i had a home birth august last year it was my forth baby she was very cold at birth and tem would not come up abulance was there in a flash i had two midwives with me all threw my labour when i had my son in hospital in 2004 midwifes was no were to be seen im having this one at home coz i feel safer at home than in a hospital and so more relaxing if anything is going to go wrong the midwifes will pick up on it

ooh just found this post again lol.

well with all my worrying i had my baby girl 3 days after i posted on this thread at home as planned. was pretty much identical to my other homebirth but much more relaxed and faster and the first one was fast and relaxed! lol.

i had all the usual worried pph, shoulder dystocia e.t.c but no nothing i went into labour in the early hours knew after about 10 minutes that things were progressing fast so got dh to get out the midwives.

only worrying part was where the midwife couldnt pick up babies heartbeat and when she did it was sluggish but was told after that that is perfectly normal when things go so fast. my waters went as the midwife was giving second midwife directions to us from the car park on the phone and i had my little girl 20 minutes later (midwife wrote down established labour time 20 minutes!) but from first pain to placenta took 2hours 30 mins (an our shorter than my other homebirth).

i honestly think baby would have come before the midwife got there if i hadnt got on the bed for nearly an hour and slowed things down by keeping still and not vertical lol and there was no way i would have made it to hospital in time so if i hadnt planned a homebirth my husband would have had to deliver baby on his own or if they got here on time an ambulance crew.

we arent planning any more children 5 is enough for us but i wouldnt hesitate to go the homebirth route again. x

sorry G/C from 0-3 my midwife suggested a home birth with DS (my 2nd baby) My pregnancy with DD was straigh forward and my hospital notes say I was in labour for 4 hours with her (waters breaking to birth was 5hrs 50 mins) and everythign went smoothly with just gas and air and "slight grazing" as they put it ... even though I had an easy time with DD i coulldn't bring myself to have a home birth with DS .. .as stupid as it may sound it was like being a kid all over again but the hospital was my safety net if that makes sense ?? Anyway I opted to go to hospital and DS was born 16 minues after buying the parking ticket this time my notes had me down as in labour for 2.5 hours as i was 8cm on arrival I know I want more babies and i think based on the last birth a home birth is my only option for the next one as I  live half an hour away from the hospital.

My friend has had two home births now and swears by them she thinks there fab she said she was so much more relaxed in her own home you can do exactly as you please  ... and any of you ladies that choose them i think its a lovely idea ... you never know you might see me back in here in 18 months or so asking for advice hee hee

Sorry if that was a pointless ramble xxx

My family support my choice to HB, but I don't have the support of the medical team locally (see my gp thread a few down!)  However, I have looked at the pros and cons of HB and hospital birth, and hospital doesn't make sense.  I have a couple of things on my obstetric record that don't look flash, but they sound worse than they were.  You can't say that nothing will go wrong, but that's why you have a midwife there (2 infact which you never get in hospital) so that you transfer before you get to the point of needing it. 

As Valora said - I know my house is clean, and any bugs we have there are our bugs.  I went to our hospital the other day and over heard one side of a telephone conversation (he was walking behind me on his mobile - honest!) The gist was "well if you have Diarrhea and V omitting then you need to have 48 hours off work, but if you have one or the other you can still come in - hospital guidelines"  !!!!OMFG!!!!  I'm not sure if he was talking to a colleague, patient or relative, but he was a DR.  We were walking out of maternity and even if you have a fine labour etc, who knows who is on the postnatal ward?  Anyway I digress!

What I'm trying to say is that it is your right and choice to give birth where you want to and not their choice.  They can give you info and advice, but it's your choice.  Try and get your partner on board - there is a great bit on the HB website - www.homebirth.org.uk/blokes.htm which is lovely, especially the 7 secrets of a HB dad which should make your DP blub, lol!!

Good luck with your choice - yes stuff can go wrong at home, but it also can at hospital too.  5 mins away by blue light sounds like a perfect place to live if having a HB.

Sarah x

oh well that last message makes me feel better !! NOT ! hahaha

Im dorry to hear about that but if that had happened at home surely you would have got an ambulance to take you to the hospital ?

We are only 5-7 mins ( blue lights ) from hospital and im sure it would take just as long to get from from labour ward to theatre anyway ??

oh im still undecided but not sure we all really want to hear stories like that

my midwife recommended i have a homebirth for my second child as my first labour went smoothly with no intervention and only gas and air for pain relief, after only 9 hrs from my 1st contraction  my daughter was born and i only needed a few stitches. i decided against a hb after careful consideration and boy am i glad i did! after 1 and a half hrs from my 1st contraction my second daughter was born in the hospital carpark after which i haemorrhaged and had to spend the night in intensive care with drips and a catheter. my daughter was absolutely perfect but who knows how it would have turned out if i’d have had the home birth my midwife had recommended so strongly. so yes in a perfect world home births are great but i’m living proof that things can go wrong with experience to back it up!!!

