Timwinner

iTrader: (3)

This year sees the arrival of the first Winner child, We have got to the point where we need to think about a birth plan.

We want to have a home birth in a birthing pool, obviously this comes with problems such as no doctor on scene etc.

I was wondering if anyone has had a home birth? how did it go? any problems? anything else we need to consider?

JPL

With your first child? No way, ever.

DCI Gene Hunt

Just took the paper upstairs and practically had a 'home birth'.... HTH's

Trout

iTrader: (1)

We have had two home births.

Not having a doctor there brings more benefits than problems!

The risks of a homebirth are identical to a hospital based birth, where there are no complications presenting pre-labour. So the thought that homebirths are more risky is a myth which is not supported by the statistics.

The main issues you will have will be getting the midwife community to support you (ultimately it is yours and their decision irrespective what doctors may tell you). You will need to have a midwife attend. If the hospital do not support that, then you can arrange for a private midwife (we have done both routes).

Typically hospitals and doctors are NOT supportive of this route, however according to NICE guidelines they have no right to pressure you into not making this choice. Our first doctor refused to sign it off and read us the riot act. We told her to get lost and make a formal complaint to the hospital.

Make sure you have 'waterproof' coverings on the floor. Birth pool is great - also consider a mattress on the floor and birth ball.

First birth was over in less than four hours with only a little nitrous as a pain killer. Second birth too hours, but we just watched movies and stuff until the little blighter popped out (he was over 10lbs). No pain relief second time.

If Mrs Winner wants to speak with Mrs Trout then message me

Good luck!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Can you justify that statement?

DCI Gene Hunt

It's a baby.... not a flaming dolphin.

JPL

Our boy was an emergency cesarean, I was order to get my "greens" on, got shouted at cos I forgot to put the shoe protectors on, then they cut my wife open and out he came. It was mostly a blur.

I could go on, but I think that does it for me.

madscoob

iTrader: (3)

1st one hospital 2nd and 3rd at home no problem totally stress free for wife could have a cuppa whenever she wanted and a bath also not to many people fussing around , and 3rd time was all over and done within a hour . wife never even woke our kids or next door up and daughter arrived at 4am

freakin

BFW is currently term + 2, we have opted for the midwife lead unit at the hospital which is a compromise between the two. Its attached to the standard delivery suite so if there is an emergency then you can be wheeled in for a c section, ventouse, forceps etc if it comes to it. It has birth pool, sofas, kettle etc and so is kind of like being at someone else's home. Probably worth finding out if your hospital has one.

I vetoed the home birth as its our first but depending on how this one goes if we had another I may be more open to the idea.

I will let you know in a few days if we have used the facilities.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

JPL,

I am glad that worked out for you but I am still not sure how that justifies your statement. If you look at births with similar case histories, why is it that 20-25% who are hospital births end up as 'emergency ceasarians' and yet only a tiny fraction of homebirths do. With the same level of successful outcome.

Maybe you started a home birth and ended up as a c-section but that scenario is extremely rare. If you started in hospital then the chances of an emergency c-section are between 1 in 4 to 1 in 5.

Trout

Trout

iTrader: (1)

Some pics!!

If you use a pool get a hardsided one - the inflatable ones collapse in the heat of the moment and it is a lot of water out there! Also, put a bean bag (cushion is too soft) under the liner as a seat, also means less water.





Mrs Trout about 80% through labour looking annoyingly relaxed - much more so than the typical hospital scenario.




Based on friends experience the midwife lead unit can be a very good compromise. Peace of mind, but more home comforts.

JPL

He asked would I do it? I didn't give him a statement Trout, I gave him my opinion. Which is "no fecking way". But I had a bad experience. I'm sure you're right and you have more experience with it than me.

Each to their own, I'm not trying to scaremonger. In hospital the woman is attached to so many machines, and once one of them decides the heartbeat is off by 0.00001%... out he comes.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

No, I am a bloke, hth.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

He didn't actually ask if you would do it - he asked who has done it and what to consider

Anyway - your latter point is the major issue with hospital birth. In hospital the standard practice is intervention. And there is very strong evidence that once intervention starts then it typically escalates significantly which was your experience. Hence the very high c-section rate in hospitals.

J4CKO

iTrader: (1)

Home Caeserians are best avoided I beleive.

hodgy0_2

whilst I agree 100% with what Trout says, that basically doctors have medical-ised (that’s their job after all) what is essentially a perfectly natural process

I still would have my children at hospital (and I accept I am being slightly irrational as i am sure the statistics show no greater risk etc)

but I/we just feel safer

My wife had all 5 of ours (twins inc) at hospital and I can honestly say the experience was 100% fantastic each and every time (doctors/midwifes/nurses where amazing)

Anyway whatever you choose good luck

freakin

trout, out of interest, how do you keep the pool warm ?

ScoobyWon't

That's just what I was wondering...

Hysteria1983

By checking the temp, then take some water out and add some more. Usually the pool is only used for the 'active phase' and is usually warm enough as it is filled just before it is needed. It can be used for pain relief also though.

Hysteria1983

I have not had a home birth, but I did want one for my second, however it was all advised due to complications in pregnancy.

For a 1st pregnancy Mrs Winner is obviously feeling very positive, and wanting a home birth is great. I was quite worried, and when he came early it was a bit of a shock.
I had a few complications arise in my labour, however, I had opted for pethadine as my pain relief, and I feel personally it was a bad decision. A number of factors played a part in the problems that followed, the fast progression of my labour and other issues led to an assisted delivery. BUT Fin was born safe and sound.

