I am hoping to go for my 4th homebirth this time round! Anyone else planning on staying at home??

I would love a homebirth even though it's my first. But we don't live somewhere where it would be possible. I feel gutted that I'll be bringing my son into the world in a germ ridden hospital with all the interventions etc - maybe I'm just naive though! - and especially as my pregnancy has been going so well with no complications. I will definitely consider it for no. 2! How have your experiences been? xxx

I had a homebirth 6 mths ago today and all went very well. I don't think I would have felt as relaxed as I did in a hospital setting, not to mention my husband, who turned pale during a hospital tour a few months prior to my due date! That's really what made us decide on giving birth at home.
Even though birth centres do try their hardest now to give a 'homely' feel, you still have to go to hospital in the middle of your labour. As it were, we were having dinner together with a bottle of wine the same evening, and our little girl asleep in the moses basket on the dining table! (Rest assured that things did not continue that way. We soon found out what it really means to be parents!)

I'd like to think that I'd have my second child at home as well, but this depends on the age of our first one at that time. I would not want her to be around, seeing mum in pain. It might put her off having kids for life!

All I can say is: go for it!

I really hate hospitals. I am due to have my second in september after 1st baby being a 7hour labour with just gas and air I would love a home birth! my partner wants me to go to hospital (its his first) but I feel its me giving birth it should be what makes me feel most comfortable! We only live 5 minutes away from the hospital. Any thoughts? x

I would definitely give it a go - what have you got to lose? You can always transfer if you need to. The fact that your hospital is so close is a bonus as if there were any problems they could have theatre prepared and a team ready for you by the time you arrive.

My husband was the same with our 1st, but I was adament. I work in the hospital and didnt want to be seeing any of my collegues whilst in such a compromising position!!

I also felt that it was much easier to deal with the pain at home. You also have your own midwife and home comforts. Your partner will not be kicked out after the birth and you get to spend your first night with your baby together!

Our 1st and 2nd were born at home after 5 and 7 hour labours and our 3rd was born at my parents house on Xmas Day! I am planning on having this one at home again.

My girls were both at their brothers birth - they asked if they could be and they are planning on being at this one. I think that as long as you are prepared and are able to prepare them it is a wonderful experience for them. My girls were facinated and were only nearly 7 and 5yrs old at the time.

There are also the benefits of controlling visiting, not being at risk of hospital acquired infection and not spending your 1st night being woken up by other mums and their babies!

I would say go for it!!!
Good Luck x
Caz

we have the midwife coming over at the weekend to talk about a home birth. My husband was not too keen on the idea until we went on a tour of the hospital and now is 100% behind it!

im not pregnant yet we are going to stated to try after wedding in 2 weeks but we have already said it will be a home birth after i had my daughter in hospital 3 years ago and she wasnt breathing and the midwife was so cruel to me,thankfully she did start to breathe and she is a bonny little girl now but the midwife made me cry by telling me i was stupid for worrying ect and the hospital was not nice, the shower didnt even work and i was home less than 5 hours after having her anyway.
i just want to be able to be more relaxed,move around when i want to and snuggle up in my own bed with my husband and children afterwards

i just had my 4th baby at home (my 2nd hb) i would definatly recommend it, 2 lovely midwives all to myself and a decent cup of tea after :-)
i find i relax more at home so manage the pain better, also the older children can be more involved if they want to and get to know baby better (im just hoping my 16yr old daughter is put off enough,lol)
xx

I really want to have a home birth. It is my first baby and my partner was dubious at first but the more info I give him the less he is worried about the risk factor of it. We live right near the hospital anyway so if need be I can transfer but I hate hospitals and the idea of having to be left there afterwards and for him to have to go home alone fills us both with dread. I am trying to remain fairly open minded as I don't know how I will feel when in labour but hope my plan to be at home succeeds!

I'm the same as you, hellsbellz planning a home birth for my first in August, feeling a bit nervous about it but really hoping that I will be able to stay at home. A couple of my friends stayed in hospital overnight without their husbands before their babies were born, and I want my oh firmly within shouting distance!
Is anyone else planning to have a waterbirth at home?

