42 week pregnancy - advice!

Jay-Jay_4 · 7 July 2006 at 11:17PM

mishkanorman wrote:

I disagree with home births, I realise its a womans choice but I think that the risks are not worth taking. I made the mistake of watching an emergency midwives programme where a baby got stuck, first time pregnancy no obvious signs of upset, then they lost the babys heartbeat and after frantic calls for an ambulance that never came the baby arrived and needed resusitation. All was well in the end but I sat and howled for about an hour as it was sooo traumatic to watch.

I don't know where to begin :rolleyes:

I hardly think that watching a programme where one homebirth went wrong qualifies you to class them as dangerous

That's like saying we should go on holiday because you saw on the news that an airoplane once crashed!

You say that it was an emergency midwives programme...? That would indicate that the homebirth wasn't a planned one and therefore is not camparable to a planned homebirth.

Do you know that many babies get stuck and need resusitation in hospital? It's true. There are also fatalities of both Mother and child. A planned homebirth is STATISTICALLY SAFER than a hospital birth, the government, the hospitals and most midwives agree with this fact.

A good, confident midwife would deal with everything you have said whether she was in hospital or at home. The equipment to resus a baby is available and the expertise is already there. The only difference is the surroundings.

As for induction its not all that bad, 1st time round took ages for me as the ward kept filling up and they had to keep stopping, but after my epidural and a drip took about 3 hours. Another reason im anti home births is I had quite bad blood loss and needed ( DONT READ IF SQUEEMISH !!!!! ) my womb 'clearing out' by hand. Hurt like bloody hell and was done as an emergency so couldnt have epidural topped up. If I was at home I would have most likely bled to death.

Does the fact that you were given an artificial drug to start your labour, a drug to paralyse you and a drug to encourage your uterus to contract much harder and faster than normal not make you wonder if the blood loss was due to something other than nature?

Did you, I wonder, also have an injection to expell your placenta which then caused your uterus to contract before your placenta had been delivered, resulting in the manual extraction?

If you had been at home there is a huge possibility that none of the above would have happened, however, if it 'did'.... then you would be given plasma expander until you reached the hospital. You most likely would not have 'bled to death'

2nd time round i just had my waters broken and took about 2 hours with just gas and air ! Was a fantastic birth made all the better by the environment of feeling safe should I have trouble again.

mishka

Well done

Spendless · 7 July 2006 at 11:31PM

bumpybecky wrote:

Even in hospital they don't say you need an emergency section, and then it happen immediately. It takes time to assemble a team, get room ready, get you to the room etc. If you are at home and need a section the midwife can call ahead so all that preparation starts before you get to hospital. There is usually very little delay.

Not true in my case. Once told the babys head was turned and I needed a section, the room filled with the staff within minutes. Once in the operating room son was born in the time it took DH to go and get my bags from the car in car-park and back. He wasn't able to be present due to me having a GA.

poppyscorner · 8 July 2006 at 12:08AM

Hi Jo_R,

Just wanted to say good luck with the birth I think you are most likely an ideal candidate for the HB 2nd pregnancy and no probs so far obviously from what you say you have your head screwed on and have already said you would rethink if medically necessary and nobody knows your body as well as you.

Induction for me was horrendous my 1st child my DD was still born at 31wks after pregnancy full of problems medical staff telling me I was OK when I clearly wasn't.

2nd baby my DS was induced at 39 wks 2 pessarys artificial rupture of membranes and then epidural which was the worst thing ever for me stuck on a bed couldn't move awful son was perfectly healthy when born though but epidural did not work for me and was very restrictive have since worked with a lady who suffered a brain injury because of a botched epidural (not trying to scare the **** out of anybody or provide medical advice I am only NA and not qualified to do so)

I wish I could have a HB as I think it would be much better for me but obviously my pregnancy history prevents me from doing so and it is therefore unsuitable for me however this proves the point because everyone is different and like I said earlier I would say from the sounds of things you are suitable

I do think though that pregnant laydees are persuaded to fall into different criteria (i.e that you should give birth by 42wks) and whilst this is possibly true in some cases not everybody fits and as long as people are sensible with it the choice should be theirs some people look at you as if you are from another planet when you tell them you don't want pain relief.

