Home birth question

GobbledyGook

I think it's terrible the amout of people who had a homebirth who didn't realise the GP would be doing the checks.

I should be shocked, but poor information, lack of service (HB checks should be done at home) and homebirths seem to go hand-in-hand in the UK.

Bennifred

So what exactly would happen if you didn't rock up at the surgery/hospital with your new baby? Surely it's not illegal or anything - let them come to you if they want to check! Assuming all is well, of course.

debjay

Where I work there are midwives trained to perform the exam of the newborn which is undertaken within 72 hour of the birth. We have a high homebirth rate locally. The GPs used to do this exam but have stopped since the midwives were trained.

I would ask to speak to a Supervisor of Midwives at your local Maternity Unit and check the local policy.

Hope all goes well for you.

grey_lady

Surely having the best possible care for baby is what's important here, if that means a check within 24 hours by a doctor - better that, than having a problem not being picked up.

Also, I believe that they only let you push for an hour at home before transferring you to hospital, so it might be worth being prepared for that.

skintchick

Grey lady they don't *let* you do anything! They cannot make you do a thing they have to respect your choices. They like to talk about 'letting' people do things but they have no power actually.

I had dd at home and the MW must have done the checks because I never saw my gp. I'd have thought a MW could do them and if it were me I'd refuse to go anywhere and insist that if they want to do checks someone can come to you.

They continue to try and water down the service by making new mums who are still bleeding drag here there and everywhere and they will get away with it unless people refuse to do it. Make a stand.

olgadapolga

Hi, you need to check the policy as most areas will say that the baby needs a check within 72 hours. Many women are discharged from delivery suite these days within a few hours of delivery and certainly before a paediatrician is able to check the baby. These woman usually take the baby to their GP for the check.

I would be checking the policy with a paed (ring SCBU) or a supervisor of midwives as your midwife may not be totally honest with you . . . . sounds as if they may be trying to put you off a home delivery by stealth!

I think that the comment re only being allowed to push for an hour at a home delivery is inaccurate as well; this will depend on how the woman's delivery is progressing; if she is minutes away from delivering then they are not about to transfer you to hospital because she has been pushing for an hour! Each woman is assessed individually, not by the clock.

NB: I am a midwife and do have experience of homebirths BTW.

rachbc

I had my post natal check done at home - and I had dd in the hospital, my MW did it.

With ds born at home the gp rocked up the next day much to all our surprise!

clairec79

The test is meant to be carried out with 6 and 72 hours of birth (even if you have the baby in hospital it may not be done within 24 hours, I know the hospital I worked at it was only done with 24 hours if you wanted to go home that early as heart murmurs are often there for the first 24 hours and then clear up on their own)

I had 3 at home and luckily enough a midwife did the test at home, my first homebirth was at 2am and they came and did her check at 4pm - and brought the antibiotics she needed - second was born at 5pm on the Saturday and they came out and did it on the Monday or Tuesday, youngest was born 5pm on a Friday and test was done Sunday lunchtime

clairehi

I had DD at home in feb 2011, all the newborn checks were done at home by the MW. this is standard practice in our area (Herts) I agree it would be daft to have to schlep into hospital just for this after an HB. as far as I know GPs are no longer trained in care of pregnant women/newborns as the community MWs have taken all this over.

barbiedoll

Not all midwives are qualified to perform a newborn examination so check what happens in your area. I do get sick and tired of hearing that GP's "don't" do ante-natal checks, newborn checks etc etc. GP's get a a portion of their salary for performing these services so unless they have actually refused the money, then they should be carrying out these duties. Don't be fobbed off OP, and definitely don't take your newborn to hospital/GP surgery, make them come to you! :mad: