Homebirth anyone??!!

T

Tammyspq

Cathlete
My husband and I are planning on having a homebirth (providing my pregnancy stays normal) and I wanted to know if anyone has had one. Part of the reason is that we are with an awesome medical practice that consists of doctors, midwives and nurses but there is a slight chance that we could relocate prior to baby being born and only have a midwife (certified, not direct entry). Just wanted to know about any experiences.

Our childbirth classes are a great prep and we get to see so many videos of homebirth, hospital, RUSSIAN, and I just come away looking forward to the whole process - yes, even the excruciating pain for such a great reward.

Just interested in any stories out there.

jeni
 
I considered it but live too far from a hospital in case of an emergency. Also I have just received the wonderful news that a local birth center has been added to my insurance provider's network so I can have my baby there. You may want to check out the parent's place boards. They have been wonderful resources for my throughout my pregnancy - especially the Expecting Club board for my EDD. There is an entire board for home births:

http://www.parentsplace.com/messageboards/
 
I tried it 17 years ago, in Virginia where it is illegal and midwives were illegal so the whole thing was less than optimal. I was 15 minutes from a hospital. I really feel it all would have been fine, but I needed to go in after 36 hrs of labor becuase of delayed 2nd stage. I was pushing for a long time (7 hrs) and needed help from medical devices (vacuum extractor). I was very disappointed as both I and my baby were medically processed beyond belief once we got there. But, if I had it to do over, I still would have tried it. It was wonderful being at home and controlling my environment, not feeling so helpless and like I had no say in what was happening.
 
I did it twice

I had my last 2 children at home. I can't say enough good things about being able to labor and deliver in the comfort of my own home. Having had 2 in the hospital and 2 at home, I can say that it was a much better experience at home. There was no agonizing over whether it was "time" to go to the hospital or not. There was no uncomfortable car ride in the midst of contractions. And no one whisked my baby away after just an hour so they could "observe" him/her.

I loved it, but I would caution you to make sure that you have a very qualified midwife who carries emergency equipment and is trained to use it. I'd had 2 normal deliveries in the hospital prior, and so had no reason to expect that we would have an emergency, but we did. In both deliveries I experienced what is called shoulder dystocia, in which the shoulders of the baby get hung up behind the pubic bones AFTER the head is delivered. In the 1st delivery I had at home my son was well and truly stuck. There is a 1/3 mortality rate in hospitals whent his complication arises,and 1/3 of the survivors have neurological damage from al lof the things they have to do to get the baby loose. My midwife knew some natural tricks to try to get him free, and did manage, with much difficulty, to get him out unhurt. Then to make matters worse he failed to start breathing on his own for the 1st 5 or 6 minutes. Our midwife was trained in neonatal ressucitation and carried oxygen with her. She got him breathing before the placenta detatched, so he was never oxygen deprived. It was the longest and scariest few minutes of my life. Had I not had the midwife I did, I believe my son would have died. Most of the other midwives I interviewed did not carry oxygen or have what I considered to be adequate skills to deal with an emergency situation. With my midwife, however, I felt comfortable having my next baby at home as well. The shoulder dystocia was again an issue, but this time was resolved fairly quickly. If I get pregnant again, I will be delivering at a hospital, since my midwife has moved out of state.

I'm not trying to scare you, but I don't want you to fall into the trap of thinking that just because the pregnancy is low risk that you're immune possible complications in delivery. Yes, childbirth is a normal, healthy experience. But we still need to plan for that worst case scenario. If you want to talk about this more, please feel free to email me.

Good luck!

Erin
 
RE: I did it twice

Erin thanks so much for your reply! Actually, my child birth class last Saturday went over birthing complications and should dystocia was one. The midwife that does our classes showed videos of "tricks" that most people in hospitals don't know about because they aren't trained to have women in any position other than on our backs.

My husband and I actually have a medical practice that specializes in home births and a doctor is present for all, midwife is an option to have in addition to a nurse. My hubby and I are going with all three. All three come with the same medical equipment and I am a short ride to a hospital if a problem arises. Plus, my mom (who is one of my support people) is a pediatric nurse.

Even with all the issues, I too feel more comfortable with the idea of having the baby at home for many of the same reasons as you. Plus, I feel that the concerns of a hospital birth far outweigh those of a homebirth. Plus I like the fact of decreased chance for episiotomy, c-section. The control is huge too. I would be sssooo upset if I had to get in a fight with insensitive hospital staff while also in excruciating pain.

