At home births and midwives

[Kala]

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with either? Good or bad.

 

[Bubblingbrooks]

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with either? Good or bad.

I have not, but it is the only way I would go, unless a strong need for more were indicated.
Ever watched the business of being born?

 

[Kala]

Just wondering if anyone has had any experiences with either? Good or bad.

I have not, but it is the only way I would go, unless a strong need for more were indicated.
Ever watched the business of being born?

I am strongly considering it myself. Even though it scares my husband to death

I am in good health. However I have never had children before, so maybe I'll change my tune when pain becomes a factor But I really do like the thought of having my child in my own surrounding and environment and not having to worry so much about taking out a small loan to have a child.

 

[AnnaRaven]

I had midwives but in a midwife unit at the local hospital. It was nice to know there were folks available in case of emergency. I had congenital (birth) defects myself and wouldn't be here if it weren't for the surgical team so I was a little more cautious. And it was really nice to not have to sterilize the house in order to birth. ;-)

Given that, I did everything I could to have a natural birth - and both babies were born without pain meds, both healthy. DD took less than 3 hours to arrive. She latched on immediately and nursed for 7 hours straight! BOY did my milk ever come in! DS was hard to keep awake to nurse, but he took longer to come out too.

In both cases, I did end up getting oxytocin for some bleeding. The second one I needed an episiotomy (he was coming and they didn't want me to tear worse) and ended up with a couple stitches.

The midwives were great - I felt very comfortable with them and loved that they listened and followed my birthing instructions so well. Things I wanted and didn't want... I do think I was able to relax more though because I knew that there was a full surgical team just down the hallway if anything went wrong.

 

[Mattemma]

I had one baby on my own and one with a midwife.Both over 9 pounds and no major issues.

I like homebirth but it is not without its issues. The main thing being if something goes wrong you will be blamed.

If you hire someone you want to make sure you evaluate them throughly on how they handle complications.Some may ignore (or simply not know) signs that you need to transfer to a hospital.The birth with my MW went well,but some using her later were not so fortunate.Those families blame the MW for the death/injuires of their children.

If I were to get pregnant again I would probably opt for a midwife attended hospital birth,because I now have high bp. I REALLY despise the idea of a hospital birth,but I know it is probably best for the child(and me!)

Birthing at home was great.Dh would have prefered handing me over to a hospital,but thankfully he let me birth at home.No need to steralise,but you should cover that bed or floor good.Who wants to clean blood stains after giving birth,lol?!?!!?

You should birth where and how you feel most comfortable. I recall hating to labor in bed.It was a very painful position to be in. I stood,walked,and squatted. I did not deliver in the bed. I needed a very hands off MW and that is who I hired.Some need more care and direction during pregnancy,labor,and delivery. There is no right or wrong...just go with what you feel will help you relax so your body can open up and get that baby out!

 

[patandchickens]

Oh yes, absolutely! As long as it suits your situation.

My first son was born in hospital but with only midwives attending -- I would have preferred a homebirth but my husband was adamant that he did not need to actually learn about the subject to know that it was a death sentence :/ -- and as much as I am a very non-"hospital" kind of person, I have to say it went really well and I was pretty happy with it. Having to travel 45 minutes to the hospital during labor was no fun and I am convinced that it considerably slowed/prolonged things, and may have accounted for how long the pushing stage took; but, still, the baby got born nonetheless without any drugs besides a tablet of Gravol when I was still at home (I was very barfy, and barfing every other contraction is not relaxing ).

Note that this was possible where I live -- in Ontario, is not even possible *everywhere* in Canada -- but I *think* that in most of the US you can't have midwives as the *primary* care person in a hospital birth, at best you can just have nurse-midwives with an OBGYN technically in charge. Although I think that there are some birthing centers that are run by midwives, in some states? I dunno. I do feel exceptionally lucky to have lived *here* where it was an option (and fully paid for by provincial healthcare too, neener neener )

My second son was born at home, it went much much faster and easier (indeed, although the first midwife got there in plenty of time, her student did not arrive til the head was out, and the second midwife -- legally required to attend at homebirths in ON -- did not get there until we were sitting around afterwards filling out paperwork ). The midwives did an excellent job getting the stains out of the carpet next to the bed and you can't see them at all anymore LOL It was EVER so much better than the hospital version, and if I were having another kid I would for SURE be doing it that way.