I would love to have a home water birth this time around, but I am worried that our floorboards would not take the weight! (they are really not that great!) Also, I would have to pay out for the expensive heated pool @£300 as there is no way our water tank would cope with filling the pool! Gutted!

hi, i tried for a home waterbirth in november, as im scared of hospitals. it was great at home, 2 midwifes and i was totally relaxed. but everything did not go to plan when i stayed 8cm for 20 hours. i was taken to hospital which was only 5 mins away. after 30 hours my baby girl arrived but after every pain releif possible taken. had to stay in hospital overnight, but they were great.
after giving birth in hospital i now know its the best place as my daughter was not breathing and they had the right equipment. the staff were brill and next time i would not hesitate to go straight there. i dont regret trying in the birth pool, if everything goes to plan it would have been a wonderfull experience. x

Quote:

from our discussion with my midwife it seems that you can spend most of the labour in the bath or shower if you want to anyway if your at home, so even if you dont plan for a full water birth you can still get the benifits from spending lots of time in water

Yay! and save £300! Think how much chocolate I could buy for that!

chocolate and baby clothes!

Thanks for that tip lisajoy- I was kind of wondering whether it was possible to just take a really long bath, will be especially useful if it turns out that our floorboards can't take the strain!

I am definately going for the home birth option, we tried a home birth with our daughter Llola now 2 but she got a bit stuck so i had to transfer to the hospital, the ride in the ambulance over the speedbumps was enough to shift her as after 5 minutes in the hospital out she popped!

I do think that everyone should be given the option of a home birth as they totally relax you and I feel they have a calming effect on the baby too, good luck to all of you who decide on a homebirth.xx

Hi - I had a home birth with my 3rd baby as I labour very quickly so wouldn't of made it to the hospital. Luckily my midwives knew this so as soon as my waters went I rung them and they arrived 15mins later, and 15 mins after that my lo arrived, facing up with the cord round her neck 3 times!! My midwife was brilliant and left us alone quite quickly after the birth, she also tidied up which was a bonus!!

I would really recommend having a home birth if possible and also think that everyone should be given the option - good luck
Sam xx

hi. i had a homebirth with my 1st baby who was born may 11th 2007. i had a complication-free pregnancy and birth. i delivered him on my living room floor!! there was no mess at all and the midwives were excellent - they had suitcases full of equipment if i had needed it, which luckily i didnt. i also opted to labour without pain relief, as i didnt want anything to affect my son. i can honestly say i would do it all again, and i want another 2! but this time i would love a water birth!

kim & blake xxx

I am thinking about a homebirth, but I have not made my mind up, yet. My mother doesn't want me to have it a home, but I have decided, she doesn't need to know (she lives nowhere near us, so she won't find out until afterwards). My partner is a little bit wary about it as well, but we have a very good friend and she had all 3 of hers at home without any problems, so this makes him feel a little better.
But as I said, I haven't made my mind up, yet. We are going for the hospital tour some time soon and I think I will plan for a homebirth with the option of transfering, if I don't feel happy once I get there.

Good luck to everybody. xxx

Well I'm quite depressed at the moment.Have just had the midwife round to disscuss a home birth.Up until the visit I was very positive about the whole thing.After talking through the risks I felt she was trying to talk me out of a home birth.Like I was using it as an excuse for child care ( I have 3 older children aged 9,8 &6).After answering all her questions about what will happen with child care she still didn't seem to want to promote home births.So feel quite deflated.Still adament that I'll have baby No4 at home.Yet the m/w seemed more interested in telling me I could very well end up being induced and other intervention if I didn't follow their recommendations.I would never put my baby at risk and feel they (m/w's) do their best to put you off.Sorry just feel overwhelmed by such a negative attitude towards me xx

is the midwife who came round the one you usually see? I am lucky that my midwife who I usually see and did the home check is very for homebirths. But, at my first antenatal class the idea wasn't even discussed as if hosptial was the only choice. and at my last appointment I saw a different midwife, she asked if i'd visited the hospital yet and i explained i'd booked for a homebirth she didn't have much to say at all.

As long as she didn't come up with medical reasons why you should have a hospital birth and you have had a normal pregnancy you should go with your instincts and plan to stay at home. I dont know how it works in your area but chances are that that midwife wont be there for the birth and you'l get someone with a more positive attitude!

To be honest I have yet to see the same mw twice! Have had just 4 appointments and one of them was to see dr at 20 week scan.There is no medical reason for not having a home birth.Just felt it was all very negative and they'd have much prefered me to change my mind and decide on a hospital birth instead! xx

out of my appointments so far i've seen 3 diff midwifes and only like 1 of them! also our antenatal classes were taken by a diff one each time so we got conflicting advice!

when i've told both my nans about having a home birth they were both really positive about thier experiences, i cant remember the extact year but my midwife explained that at some point the government decided that women should give birth in hospital. That is changing back now but is going to take time for minds to change. Apparently hospital based midwifes believe more in hospital births and community/private midwifes have more of an open view. My midwife used to be a private midwife and has delivered high risk babies at home. Unfortunatly chances are she wont be on call when my baby comes!

in the area i live only 1-2% of births are home births! only 2 midwifes are on call at a time, one of them from surrey, one from sussex. it could therefore take them longer to reach me and if someone else is having a home birth i could end up in hospital unless i completly refuse to go into hospital (although with the low take up it is unlikely) but until more people opt for home births then there is no need to have more midwifes on call!

how many weeks pregnant are you? i really think that you should push for what you want and ignore thier negativity. just read all the postive experiences of other people!