In the event that we move out of state prior to delivery, our childbirth classes have greatly prepared us for how to have the type of birth experience we want in a hospital setting. If we did move, we'd probably get a CNM for labor and support but deliver in a hospital.

Thanks so much and I'll keep you posted! jeni
 
Never had a home birth-

I have a friend who had two at home, and loved the first time, and had serious hemmoraging the second time, so she had to be rushed to the hospital. Her third she had in a hospital (it is illegal here to have a homebirth, and I think she was spooked by her last one). She loved her hospital birth also. But, I belive that is because she had two successful homebirths, and was treated much differently than if she hadn't.

I had one in a hospital (no OB, just midwives) and one in a birth center. Even with less intervetntion than I would have had from an OB, there was way more than I wanted in a hospital. The birth center dealt with the same issues as the hospital, but in a very different way, and I had a wonderful experience. The hospital experience rates as just OK.

It sounds to me from your medical care that homebirth is the way to go. But, don't get upset if it doesn't go the way you plan. Usually it doesn't. Birth is far more complicated than it seems, even from our enless studying while we are pregnant. In my birth class, 3 people wanted homebirths, and 2 of them ended up in the hospital (one who had rented a huge water tank to give birth in) and one had a cesearean. Many of us ended up with inductions, and those of us with inductions all felt like failures until we got together and saw how many of us had them. We were all an educated, dedicated bunch, but you still need to do what is necessary to get your baby out.

Oh, and as for the pain- I found it exactly as most midwives describe it for determining stages-

less than 4 cm - This is nothing- I can handle this!

4-7 OK- I can deal with this, but it isn't the least bit pleasant.

7-10- OMG I will die if this keeps up! Just kill me now. (now, I tend to transition in one contraction, so this is very fast and intense for me. It may be different for some people. And, there may be a whole 7-9 stage that I conpletely skip.)

But, don't worry- you will live through it, and it will make you stronger. And very proud of yourself. Manageing to keep your head while in pain really does give you an inner strength that you can't get any other way.
 
Hi Jeni, congratulations on your upcoming blessing. Home birth is a wonderful alternative to the medically controlled and intervening hospital approach. We have one of the highest infant mortality rates in the world and I believe a very false sense of security in just assuming the hospital is safest for having babies.

We just had a homebirth 9 weeks ago. My husband did prenatal checks every week including blood pressure, fetal heart rate, fundal measurement, weight gain, etc... We kept very thorough records of weekly progress. We went to a nearby clinic for a hemoglobin check near the end of the pregnancy. My iron was low so we had to work to bring it up with Floridix and organic iron pills (non-constipating). We live in the country quite a distance from the nearest hospital.

My water broke right on my due date April 3 when I was playing with our four children around 4:30 in the after noon. My husband came home to get things ready. We planned on having our first waterbirth this time and prepared the tub. I just kept walking about and timing my contractions which came about every four minutes, no big deal for quite some time. My husband checked my dilation around 8:30 and I had had a few stronger contractions. I was around 6 and completely effaced. He continued to check babies heart with a fetascope and baby was doing great. We decided I could get in the tub hopefully without stopping progress. My contractions continued about 2 minutes apart and stronger. I kept saying "This is good, babies coming" and doing lots of stomach breathing to relax. A friend of mine arrived around 9:15 to give us another set of hands (she had never attended a birth but was due to have a baby in another two months). I felt the need to push and with in a few minutes the babies head was out we waited a while and them pushed the shoulders and the rest out. She was born bright pink, no blue at all and was healthy and strong and crying right away. I felt like it was just a normal event for the day. I got out of the tub and delivered the placenta and told Brian, I feel so great I don't really hurt anywhere. I was walking and feeling great. Birth can be very normal.

Now I want to stress, we planned very carefully for this birth. I ate a vegetarian diet (not much chance of a huge overweight baby). I ate extremely well and took all vitamins. I drank about two quarts of red raspberry tea each day and took special herbs (5-week herbs) the last 5 weeks. A very important aspect I believe was working out this time. I lifted weights 3X a week and aerobics on the alternate days right up to the day of delivery. I've had four other births where I gained 60 pounds each time. I can't encourage you enough to keep working out, this preg I only gained 30. I continued to do ab work carefully and did everything else normally, squats, lunges, even military push ups right up till delivery. The past births I had everything from pelvic pain, heartburn, leg cramps, back pain, and with this preg I had none of that, I believe the veggie diet helped this tremendously. And Cathe's website was a great encouragement to continue working out. I guess what I want to stress is that there are many things you can control/alter during pregnancy whether you deliver at home or in the hospital. I had one terrible hospital birth, two great hospital births, and one longer, hard homebirth prior to this birth. Diet and exercise really can change things. I would encourage you to do all you can to be healthy during pregnancy and look at your medical team as being there for emergencies. Birth is very normal and you can do a lot to make it that way.