Now, that said, you have to look into the ACTUAL arrangements that would be available to you, and consider your personal situation and what sorts of risks upset you most. I do not believe homebirth is currently legal everywhere, and some places where it "sort of" is legal your midwife may not be able to have an oxygen tank etc with her, which IMO is desirable although to some peoples' philosophies perhaps not absolutely crucial. Distance to a good hospital with *significant* emergency neonatal services is also a consideration. (Although, so is distance to *any* hospital -- as my midwives pointed out, if you are located pretty far from ANY hospital, you pretty much need to either plan on going there extremely early, possibly just 'when my due date approaches I will go live in a motel' if you are really in the sticks, or plan a homebirth)

And some people are either medically or philosophically just not as good candidates for homebirths. If I had had a medical issue that made complications likely (other than being older -- DS#2 was born two days after I turned 43 -- but the only person who seemed to consider that an issue was my family doctor, who, *pfftht* ) I would have not had any problems switching to a hospital birth.

And I know people who have such (irrationally) strong faith in hospitals and doctors that they can accept risks of things going wrong from hospital-or-doctor causes much better than they can accept risks of things going wrong from staying-at-home causes, in which case I absolutely think a hospital birth is better. (From having pulled original copies of what journal papers were available at the time -- ie. I have no idea what may have been added to our state of knowledge in the past not-quite-4-years -- it was pretty clear to me as a research scientist that the risks of homebirth were about equal to the risks of hospital birth when you looked only at planned properly-attended homebirths. The risks are of course *different*, but statistically the same, and in fact the best paper I could find actually had a numerical -- tho not statistically significant -- tip in favor of *homebirths* being safer)

IMO the main benefit of a homebirth is that the likelihood of circumstances/interventions that often cause a cascade of increasingly-problematic further interventions is low or nonexistant. (There are other benefits too, for sure, but IMO that is the biggie)

IMO the main benefit of a hospital birth is that in the really very small event that you should need sudden very serious intervention, the delay MAY be less (I say "may" because this does not apply to nearly as many things as people think it does, in most hospitals. For instance one study I saw showed that at the hospitals they looked at, time from deciding an emergency C-section was necessary to the first incision was *longer* for patients who were already in the hospital when the decision was made than for patients who were nearby but at home and were brought by ambulance. This is by no means how it *always* happens but it shows you should not make blind assumptions)

I think that if one chooses a hospital birth, that you can still do a lot to manage potential problems as much as possible by being VERY FIRM about things like Pitocin-to-meet-a-schedule, no epidural or drugs, etcetera... if you're the type person who can BE firm in those circumstances. Also from talking to a lot of people it seems to make a huge difference which hospital you are at and what doctor(s) and nurse(s) you have, and what support person(s) are with you.

Still, I was COMPLETELY happy with my homebirth experience and if I were going to have any more kids I would not think twice about doing it again (barring change in medical circumstances etc)

Pat

 

[Mattemma]

Sometimes I watch the birth shows and the domino effect of interventions seems so obvious to me.I know it can happen in homebirths too,but thankfully many MW's are less inclined to *help things along* by say sweeping the membranes,breaking the bag,giving pitocin...and so on.

Lol, I used to joke with dh that if he made me go to a hospital to birth then I would lock myslef in the bathroom to give birth...I was that *mentally* against the hospital setting.

My one friend on the other hand(who had 7) always gave birth at the hospital,and she always hired an OB. She never had issues with the way things went. It was what she felt comfortable with.She did not nag me(too much) to do things her way,and I did not nag her.We are still friends today 12 years later.Now some of her kids are having kids....in the hospital.

Its all good!

 

[country freedom]

I have had 6 children, 5 in hospitals - 1 homebirth. My second child came in an hour/half at home, with my first son (then 1 yr old) by my side. My husband had gone down the street trying frantically to find a ride to the hospital, since we didn't have transportation, no phone.
Neighbors thought we were fighting, and slammed their door on my husband when they saw his hands bloody (I was screaming in PAIN and baby was starting to crown).

By the time he got back with an ambulance, I had my 2nd son cleaned/dried/wrapped/ in a warm, thick towel, nose/mouth cleared and my 1st son playing around the room. I had my 2nd son in my living room.

 

[CrownofThorns]

I haven't had the need yet for either. But I will only do a hospital birth if there is a serious risk or complication. I'm thinking I might even go unassisted because here in Alaska a midwife is required by law to put those nasty drops in the babies eyes. The last thing I need is for my baby to be given drops that is does not need because I do not have a STD.

 

[big brown horse]

Underwater with a midwife here, room darkened, candlelight and music. Great experience.

My sister had 3 out of 4 babies at home with a midwife. Her very first ended in a c-section at the hospital, but all the rest came out the right way.