The placenta tests to assess the blood flow can be done because I had them done with my son but they were trying to work out the risk of prem labour and risks to the pregnancy which incedently they got wrong said the risk was slim to none of prem labour (they were threatening to stitch the cervix up before the tests were carried out) anyway 2 wks after the scan went into prem labour they did manage to stop it thank god

The best thing about my labour definately my midwife a 3rd year student she was lovely and a real inspiration to me I will do my training one day the one supervising her was awful didn't speak to me couldn't even tell you her name but was sharp with the student.

Enough of me rambling on let us know what happens and good luck with everything
Try fresh pineapple as well to bring labour on thats the only other one that I know that hasnt been said don't ask why coz I dont know.
Take care

Amanda xx

P.S nothing I have said is a medical view but only my own personal opinion just wanted to point it out.

seven-day-weekend · 8 July 2006 at 1:50AM

Have you gone into labour yet??

Crispy_Ambulance · 8 July 2006 at 8:41AM

mishkanorman wrote:

Yeah I get your point , its just that word 'expected',
i would rather have a bad time of it at the hospital with all the medical knowledge in the world around me then at home where its a good half hour high speed journey to the nearest emergency care.
My midwife was literally an angel and my second sons birth was an incredibly funny and enjoyable experience-it wouldnt have been the same at home as she wouldnt have been there- my routine midwife first time round was a bit scary and the thought of someone like her in my home would have ruined it !

Jo_R i applaud your faith in your belief, dont get me wrong if you feel in your heart its right for you, fight for it all the way. Im a big scaredy cat when it comes to the possibility of things going wrong, I dont cope with loss very well. I have a tricky question , dont answer it if you'd rather not, would your opinion of home births change if you were to have a tragedy ?

mishka

The fact is you are much more likely to need help to deliver your baby and need interventions etc if you are in hospital. Obstetricians are experts in surgery, not birth. Having continuous electronic monitoring, having an epidural, lying down in bed instead of being upright and mobile - all of these make forceps/ventouse or CS much much more likely.

No birth is guaranteed. Babies die in hospital. There is no evidence that homebirth is dangerous or risky for the vast majority of pregnancies. Birth is a natural process and the more mucked about with it is, the more risk to the baby and the mother.

The facts are you are much more likely to have a "bad time of it" with all that medical expertise around you than if you have one to one care from a midwife in a setting that you feel comfortable.

I'm not saying hospital birth is wrong - everyone should give birth in a place of their choosing and for a lot of people, hospital is where they want to be. But there is absolutely no research evidence that says hospital births are safer - they are actually riskier.

mishkanorman · 8 July 2006 at 9:53AM

Jay-Jay

Firstly dont attack my personal opinion, Im not some child that needs a lecture.
I NEVER stated that home births were dangerous, I merely offered another take on things. The programme I watched was about home births, it was planned.

A person voicing a dislike towards something hardly qualifies you to be so bloody rude !!! a fear isnt always rational , a hell of a lot of people do watch programmes where planes crash and can never get on one again.

Sorry I was wrong again, you are right I didnt nearly bleed to death, the most horrific time of my life was all in my head ! This didnt happen immediately after the birth this was over an hour later. I specifically asked the doctor what would have happened if i was at home, HER response was that I 'may' have bled to death.

I am shaking because your post has made me so angry, people on here were discussing something and i joined in, I didnt berate others who prefer home births, I asked questions to understand it a little better. You however took it upon yourself to patronise me like some village idiot who is clueless over home births. I investigated it fully and took it all into consideration before planning my first child birth, the examples I gave are the extremes i realise this but I didnt want to run on as if trying to convince others im right !!

mishka

bikerqueen · 8 July 2006 at 10:15AM

well, "I disagree with home births" kind of implies we shouldn't have the choice.

However, no one can take away your birth story from you, which is why although I want a home birth, there is no way I would tell my friend who had a long, painful labour ending in an emergency c section that she would have been fine if she had been at home. Equally though, I was a little narked when she tried to convince me to go into hospital although I can see she was only trying to help.

We have enough to deal with as women, being told we cant birth babies safely without medical intervention, without turning on each other.

bumpybecky · 8 July 2006 at 10:21AM

you're so right Bikerqueen

for my first child one of the antenatal classes I went to was a reunion for the previous group of ladies who'd done the course, all with their 4-8week old babies

Some ladies seemed to be having a competition though for who had the scariest labour - telling their horror stories :eek: :eek: not what you wanted to hear at 36 weeks pg :rolleyes:

I think women can be their own worst enemies sometimes

This thread wasn't started by someone asking if homebirths were a good idea, but by someone asking about her options regarding refusing induction.