I would love a homebirth. OH is not keen at all but I'll keep working on him.

Lots of my friends have not had the most positive experience giving birth in hospital.

I'll have to see what midewife says when I finally get to meet her.

Rx

I'm 34 weeks +1.I was adament I have my home birth.The m/w has reluctantly agreed.They are on call from 37 weeks for me (June 18th) to 42 weeks.I am going to a baby fair on sunday and have joined our local NCT group.They are having a meeting on sun eve so it'll be nice to talk face to face with someone locally who has already had a home birth.I'm still going to have my home birth.Its just the " you'll have to have the injection for 3rd stage as you are more likely to haemorrhage","if your waters break and nothing happens for 24hrs you'll have to go to hospital to be induced" (I've read its fine to wait 96 hours!) and the "you'll have to ring early enough in labour as it could take us an hour to get from our house to yours if in the night"! (only if she walks!!) She didn't seem to see I'm not a stupid person ( I used to be an RGN before I had the kids) so am probably more anxious about hospitals as I used to work on a surgical ward!!,I would never endanger the life of my unborn (If I had any doubts I would be at the hosptal right away).I am just so overwhelmed by such negativity for something that millions of women do each day - some without any medical backup!!

It's such a shame that some mws and doctors still have this negative attitude. Mine have been really good, someone came around and explained all the risks and things that could go wrong, and I understand that they have to do that, but the mw that came was also saying how rare it is to have an emergency. She was really positive about homebirths and made us feel that it was completely up to us to decide. I'm really quite looking forward to it now, still feeling very scared of the pain and not knowing what to expect as it's my first, but I'm just hoping that nothing goes wrong so that I can get to be at home. Julieslot, it sounds to me like your mws just see homebirths as a hassle, as if they are quite happy working their clinic hours and don't want to be disturbed at any other time. I really hope that things work out for you and you get someone supportive on the day.

Well I met up with local NCT group yesterday and will again tomorrow.They have been fantastic with their support for my home birth.In my area only 0.2% of all the births are home births!! So I'm much more positive and determined to get the home birth I want xx Thanks for all your support xx

o i am so jealous,..hehehehe.... i had my third baby in march and so wanted a home birth.. everything was all sorted... credit on phone plastic decoratin sheets even a big tub of biscuits and a loaf of bread for toast for the midwives....... unfortunatly my waters broke and they were green... phoebe had pooed and i had to go to hospital to be monitored and had to deliver in hospital where medical help was at hand should i need it... oh well... maybe 4th time round i may be lucky... i not ttc at the minute going to wait a couple of years first...

congrats to all that had theor home births and good luck to the ladies waiting.. i have been told it is a wonderful experiance and its up to you where u have your baby whether its your first or 10th baby!!!

x x x x

and it is your right for a home birth.. if your mw is refusing, try to change her ( i did) or write to the health minister... search home births on google.. i did when i was having probs with my mw and there is a page that gives u info of where to complain to if you are being denied your homebirth.. as long as there is no medical reason why they are saying no

the more i read about home births the more i want 1, this is my first baby and am a lttle nervous incase anything went wrong as the nearest hospital is 20 minute away, but i'm more nervous of the idea of having my baby in a smelly, over crowded, dingy hospital wher i could be left for long periods of time and my oh sent home the minute i give birth, i really hate hospitals! plus i think that being at home the midwives anticipate any problems and are probably more cautious than if you were in hospital and would transfer you asap if anyhting seemed wrong, so i suppose it's just weighing up the pros and cons, i'm going to talk to my midwife on monday and see what she thinks xx

Good luck Lucylu! Hope your mws are as supportive as mine, I'm also having my first and feel much the same as you about hospitals. But as you say, the mws will transfer you if they have any doubts, and if you do have to be transferred it will be in a fully equipped ambulance, at least you won't have to do the dash to hospital in the back of someone's car and get stuck in a traffic jam!!
Let us know how it goes on Monday.

lucylu - dont worry bout things...have you spoken to your mw bout homebirths... i really wanted a homebbirth and partner was against it and my mw was able to give him so leaflets to read which really helped to settle him. It was mostly cause i live in the middle of no where and he was worried incase something happens....
basically when u first og into labour you phone mw office and say its started just so that the mw are aware and they can expect your phone call later on. once you make that call of when contractions are close enough together the mw comes out to you to check you over, and they phone ambulance control and give them your details so they are aware that they may be needed.. once the mw sees fit she calls in a second mw to help and then hey presto everything runs smoothly and lo has arrived.... the mw knows what to look for and if they think things are going to go wrong they will discuss this with you. u dont have to be transfered to hosptial if you dont want to but they let you know what they advise, so please dont worry they are all sorted and prepared....

like i mentioned before (ithink) google homebirths you will be surprised at what information is available

take care x x x

I would love to have a homebirth as this is my 4th & last baby!

