" unless it was necessary. The pain relief of the warm water is amazing. For a mom who is having a normal, healthy pregnancy, homebirth is a safe and wonderful option.

#2 was a fast labor and birth (around 4 hours total) and this was one of many reasons we didn't want to leave home with #3. Also, we had learned more about homebirth and were comfortable with the idea and really didn't want to be bothered with going somewhere during labor and then having to be away from home at all.

I can actually say that my homebirth was pretty relaxed and even a bit romantic. We had a fire in the fireplace. Hubby got in the birth tub with me and he caught our daughter and handed her to me. My midwives made up our sofabed and the three of us cuddled on the bed in front of the fire for her first few hours after the birth. I was able to move and eat and do whatever I wanted in labor. We chatted and listened to music together and actually had a pretty nice afternoon. "We'll Be Together Tonight" by Sting was playing while I was pushing and it was so perfect that I was alternating between laughing and crying while I pushed.

ETA:
As for the "equipment needed" if you are eligible for a homebirth, there isn't much! The MW brings an oxygen tank, which isn't all that big. They bring a bag of birth supplies and you buy a birth kit ahead of time. There REALLY isn't that much that is needed. Doppler to hear the heartbeat, cord clamps, gloves for the MW, some chux pads to protect furniture/floors, not much at all!

Answer 5

I have 4 boys, the first 2 were born in hospital but that was approx 20 years ago. I then had a 6 year gap to my 3rd boy. I chose to have him at home and was very much encouraged so by the midwife. It was absolutely fabulous!! I can honestly say that nothing beats it! My oldest 2 sons, although obciously not in the room at the time of birth, were called in to help cut the cord and gave my son his first bath! What an experience. I then went on to have a little girl prematurely, who sadly died, however I fell pregnant again and was advised to have a hospital birth because of the previous pregnancy probs. I refused and agin had my youngest son at home! I would strongly recommend this, obviously only if there is no pregnancy problems, and especially if you already have children as it creates such a strong bond between them all getting involved. Go for it!!

Answer 6

I'm planning a home birth.

The number one reason would be the risk of iatrogenic complications. Tr.: lack of patience for nonsense intervention.

Choosing a midwife over a doctor has sent my risk of episiotomy, c-section, etc, down quite a bit; choosing a home birth sends it down even more.

The baby and I are, so far, quite healthy (actually, surprisingly 'textbook'); if that holds, my odds of having a problem-free home birth are as good or better than they would be in a hospital.

So much of this is about where Mum feels comfortable. This Mum likes her home, so... I'm not going to make it out to be the ideal choice for everybody, though I do think more people should give it serious consideration.

I can have pain relief at home. I'm probably going to rent a 'birthing pool,' though. And the father-to-be grilled our midwife about what would happen in assorted emergency situation; we're pretty satisfied that those bases are well-covered. Home birth gets a lot of "But I had to have an emergency c-section..." reactions. "Emergencies" tend to become obvious a lot further in advance than people tend to think, and "emergency c-section" means "within a half hour." An ambulance will do that just fine. But my risks are low if I'm not messing with Pitocin and other 'interventionist' twaddle that leads to "emergencies." Which see 'iatrogenic complications' -- I am not keen on doctors miraculously fixing problems they're responsible for creating.

I want to eat and drink whatever I please, which might include fresh-squeezed raspberry juice, or delivered pizza; I think most hospitals would balk at juicers and pizza guys. And if I want to drink a celebratory Guinness on a back porch a half hour after giving birth, I'm going to drink a celebratory Guinness on a back porch. I would, I think, make for a 'difficult' hospital patient.

There are no statistics suggesting I'm making anything resembling a risky choice; nothing about pregnancy strikes me as an illness that requires a hospital. (NB: speaking of my pregnancy only, and so far. I have resolved to not be too upset if a complication does show up that makes a hospital a better choice.)

I miscarried a year ago, and finished that off in the maternity ward of the same hospital I was born in. It was fine to be unwell in, but it didn't look like where I'd want to have a baby. Plus I'm not sure how good those chairs-that-recline are for fathers to sleep in; why not plonk the three of us down on a king-size bed?