Sorry this got so long!!!! I hope all goes well whether you choose home or hospital.
 
I am 100% pro-homebirth, but just to be fair. I did pretty much exactly what briee did. I was 27, worked out including pushups and situps right to the end. Gained 35 pounds on a tall frame (5'8") , ate very healthy mostly vegetarian food, vitamins and supplements up the wazoo. Avoided prenatal care (did it myself) for awhile, finally went in for HCT and confirmation the last three months. Told the physician I was doing it at home, even though it was illegal. He told me I was so healthy I could have a baby on top of a flagpole. I had a veterinarian friend prepare a suturing kit in case I needed it, a midwife and the baby's father helping me. I had an effortless pregnancy with no discomfort, no vomiting. The only difference between me and briee that I can tell is that this was my first and only baby, not my fifth.
Anyway, as you know from my first post, I had to go to the hospital after 7 1/2 hrs of pushing, where I was greeted by rudeness and lectures and intrusive annoying behavior, but I had to put up with it, because the baby was not coming out without that vacuum extractor. (There was also the worst winter weather in the history of Virginia Beach, but that was no problem to us experienced winter drivers.)
They poked her with razors for a useless PKU test, squirted stinging compound in her eyes, suctioned her face, cut the cord too soon, took her away to a nursery, as I had not "planned ahead" with them to room with her. I felt very bad, very worried about her being traumatized by all this. I left the hospital the next morning against medical advice, then, the biggest humiliation of all, I had to be readmitted late the next day with a hemmorhage. I waited and waited because I didn't want to go back there, but otherwise I truly would have bled to death. They had to transfuse me with 7 units of blood. The human body contains 13. So, basically, I had to eat crow twice.
My advice to you is homebirth is wonderful, but have a back up.
 
Mogambo, Boy what a nightmare!!!! I'm sorry you had such a tough time. One thing you pointed out is that it was your first baby and this was my fifth. I can't tell you what a nightmare our first was also. We tell Tyler (our 12 year old) that Hannah Brooke (our newborn) was born into soothing warm water with low lights and a relaxed atmosphere and he on the other hand was born to a vaccuum cleaner(he had to be extracted by vacuum too) into a shocking environment. You just don't know what to expect the first time (and I know things can come in subsequent births as well). It took me five times just to know how to breath correctly - the stomach breathing, this made a world of difference.

Are you thinking of any more children?? It can definitely get better as you go. Thanks again to Cathe for encouraging us to stay healthy!!

Briee
 
Mogambo, Boy what a nightmare!!!! I'm sorry you had such a tough time. One thing you pointed out is that it was your first baby and this was my fifth. I can't tell you what a nightmare our first was also. We tell Tyler (our 12 year old) that Hannah Brooke (our newborn) was born into soothing warm water with low lights and a relaxed atmosphere and he on the other hand was born to a vaccuum cleaner(he had to be extracted by vacuum too) into a shocking environment. You just don't know what to expect the first time (and I know things can come in subsequent births as well). It took me five times just to know how to breath correctly - the stomach breathing, this made a world of difference.

Are you thinking of any more children?? It can definitely get better as you go. Thanks again to Cathe for encouraging us to stay healthy!!

Briee
 
My daughter is 17.5, soon to start college and the last thing in the world I need right now is a newborn, thank you very much!! :)
 
Have had 2 homebirths, planning third this Nov./Dec.

I love homebirthing and have a wonderful midwife, whom I trust to tell me should I need to go to the hospital for any reason. I have two friend who have done unassisted homebirths very successfully, and while I support them 100%, I am not that confident myself! I'd be happy to answer any questions! (((((HUGS))))) sandi
 
RE: Have had 2 homebirths, planning third this Nov./Dec.

Wow! Thanks all soo much! Our birth will have 3 medical staff on-hand (assuming they all make it in time - which I'm sure they will as it's my first). I do know all the reasons I could still wind up in the hospital but I know that my homebirth doctor and midwife will be able to attend still.

The midwife that's doing my childbirth classes is a real awesome chick too. She's had 5 home births and has attended over 900 births.

It's so good to hear the various stories as all but one of my friends has has a hospital birth and don't know enough about homebirth to understand the preference for me or the benefits.

Anyhoo...thanks so much and I'll keep you all posted. Due date is 9/9/02!!

jeni
 
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