Home births

[Tillyfloss]

Any of you used a pool in your home birth?
I'm seeing mw for first time Thursday and will talk to her about it all, any questions or pointers you think could be worth asking from your own experience? Thanks

 

[Tillyfloss]

Mw today at booking in appointment was trying to not put me off as such but didn't want to really consider it an option at the moment letter saying see around 36 weeks, I understand things could happen to stop me having one but thought she would be more supportive, she was also trying to say more likely to bleed bad as had previous births and higher risk but other Mw said I wasn't high risk at all and up to me basically!
I like to plan things well in advance so want to have this sorted in my head as an option!

 

[BunnyN]

We are planning our 3rd home birth in December. Our first two were lovely experiences. The statistics in the UK for the safety of HBs through the NHS show them to be really safe. In other countries I think a lot depends on the services etc available. They are not common where I live but after a lot of research and having gone through it twice I actually feel like it is the safest option for us. It does help that we live super close to the hospital if there is a need and have a really well qualified and experienced MW. In an emergency situation they can do all the same basic things at home as they can at hospital. MWs usually carry oxygen and some medication and have special traning in resuscitation etc. Of course if it comes to having a CS you need to go to hospital but in the UK the MWs have good communication with the hospital and can phone in to tell them to set up an operating room, which you usually have to wait for even if you are already in hospital. The risk of infection for baby and mother and of haemorrhage are lower at home. If you are considering a HB the best thing is to research and decide what is best for you. MWs and doctors vary a lot in how supportive they are. Some will say they suport HB but always seem to come up with a 'reason' it isnt a good choice for you. Of course there are valid reasons to choose hospital but if you really want a HB its worth to be aware of what are real reasons and what are excuses. It does seem to be a clasic to say its 'too early' to decide before 36 weeks and then its suddenly 'too late'.

 

[Tillyfloss]

What did u birth on/ in did u have an area set up? If so what things did u use if not in/ on the bed ( don't want to ruin bed as planning a new mattress for Xmas)

 

[MrsT2011]

I had an old mattress of my sons that I planned to use and loads of towels and some huge dust sheets.
I laboured so quick I didn't use any of it other than a dust sheet that hubby had luckily put on the sofa when I was resting on it. One of my sofa cushions didn't survive the ordeal as well as a few towels and a single duvet.
The mattress stayed in perfect condition lol

 

[Papermoon]

I'm too afraid to do that at my age. If I were younger and it was my second child and I had already experienced labor and knew how my body handles it, then I might consider it. But in this situation for me, I feel safer in a hospital. I admire those who do home births though.

 

[YorksLass]

I so nearly had a home birth! Was extremely tempted... I say go for it if it feels right. For me, it's a good job I was in hospital as things went wrong after the birth and I ended up in surgery for 2 hours and lost a lot of blood! Before that though, the birth was fine - I had a water birth and it was fantastic - would recommend water
I always said that I'd like to do the 1st in hospital, then do a home birth if I had more, but I had an appointment with 'birth matters' to go over what had gone wrong and apparently there's a chance it could put me at risk again, so I'd probably go back to hospital in case. Hoping they'd let me use the water again - if not, I might just say screw it, hire a pool and do it myself lol (although would probably chicken out o.o)