Etc, etc. Good luck with whatever you choose!

Answer 7

I was Planning a UC home birth with a back-up midwife.

I was in labour for three days. My back-up midwife was on bed-rest due to emergency surgery. My husband freaked out.

I agreed to get checked at the hospital.

After the fetal stress test I should have gone home.
After I they told me I couldn't push I should have locked myself in the washroom
When they wanted to preform deep suctioning, which I knew to be wrong, but couldn't even find the suction I should have had hubby take the baby and run before they could find it.
After the baby was born I should have signed him out AMA.
After they gave him IV antibiotics and an x-ray without consent I should have left.
After they gave him the too much of the wrong kind of glucose I should have transferred hospitals.
After the 10th time they threatened to go to court and have me removed as guardian I should have come back to the hospital with a gun.
After the doctor made the staff call CPS 5 times in 2 days they decided to do a home visit to shut him up.

NEXT time, I will have to be unconscious before I set foot in a hospital. Next time my baby may not be healthy enough to withstand the medical mistakes. Next time something worse than swelling and hemorrhoids might happen if I am forced to sit upright for 3 days after birth, I could get a clot and die. I could bleed. Next time I may really end up shooting someone then I will never see my kid(s) again.

Answer 8

I had a hospital birth, and I didn't even consider a home birth. I just think it is better to be a the hospital in case something bad happens. I just saw a show about a woman that had a baby at home and she started hemorrhaging really bad, and almost died. For instance, if I had of considered a homebirth, I would have been in big trouble, my daughter wouldn't drop and was feet first and almost 12 pounds, and her heart rate got really fast, so they gave me a c-section right away, I don't liket o think of what would have happened if I was at home. This is just my opinion though.

Answer 9

http://www.homebirths.net/

i choose to birth in a hospital purely because my home wouldn't accommodate the equipment needed to deliver at home. i have since moved and am expecting my 2nd child which i will too give birth to in hospital only because they have all the equipment necessary to ensure a smooth delivery. this is not to say I'm against home births, i applaud any women who makes that choice, i guess I'm just a scared wimp lol Also now a days you can leave the hospital within hours of a natural delivery so i say let someone else clear up lol

Answer 10

had 1st 2 babies in hospital, but only because my hubby not supportive of home births.
had really rotten experiences, being forced to lie on back, being given an unnecessary episiotomy (one doc there asked midwife why she'd done it), no care or compassion, tied to monitor not allowed to move about etc etc etc etc etc etc
hubby#2, pro home birth...hoorah!!!
it was BEAUTIFUL. woke at 4am, called midwife at half past. on the gas and air by5am. moved around sitting room, leaning over chairs, almost breaking hubbys arm during contractions!! i ran out of gas nad air as made wrong order, so if have at home order LOTS!!! but went all "shaminic", breathed thru contractions, felt baby moving down and out (wasonhands and knees), no burning sensation that i had when strapped to hospital bed on back, just slipped out, hubby caught her and cut cord, then ran me a bath and made me a cuppa which i enjoyed whilst chatting to 1 midwife who came upatirs with me whilst other chatted to Daddy as he cuddled her. older girls voted to go to grannys before birth and come back afterwards! gave birth at 9am. (my longest labour!!) throughout labour could use the essential oils and homeopathy i'd bought; midwives sat at a discreet distance chatting quietly whilst me and my hubby brought our daughter into the world, just checking unobtrusively now & then, and helpingcatch baby and cut cord. they told me, wonderful, you just breathed her out!
it was magical.
hospital is less than half hour away, knew could get there if needed to, and knew that if couldnt deliver at home then it was reasons of safety and as long as me and baby fine, then doesnt matter if had to go in at last minute. keep that in your mind if you opt for home birth.
with all the media reports of how maternity units not well resources, i think its safer anyway!!
if you opt for at home, stick to your guns, enjoy the whole process. if go into hospital, dont let any over-earnest pro-home-ers make you feel guilty, its your body, your baby, your choice.
good luck, have fun!!!!