After a terrible birth and a fairly nasty recovery I was pregnant again in 5 months time, and felt that even though I had such a terrible labour, I wanted a home birth.
I didn't want to be fastened to a bed, and poked about. I wanted to be relaxed, and not have a midwife insist I had to have pain relief.
Unfortunatly my baby was breech which caused my homebirth to be too much of a high risk.

I had an EVC to turn my baby, and it worked, but she still wasn't in the correct position.

However I insisted that at hospital I was not messed about with and that I was left to do my own thing and I did.

I had the position confirmed (head down and engaged) when I was 1st examined at the hospital at 11.30am I was 5cm, and they never touched me again until I was giving birth only 1hr30 mins later.

I didn't have any pain relief and it was all pretty calm. I had her just after 2.00pm and I was back home by 7.00pm. It was perfect.

If I were to have another (if I were mad enough!) I would most defiantly have a home birth. I would be so much better than feeling like I am being told what to do.

I only had to leave my son for 8 hours the last time, which was great as I didn't want to leave him for long as he was only 17 months himself.

Hopefully you and Mrs Winner will get some good advice and support.

freakin

aw i was hoping for something more exciting like chuck in the kettle or toaster

Ethel

Got to say that, as somebody who gave birth for the first time a year ago tomorrow (happy birthday sproglet!) I am extremely glad I was in hospital and would agree with all that JPL says above. My birth plan said something like 'I want to move around and give birth naturally to whale music', but when push came to shove nothing had prepared me for the pain (I couldn't get off the bed, let along into a birthing pool!) and in the end I came close to a C-section simply because the baby got stuck. The obstetrician told me afterwards that this is the sort of thing that can happen with first births, unlikely to happen with subsequent births, and very very difficult to predict before the birth actually happens. It did, however, have the nice side effect of meaning that I had to have a full spinal block, which paralysed me from the chest down and was utter and total bliss - I would strongly recommend good drugs in labour!
Of course everything varies with the individual: the lady in this case may have good reason to believe that everything will be absolutely normal and may be able to easily reach a good medical facility if she needs it. All I can say is, think carefully, especially with a first baby, if only because it's uncharted territory.
And I have to say (as somebody who really believed in the 'natural wisdom' of women in childbirth before I actually did it!) while giving birth is clearly natural, don't ever forget that in the days before modern medical intervention, childbirth killed a lot of women, I think it was something like a 1 in 5 lifetime risk as recently as the 1930s (I may be wrong on the stat, but you take my point.) We take it for granted that childbirth is safe these days, but IMO that is because of medical intervention, not in spite of it.
Just my two penno'rth, anyway!

Hysteria1983

Hi Ethel, I feel the opposite of how you do.

Even in the light of my horrible first birth I still was totally against drugs for my second, as I do feel that they really hindered my birth process.

But I am sure you know, we all handle pain differently. My first labour was short with the active phase being just 7 hours. My second was very short as mentioned above, so I didn't have to suffer for long.

But my GOD!!! Without those drugs the actual birth part was so painful, it was untrue, but it also had this blissful sense of relief knowing it would soon be over. It was amazing to see how the body's natural adrenalin can help in situations like that!

Trout

iTrader: (1)

As a bloke I can only comment on observed statistics rather than personal feelings on this. However the experience that Hysteria describes (without knowing the detail) can be quite typical.

Things don't go quite to plan something like pethadine is administered and immediately there is a fairly predictable trail towards major intervention such as a c-section - much higher if there is no intervention early on.

Even simple things like having a woman in labour on a bed has a huge impact in the potential birth complications.

We did a massive amount of research - met and spoke with a lot of people who had both home and hospital births and went through all the stats we could find.

Of course, from a personal perspective, many woman want to choose pain relief and to have a sense of risk management. Hospitals can provide this and it is a great choice for many people. Be totally aware that with the back up comes the high risk of escalating intervention.

A good midwife can deliver breech - there is some good literature on this - it used to be the norm and now it is the exception. In hospital most obstetricians would immediately go to c-section for breech.

Trout

iTrader: (1)

The volume of water is so great that it will stay warm for a very long time. We worked out that for a pool of this size it probably dropped a degree every two hours.

There was a thermometer that floated around in the pool that checked temp. And as the birth advances you want it slightly cooler anyway as if it is too warm it slows and shallows contractions and the exertion of birth keeps the mother warm enough anyway!

Spoon

Trout

iTrader: (1)

It was around 1% of all live births - so maybe 1 in 20 life time risk for a women with family of five.

However, how much related to the actual birth and how much to immediate postnatal care due to inter-uterine hemorrhaging or sepsis? For which simple post-natal drug treatments are now available.


Maternal mortality has risen in the last 30 years due to two key factors - obeseity and the rise in the number of c-sections.

Midlife......

iTrader: (2)

Timwinner

Simply ask your Consultant Obs / gynae on the risks of a Prima Gravida (with the info on the scans and anatomy) of a home birth.

Thats what he / she gets paid for and what my tax payers money has trained him / her to do

Shaun

hodgy0_2

^^
the rise in popularity and success of home births is as a direct result of far better pre natal care

in most cases the Consultant will not let a home birth go ahead if there is any signs of complication

austinwrx

you'd be fooking mental to do it at home. Trust me with ours- you want every bit of technology and help you can, for when and if it goes wrong.

A friend who is a doctor- and his mother in law who is a midwife- went for a home birth- they bloody regreted it when it all went wrong. fortunately she did arrive ok.

and they were both medical people.

I think for yr first- no. maybe for yr second you have the knowledge to judge it. There is nothing in life that can explain/replicate the experience.