I was booked in for a homebirth and was really looking forward to it, most of my family wernt that supportive and most of the concerns they were talking about was stupid! i wish i had a home birth with my other 2 children the births were so easy and short, i dident really need the midwife she was just there for encouragement really!

I did not get my homebirth in the end, my family almost looked gratefull that i ended up with a breech baby and a elective c section after being so scared of a vaginal birth by doctors,!!! brain damage, getting stuck, bad hips etc i felt if i dident do the section and something happend to the baby it would all be my fault as i knew she was in a dangerous position for birth.

Look into it talk to all the mums on here and decide whats best for u if u are unhappy in hospital your labour will be slow and painfull if your happy at home it will better (thats what i was told) xxxxx good luck with what u decide.

I was the only one who wanted a homebirth! My oh was scared so the midwife talked through everything which scared him even more but at least all the options were discussed and the risks were known to us. My mam and dad were scared too. My mam was so scared that when the midwife came round to see me while she was there she left the house in tears! I agree it is the unknown and I got a lot of negative comments about it saying you will be better off in hospital, you'll get pain relief there, if anything goes wrong you'd be better in hospital etc etc! The main reason I didn't want a hospital birth was the maternity ward is on the 6th floor and I'm petrified of lifts! After thinking 'I know I'll have a home birth to get me out of getting in the lift' I looked into it seriously and thought it would be a brilliant thing for me and oh to have. We had a tour of the maternity ward and had to use the lift and I burst into tears and had a panic attack so my oh knew I would be better off at home! Talk everything through with your oh and midwives. It might be worth sitting your family down too and try to put their minds at rest (prob won't happen though!) They are showing they care for you and want what they think is best for you. After I had my home birth my dad told me never to do it again as his blood pressure went sky high and my mam had to dye her hair as she just went grey with worry but they realised it was the right decision for me and were amazed at how well we coped with it. It is your decision and the midwives won't let you have a homebirth if they feel that anything will go wrong. If you have high blood pressure for example you will have to go into hospital I think. Just read up on everything and get all the help and advice you can. Good luck with everything! x

It is an individual decision, but if it helps you..home births have been shown to be as safe, if not safer than hospital births in 'normal' circumstances.

This means if you are healthy and so is baby then it is safe. Midwifes carry equipment for resuscitation if needed. But worth bearing in mind that the main cause of problems during birth is down to distress in the mother and this is far less likely at home x

One thing that always sticks in my head is all the bugs that are in hospitals, I know my home is clean

I had complete faith in the MW's who attended my past home births. They are well trained professionals

If there was a problem the MW would spot it and take action before it becomes serious.

Don't let anyone put your off, find out about everything first. If you still want to have a home birth tell everyone you have made an "informed" decision and it is what YOU want. It is your body and your baby.

I have had 2 home births and they were far more relaxed than my hospital births. I am having another home birth in december, this will be my 6th baby

I feel safer at home, plus you get 2 MW's all to yourself. You can do what you want and after it's all over you can use your own bath and get into your own bed

im feeling exactly the same now hunni, im 26+4 weeks and from the in laws etc all ive had is that stupid, what if baby isnt breathing, what if baby dies etc  well now im scared incase that does happen and i get the blame so im thinking towards a hospital birth  just dont know what to do anymore

Thanks for that .. am going to have a look at the website now

xx

people are always scared of the unknown hun and most of these people who are saying these negative things to you have absolutely no knowledge whatsoever on homebirths or the things that can go wrong so how do they possibly know how the homebirth midwives deal with any situation??

my best advice is to read up on homebirths and how they handle things its not a case of if something goes wrong they just leave you. statistically you are actually safer at home than in hospital.

read up on homebirth.org.uk and next time people are negative towards you just ask them what they are basing their fears on then issue them with some actual information so that they know more than what they have been told by being brainwashed in a society that assumes hospital is always best.

finally read up on the pros of homebirth. hospital and homebirths both have pros and cons but generally the pros of homebirth far outweight the pros of hospital births but the cons of home births do not outweigh the cons of hospital births.

... sonething bad would happen!

Have so many people saying" ohhhhhhh i would never do that " and no one really supporting me about it!

I feel that if i do have one and something horrible did happen i would get the " told you so's" from people. Although they would not say it to me i know they would think it and i would too ??

Does this make sence?? How can i come to a decision ?

Thanks 

Vicky 18+1