Lots of homebirth horror stories and 'I had an induction and it was fine' stories aren't that helpful to someone who has already made the choice to have their baby at home

I hope the lack of reply by Jo this morning means things have started by themselves

sending peaceful easy homebirth vibes your way Jo

~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~~

Crispy_Ambulance · 8 July 2006 at 10:24AM

mishkanorman

I think you need to re-read Jay-Jay's post. I'm sure she is perfectly capable of defending herself, but I think you have taken it the wrong way.

You are entitled to your opinion. So are other posters. And posting your opinions on here means that others might disagree and challenge them. That is the risk you take.

And what Jay-Jay is saying about home birth is backed up by research evidence.

And she didn't say that you didn't have bleeding problems. What she said was this

Jay-Jay wrote:

Does the fact that you were given an artificial drug to start your labour, a drug to paralyse you and a drug to encourage your uterus to contract much harder and faster than normal not make you wonder if the blood loss was due to something other than nature?

Did you, I wonder, also have an injection to expell your placenta which then caused your uterus to contract before your placenta had been delivered, resulting in the manual extraction?

If you had been at home there is a huge possibility that none of the above would have happened, however, if it 'did'.... then you would be given plasma expander until you reached the hospital. You most likely would not have 'bled to death'

The interventions that you had are the most likely reason for the blood loss.

In my experience, women who are coming to terms with a very interventionist birth are often anxious to believe that it was all necessary and that without them, they or their babies would have died; e.g "I needed a section, I would have died without it etc.", when in fact, the reason they needed a section was because their birth was induced etc. One intervention so often leads to another. Sometimes they are necessary, but not that often.

You are entitled to believe hospital birth is safer. However, the evidence for it just isn't there.

Anniek1969 · 8 July 2006 at 10:47AM

I've had 3 hospital births each one completely different from the other. All of my daughters were overdue 1st 10 days, 2nd 9 days and 3rd 4 days. First 2 labour started naturally and the 3rd I was induced due to high blood pressure.

1st labour started slowly and went to hospital and was put on an ante natal ward. At 12.30am I had the urge to push and was told by a young midwife that I was fine and wasn't in proper labour and to go back to my bed. I argued with her that I really had to push and that if she didn't get me to the labour ward I was going to deliver my baby on the ward. When the doctor eventually came down about an hour later she was angry at the midwife on duty as she said I was in the last stages of labour and should have been taken upstairs earlier. Daughter was born within an hour of getting to the labour ward with no pain relief or gas and air. Amazing experience but I wish it had all happened a bit slower.

2nd time I went in at about 10pm and was taken straight to labour ward, I refused pain relief as it really didn't feel that bad and after a lot of pushing DD2 arrived at 12.45am. Better experience than the first as I felt more in control and because I hadn't been in hospital for hours before I was more relaxed.

3rd time I wanted a home birth and as I had 2 normal deliveries I was told that it was not a problem if that's what I wanted. DH was totally against it and we argued for months over it. I eventually agreed on a hospital birth after having complications with my blood pressure. It always seemed to go up when I went to the clinic and they would then send me to hospital for monitoring and when I went to hospital it would be fine. Eventually was going every week for monitoring and scan and was told that baby was facing upwards and if she stayed that way it would be a harder delivery so I opted for a hospital birth just in case of complications. I was induced at 40+3 and had contractions for about 12hrs before they took me to labour ward to break my waters and put me on a drip. They had a really busy day and so because I wasn't an emergency I was pushed to the back of the queue and eventually they broke my waters at around 5pm. DD3 was born at 5.40pm still facing upwards and with the cord around her neck. Had slight breathing problem but fortunately didn't need any extra help. The midwife was absolutely fantastic and it was definately the best of the 3 births. She was the biggest and the only one I didn't have stitches with. In the end I did what I thought was best for our baby and i'm glad I made that choice but I would still have liked the quiet, peaceful atmosphere that can be created for a home birth.

I think I must have been really lucky after reading some of your posts, all of my experiences were great but the 3rd was the best but I really put that down to the midwife as she kept us calm and talked us through everything that was happening and told me to put myself into a position that I felt comfortable in and allowed me to still feel in control of what was happening.

42 week pregnancy - advice!

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