History with previous 3 is induced twice due to pre-eclampsia and then last November induced at 37 weeks due to OC. However, the births have always been fine, ok first 2 were painful, back to back and very long so did have an epidural. Violets induction only took 2 hours with just gas and air.

My head says I am too far from the hospital, my heart says I want to be relaxed and do it at home, my midwife says get to 38 weeks without ANY problems whatsoever and she will discuss it with me!!!

If I lived nearer the hospital then I dont think I would even be questioning it...plus I am not having any tests this time and maybe seeing as I will be 42 I should be prepared and go into hospital.

Any opinions would be wonderful!!!

Carolyn xxx

Get in touch with your local NCT.They have been brilliant support for me.I'm 38 and having my 4th (and last!) My 1st was induced at 39 weeks (IUGR),2nd was a road traffic accident! (seat belt digging in started my contractions - was 4 days over due!) 3rd was 4 days over due (hope its not the same this time!!).Have felt fitter and enjoyed pregnancy this time.MW wasn't very keen but there is no medical reasonfor me not having a home birth.In fact getting in touch with NCTwas best thing I could have done.A lot of what MW said to me I feel was said to get me to change my mind to a hospital birth!NCT have provided me with lots of information and support.My home birth equipment is being delivered tomorrow! I didn't have any tests either xx

I'll do that - thank you!

I had our first little girl in hospital and although the exerience was amazing, I knew I wanted a home birth second time round. We had the planned home birth which was a beautifully calm experience, as our little girl slept through her new baby sister being born! They met just 20 minutes after and it was this freedom to involve all of the family that has led us to choose a home birth for baby number three. We can't wait!

[Modified by: Kelly5878 on June 17, 2008 04:00 PM]

That sounds lovely, Kelly- I hope my experience goes as well. When is baby number 3 due?

Hi ladies! I am expecting baby no 3 in Nov and planning a HB this time. I had my last two in hospital and while there was nothing terrible out either birth they just werent especially positive experiences. Also, since having my boys who are going to be 10 and 8 this year, i have trained as a MW and have seen some such awful experiences in the hospital that there is no way i would choose to have my baby in hospital again! I spoke to my MW about HB right from my 10 week appt and she was surprisingly very supportive, even suggesting a waterbirth. So fingers crossed all stays going smoothly, and for all of you too!

I am planning a homebirth this time, I can't wait, my cousin had one and said it was the best way to labour.

was hoping to have a home birth - all planned but not to be as now 9 days over due and booked in to be induced tomorrow......never mind....have to do what is best for baby and me

good luck to all others planning home birth - try not to let midwifes put you off - they all seem to have diff opinions but on the day (or night) you'll get the most experienced midwifes and they're there just for you!

Baby Victoria arrived 08/07/08 home birth as planned.I have posted my birth story in the Babies due July.She was born a day before her official due date.She is 1 week old today.It was an amazing experience.I still can't quite believe it all happened and went so well.Would definately recommend it and wish I'd thought about this with my others xx

hi everyone
iam having a home birth because ,i feel i won't get upset or too stressed at home than in hospital.
also i was at the birth of my sister in law and she was soo stressed with the different midwives, that kept poping in and out also it did not helped that my brother fainted .
in the end she gave birth to two lovley twins.
but it made me realise that having a home bith will be better.
i went to the baby show in brighton and hove in sussex a few month ago and there was a midwive there and iam having my first meeting with her 2morrow.

Welcome to the forums yellow5!

Hope your meeting with the mw goes well tomorrow. How far along are you? Is it your first child? I'm 37+1 with my first, I'm pretty much all set for a home birth, the birthing pool should be arriving tomorrow. The only problem now is that my boiler has just broken down so no hot water for the pool- keeping my fingers crossed that we can get it fixed quickly, and that lo doesn't arrive just yet!!

hi poz

thank everyhting went fine with mw, she is really kind and helpful.
she is a little worried because my partner and i are living on a flat on the third floor and it is an old victorian building.
will it hold the birth pool.

iam due in 29 August , hopefull i will be ok.

