MSE Pregnancy Club 28

claire16c

Fingers crossed for you cllola. They are quite encouraging of home births here and in a few weeks time will have a team of midwives dedicated to it. Its not for me, but I think its great for ladies who want one.

cllola

Thanks. I was expecting to have to put up a fight to be honest and get the response of 'staff shortages might stop you being able to' I had a whole argument planned around how that isn't an excuse and I would be writing to the supervisor of midwives to state my intent of staying at home unless there is a medical reason...but no she said its fine...apparently there are loads of home births in my area which surprised me, don't know why!

BadlyWrittenPoem

cllola wrote: »

Just got back from my 28 weeks appt. all is fine, baby the right way up but obviously she will still be wriggling around for a while yet! I put in my request for a home birth :-) I have to go and see a consultant in April for them to 'officially' go through the pros and cons then as long as my placenta has moved up slightly (was low lying but not covering the cervix at 20 weeks) and I get to 36 weeks with no problems then they will sort everything out for me to plan to have baby at home :-D

I really want a positive birth experience this time as last item was so awful and I really think that stopped me bonding with DS straight away and a touch of PND.
I have an open mind though and know things can go wrong at any time but fingers crossed!

I would totally recommend having a doula - my first birth wasn't great but last time I had a doula and a lovely homebirth. I happened to get good midwives too but having the doula still made it better than it would have been without her. I actually didn't realise how much of an effect my first birth experience had on bonding until I had another to compare it with.

jen_1985_04

Whats the main reason behind your choice for a home birth? I'm curious as when they asked me, I was against the idea straight away (without a particularly good excuse as to why lol)

BadlyWrittenPoem

jen_1985_04 wrote: »

Whats the main reason behind your choice for a home birth? I'm curious as when they asked me, I was against the idea straight away (without a particularly good excuse as to why lol)

I have lots of reasons for choosing homebirth:
- lower rate of complication/intervention
- better level of MW care (the MWs are only looking after you whereas when I gave birth in the hospital the MW virtually only came to see me when DH went to find her and I ended up with interventions because of MW inattention)
- probably better MWs (I figure those attending homebirths are more likely to be competent and capable of thinking for themselves; when I gave birth in hospital *every* time I was given any medication the MW went to check with the Dr whether I should have a lower dose because I am thin even though my height means that I am actually above average weight and the default seemed to be run to the Dr rather than think for themselves)
- more chance of having my wishes respected and less chance of having things done to me without my consent as the MWs are guests in *my* home rather than me being at *their* workplace
- lower need for pain relief (which hence reduces risk of complications, interventions etc.)
- home is a nicer environment (when I had a homebirth I got to have everything set up how *I* wanted things e.g. low lighting and I was in a familiar place and the MWs had time to attend to me whereas at hospital I felt like I was considered an inconvenience and I had people charging into my room without checking first and with no explanation or good reason)
- home is more practical (DH is really bad at getting ready to go out when under pressure so based on how long he took the first time from when I said, "I want to go to hospital *now*", we would have ended up having a homebirth last time even if we hadn't planned it plus with the children it's more convenient to just be at home rather than have to faff about with arrangements especially if it's overnight and they're in bed sleeping)
- after the birth the whole family gets to stay together instead of having to be separated for extended periods of time due to limitations on visiting
- I would not want to give birth in my local hospital due to a very negative experience I had as an antenatal inpatient and as I am so close to that hospital the next nearest options are not that close by

cllola

Many of my reasons are the same as badlyerittenpoem's.
The main one I guess is that I want to be in my own environment, I feel I will be much more relaxed and will therefore labour better (or so the theory goes)! We also live about half an hours drive away from the nearest hospital and DH doesn't drive so we would need to get a taxi or a friend to take us, also if it's at night and the children are here then we don't need to worry about shipping them off somewhere until the morning, by which time it might be all done! (Wishful thinking again)!
I want to be able to eat and drink what I want when I want, I want to be able to watch and film or listen to music, have the lighting and furniture how I want it too. I know you can do most of those things in hospital but I'm just trying to avoid the clinical environment I suppose.

I was dead against the idea at the start of the pregnancy and I dismissed it too when she asked at booking, for no particular reason other than I didn't think I would ever consider it, but after lots of research I have completely changed my mind and I'm really excited about the prospect now.

Bluebell1000

De-lurking (had my 12 weeks scan today!) to say I had a home birth with DS and am planning to stay home for baby 2 as well. My sole reason was that I went on a tour of the hospital and decided it was not somewhere I wanted to spend any time in whatsoever! So it was a pretty late decision - think i was about 36 weeks or something.

It was much nicer being at home though, and the community midwife who I'd seen throughout my pregnancy actually delivered DS.

(Goes back to lurking for the next few weeks) x

claire16c

I think if you want one then its probably the best thing, as Ive been told so many times now by various sources and people that labour can slow down once you get into hospital and essentially freak out a bit at being in a clinical environment.

But again - that all depends on the woman. For me - I would panic being at home once it really gets going, so I think the opposite could happen. I am a big worrier and much prefer to be surrounded by midwives etc. However, I do hope that I can go into the MLU and not the delivery suite, as the MLU rooms are very homey, and would be the best of both worlds for me knowing if there are any problems I am just a floor away from the drs, without actually having to deliver in a more clinical atmosphere.

But I think (and probably especially if its your second baby) you are more confident, and want to be at home, then going into hospital when you dont want to could be the very worst thing and they should encourage home births for people who want them.

con1888

Home birth sounds lovely for you guys but is my idea of a nightmare! I have a dog who doesn't take well to strangers and doesn't like seeing me in pain ( he cries if I do) he's also very nosy... then I have a nosy cat who would want a front row view then OH when at home just likes to play his silly computer game .... I constantly worry that the house isn't tidy, things aren't put by......... we have OHs grandpa randomly dropping by without knocking, sometimes drunk..... so you can see why a home birth does NOT appeal to me at all lololol!!!

I do like my home but can just imagine the chaos it would cause to give birth here!!

con1888

I'm having an okay day today, lower back has been sore the past few days but enjoying my maternity leave although struggling with limiting spending money, have been out every day lunching/buying, OH says I need to curb it a bit

Today I got my hair done, booked myself in again on the 25th ( due 29th) so that at least my hair will be looking okay when I give birth lol.

A friend is dropping by a moses basket later that I will use as a spare at my mums/Ohs mums, OH is out walking the dog and I'm sitting with my feet up. I want to eat lots of junk food but not got any in