home birth

[Layla]

anyone here planning on a home birth?

I was planning to go to a midwife lead center and have a water birth (if all went to plan)

but then i thought, if when the time comes i phone and the birthing pool is in use, then i might as well stay at home to give birth.

then i went on to thinking, well i might aswell hire a pool and do it at home anyway!

in the center all i can have is gas and air and maybe pethidine, if i did it at home the midwife/s would bring that with them.

so im now seroiusly looking in to hireing a pool and doing it all in the comfort of my own home. i can have soft lighting, the tv on if i want, and/or my choice of music.

the hospital is 7 miles away if anything happens so its pretty close.

so if anyone is considering the same, in my search for birthing pools i have come across these....

a inflatable one to buy for £50

http://www.madeinwater.co.uk/pool.html

or a real one to hire for £165 and up

http://www.thegoodbirth.co.uk/poolhire. ... 932aee2c3d

if anyone finds any cheaper ones, please tell me!

xxx

 

[petchy]

I AM! i'm being lazy now, here's what i posted on emma's diary on this topic:

people think i'm mad because i'm hoping for a home birth with my first child, due in february! i have very bad hospital phobia, my BP goes up drastically every time i even get close to the doctor's surgery (i've even had to wear a BP monitor at home to prove my BP is usually perfectly normal! lol) and i know i won't be able to relax at all in hospital.

my MW is being very supportive of my plans, but of course i realise it might not be possible, say if i'm overdue and need inducing or i find myself unable to cope with the pain. in any case (unless i need inducing) i plan to stay at home for as long as possible in my own relaxed atmosphere where i feel in control. if i do have to go into hospital, i want to go home as soon as i possibly can - luckily my mum is coming over from norway to stay for a month so i will have plenty of support.

i know i'm only 20 weeks, but i have already started writing my birth plan - i see it as a way of making things clearer for myself as well. i want to be as well prepared as i can and feel that i am in control whatever happens.

the way i see it, it is my body, my baby and my birth - so unless there are complications i want to do it my way, whatever feels right for me.

i'm asking my reflexologist to be present during the first stage of labour, for relaxation and pain management, and am also asking my aromatherapist to make me a lovely blend of massage oils, she has already given me a bottle of clary sage with strict instructions NOT to open until my due date, then take a bath with a few drops in each day from then as it is supposed to help bring on labour!!

PM me if you want to chat about our homebirth plans!

i came across references of a book called "childbirth without fear" by grantly dick-read on the http://unassistedchildbirth.com/ site. i am now reading this book, and although it was written in the 1940s and is a little hard to read i think it is wonderful. it was republished in 2004, and anyone planning a natural birth should get a copy! well worth reading, it makes you think!

if you want to chat about home birth, feel free to PM me or email me ([email protected]) as this is my favourite topic at the moment! lol

 

[Layla]

great!

sounds like you have really done your home work on this.

are you planning on a water birth or just a natrual one at home?

 

[petchy]

are you planning on a water birth or just a natrual one at home?

i haven't quite made my mind up yet... i really hope i achieve the home birth i want!!

 

[LouisecH]

Hi

I'm planning a home birth too. My midwife is the home birth coordinator for the area and really recommends it. It's what i wanted from the start.
I'd like a home water birth but haven't looked into pools etc yet.

 

[feenix]

Hi Layla

 

[Sarah W Baby Belly]

I would really love to have a home birth now, but as this is my first, I know that it will seem really taboo to a lot of people.

The idea of a home birth and not having to trudge to the hospital at 3am and having a clinical environment and catching MRSA does sound very appealing though.

 

[Layla]

go for it sarah

it doesnt matter if its your first baby or 5th, i think most midwifes are all for home births right now, as long as your pregnancy has and carries on being striaght forward, i cant see any reason why they wouldnt allow you to birth at home

 

[petchy]

sarah: it's my first too, don't let that deter you! as long as you have a normal pregnancy there shouldn't be a problem in letting you give birth at home! i get a lot of stick from people who judge me and say how can i be so irresponsible - that pisses me off but i just smile and nod and don't let them get to me!

 

[Sarah W Baby Belly]

My biggest worry about a home birth isn't the health of me but the health of the baby.
If something went wrong and we couldn't get him to the hospital in time I would have to live with the guilt of chooisng the wrong birthing method for the rest of my life.

If I can get over that worry (by reading past statistics etc) I might consider it to be an option.

 

[Kerry]

I am having mine at home too!!

After attending lots of home births and hospital births I wouldn't have it any other way.

I am getting a pool from

www.madeinwater.co.uk/pool.html

A friend of mine just used one and said it was great - and to hire seems to be about £200 plus about £60 delivery and pick up fees.

 

[Sarah W Baby Belly]

Kerry

I would love to hear more about your home birth experiences.

In your opinion, what was the worst home birth you experienced. Perhaps I shouldn't be asking this, but what I am trying to find out is the likelihood of something going seriously wrong and how often it happens.

Do more things go wrong in a hospital birth than a home birth?
or vice versa

Thanks

 

[Kerry]

Thats fine Sarah, happy to help.

The worst home birth was where a woman had done really well, got to 9cms dilated at home in a pool but then the baby poo'd and as that is a sign of distress they had to take her into hospital - it was handled so well though, an ambulance turned up and we were there in minutes - they couldn't have got there in the car in that time and all was fine - beautiful baby boy born a few hours later.

Other home births have been wonderful - older children have been there, we have watched films, ordered pizza's, had candles everywhere, and even drank champagne once the baby was born - they always seem much quicker than hospital labours as the mother is so much more relaxed and comfortable in her own environment - so many labours slow down once you get to hospital and then you have to wait for them to get going again.

There is very little chance of a hospital transfer from a home delivery and they will only do it if they have to. My friend who is a midwife and done loads of home births has only had 1 or 2 tranfers.

I am possitive that there is more chance of things not necessarily going wrong, but definately ending up with intervention etc if in hospital due to the fact that a mother is not as relaxed and the hospitals can be very busy and don't have the time or the beds for you to take as long as you like in labour.

And in the unlikely event that things did go wrong at home you still have a midwife with you and you could be at a hospital within minutes!!

Lots of love

 

[Layla]

my only worry is that i wont be able to cope with the pain.

altho i have had 2 children, i gave up after 5cm and had an epidural, so i dont really know what full blown labour feels like and wether im strong enough to cope with it.

 

[feenix]

http://www.homebirth.org.uk/

 

[Layla]

Cool, thanks Julie
xx

 

[Denise]

the cheapest birthing pool you can get is the la bassine from www.madeinwater.co.uk, it costs £50 and you can get all the bits you need separetly or a full kit all together for less than £100. Or you can use a paddling pool as the one in www.birthpoolinbox that you can buy £30 at www.theentertainer.com. I'd definetly go with the first one.

 

[Denise]

the cheapest birthing pool you can get is the la bassine from www.madeinwater.co.uk, it costs £50 and you can get all the bits you need separetly or a full kit all together for less than £100. Or you can use a paddling pool as the one in www.birthpoolinbox that you can buy £30 at www.theentertainer.com. I'd definetly go with the first one.