We had that issue about the birth pool, we're in a first floor maisonette. Tried phoning all sorts of surveyors and builders who couldn't help, we eventually phoned our buildings insurers and they said that the weight
'was not considered excessive' and so should be ok! At least if I do end up falling through into our neighbour's flat in the middle of labour, I know I'm insured for it!

yes due 31october wanted a home birth this time after two unpleasent experieces in hospital. problem is i am the only one around me who thinks this is a great idea.
worried if something goes wrong the blame will be on me for not going to hospital.

Did you have any problems having them delievered at home?

i'm planning a homebirth, this is our first baby but I think it will be a much better experience all round if I'm in my own space where I can do my own thing!

The birth pool has been inflated in our living room since 37weeks as the MW expected him to arrive before 38 weeks (hah - now i'm 41 weeks + 1 day!!)

My OH isn't very confident about it but as it's me doing the hard work I got my way! also if anything doesn't go to plan we are only about 10 mins from the hospital - less in an ambulance

[Modified by: iona.1985 on August 08, 2008 05:19 PM]

I am really starting to think about having a homebirth. I am desperate to have a waterbirth and my local hospital only has one birthing pool so I thought if I went for a home water birth option I would at least be guarenteed a pool. The only problem is my birthing partners (my boyfriend and mum) they're not completely convinced yet but I've never spent time in hospital (overnight that is) and I'd rather be near family after the birth. I also think it would be great for my boyfriend and mum to bond with our baby straight away.

However I am worried about any complications that may happen. So far my pregnancy hasn't had any hitches - only a bad case of UTI in May and a lot of emotional stress which the baby has managed to cope so well with. But, as someone mentioned before, if anything happens I know I would get the blame and feel so incredibly guilty. But my midwife is all for home births especially waterbirths so I'm going to get her to talk to my birth partners and take them to a home birth meeting to learn more and, hopefully, we'll all learn something new and they'll come round to my way of thinking.

Hi,
I had a planned homebirth for my first baby last November. I must say there was one occassion when a doctor adviced me against it even when I had no complications. In fact the reasons he gave me where totally irrelevant (I know this as I am a midwife myself). At the end I got what I wanted and had a very positive birth experience at home. My advice to anyone planning a homebirth would be, if health professionals put you off it make sure the reasons they give are valid.

I am expecting my first baby in December and have been discussing homebirth with my husband right from the start. We have talked to our own midwife, friends who have had home births and a friend who is a midwife. We have also attended 2 homebirth groups in our local area and have decided that it is definitely the right thing for us.

Obviously if something happens closer to the time such as breech position, huge baby, high blood pressure etc then we will change our minds but home birth seems to be the correct decicion. In fact the facts seem to indicate that with a normal pregnancy and birth that being at home is actually safer - no MRSA, same midwife throughout, midwife not running out to see someone else and lowered stress overall.

I'm still waiting for the midwife to come round and see the house but hopefully everything will go to plan. Actually looking forward to it - how weird is that?

Hi there!

I've just joined the site and I'm not pregnant at the moment but my husband and I have been thinking about our options for the birth, especially since his sister had a baby last month.

I've recently heard some off putting stories about the maternity hospitals near us and wanted to explore the option of going private (but we live in Scotland and I've been told there are limited options here) and the idea of a home birth really appeals to me - especially since it means my husband will not have to go home and leave me.

The other thing is that if I do have a baby in hospital that I would only want my husband visiting. My mum and dad are happy about this but my husbands mum is a nightmare to be honest, and basically laughed and said 'try and stop me'. She is the main reason I wouldn't want visitors other than my husband and manages to stress me out about this when I'm not even pregnant!

Sorry i know this is a bit of a rant but can anyone give me some general info in relation to home births (and if known any private care in Scotland) sorry a bit new to all the baby chat!!

xPx

Hi I wanted a home birth for all 3 of mine but after 2 horrible hospital experiences due to the 1st being induced and 2nd with low lying placenta (both instrumental deliveries) I finally had my dream home water birth with my 3rd and it was even more wonderful and perfect than I had ever imagined it could be.

For those of you whose oh's have concerns, why not find out if you have a local home birth group and take them. I run one and it is very informal but good for the men especially to hear positive stories and ask questions (my hubby joins in if there are other men there). There are lots of pros for them too. If anyone is in Kent you are welcome to come to my monthly home birth group. I also hire out fibre glass birthing pools very cheaply as after my wonderful experience I want as many women as possible to have as good a birthing experience.

There really isn't anything like being in your own home and own bed with your new baby and family straight after you have given birth.xx