Would you consider a homebirth?

Jennesia

After having the success of a natural VBA2C with DS #2(aka Moose), I am considering a home birth. DH and I agree that we would want a CNM there due to my increased risk of uterine rupture and other complications. I remember with Moose, not being happy with some of the doctors' policies. Like if I had gone into labor when certain doctors were on call, they wouldn't let me try to give birth vaginally.

As more studies are showing the benefits of home birth, has this thought crossed your mind? What if anything does your SO think?

MrMrsandBaby

Nope, absolutely nothing about home birth appeals to me.  At all.  I'm a big fan of epidurals and having a doctor deliver and a hospital to spend a couple days in after delivering.

After my daughter was born I was so happy to be in the hospital for the help I got from the nurses and to have some time to recover before going home.  And to have someone else clean up the murder scene that was the delivery room...

RoastyToasty

I know there is a lot of debate on each side here, but personally I feel safer at a hospital. After an otherwise complication free birth my blood pressure plummeted and I nearly passed out. I was glad that my doctor and the nurses were there, otherwise I wouldn't have been conscious for the first few minutes of my daughter's life. If you already have risk factors I would think very long and hard about it, but it is up to you and your husband. 

mara005

Not unless I lived across from a hospital,  I would be way to worried about something going wrong.

Gizmo36

Hell no!  I know someone who almost died giving birth to #2 at home (she had a super smooth birth in a hospital for #1).  If I didn't like a certain facility's policies, I'd look for a different one.  There are way too many things that could go wrong.  

My SIL originally was considering one until she found out that their insurance company wouldn't cover anything, including any complications that required her to end up in the hospital.  We're lucky to have a birthing center in our city that pretty much gives you an atmosphere of having a HB with the reassurance of being in a medical facility if any complications arise.

frenchy816

My mom had my 3 younger brothers and sisters at home. It was an interesting experience for me as a kid, but I know she wouldn't have changed a thing. She did have a midwife there for all 3 of them. 

ETA: I won't be doing one, I'll be at the hospital. It's actually the hospital where my mom works. 

lebradford

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Emerald27

I would LOVE a homebirth. DH is against it, though, and it is very important to me to have a birthing partner who is comfortable and able to support me well. His anxiety wouldn't make it work...so we're going to a birth center attached to a hospital. That was our deal (natural birth center is too much like a homebirth for DH).

The reasons I would love a homebirth are that I would feel comfortable and relaxed in the familiar setting, and I would already be home with baby and with ZERO interruptions (rather than nurses in and out). It just seems so natural and perfect a birthing environment.

DH and I joke with friends that the only way we'll have a homebirth is an unassisted one by accident if baby comes too quickly. :P Yeah, right!

If you're really interested in home birth, I'd do lots of research, plan your staff well ahead of time with your doula and midwife, and know in advance what transport would be like.

ETA: I like that homebirth keeps your head in the game too, so you're less likely to cave to available interventions that might prevent you from achieving your birthing goals.

Worrible22

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Midwives are trained also. They're just not surgeons like an OB is. Infact, when I was at one of my appointment's with my midwives during my pregnancy, there was a student in the room being trained by the midwife who was in school to be an ob/gyn.

oneblessedmess

I thought about it but ultimately decided against it. I was already nervous about what would happen if God forbid, LO or I needed serious medical attention after birth, but then I talked to DH about it and he was even more freaked by the idea than I already was. We did read up on it together but he did not seem comforted and we figured we would just feel at least somewhat more relaxed/comfortable at the hospital. DH would probably be rendered completely useless if I was birthing at home, he'd probably be demanding we head to the hospital for every little twinge!

I do want to go natural, but I would like to do so in a hospital setting. Seems like the perfect compromise for us!

ETA more words.

cakebatter27

The only way I'm having a home birth is if the baby comes before I have time to put on clothes and ride to the hospital.

Worrible22

Fyi

https://www.nlm.nih.gov/medlineplus/ency/article/002000.htm

Emerald27

@MermaidsMagic YGPM!

ScarletOflaherty

I'm not comfortable with the idea myself. My most complicated delivery was #4, I came within seconds of an emergency c-section. We all expected it to be an easy birth.

MrsKDarwin

I would love a home birth. Chillin out in my paddling pool with no stress then having a baby and being in my own space.
I just think it's a more suitable emotional and spiritual environment for me personally.
That said DH has vetoed having a home birth so won't be happening. Like Emerald it is more important to be to have him on board then push something he is really uncomfortable about.
Midwives are used ALOT in New Zealand where I am from and I'm comfortable the idea.
A few of my friends have had home births and the overall experience sounds a lot more pleasent.

divinemsbee

The Business of Being Born is, to me, a lot like a Michael Moore documentary (and I'm a pretty big liberal), it's a documentary that was made to push an agenda, and should be taken with several grains of salt.

That said, I've considered it, but also considering we're anywhere from 10-45 minutes (yay I-35 traffic!) depending on time of day from my hospital, the answer is probably no. Adding to that where we live (on a military base and we technically rent), it makes it much clearer that an as natural as possible hospital birth is for me. My mom gave birth to me and my brother in hospitals with midwives attending (a nurse or her OB had to catch the baby but she had my dad and two midwives with her), and I think that sounds good. The hospital where I would deliver if we're still here is incredibly family and natural birth friendly, so my opinion might change at the next duty station.

Funnily enough, my mom had very fast easy labors, so when it came time for my sister, they prepared somewhat for a home birth because they were worried she would come too quickly. They were right. My mom and dad called the midwives really early in the morning and they told my parents to not get in the car unless my dad wanted to deliver the baby there. So, the midwives came over and my mom gave birth to my baby sister in my parents' bedroom with my brother and I asleep in the next room and we didn't wake up until she was born.

I look at it, especially as I haven't had one, as my mom had two completely complication-free, quick and easy births and then had one at home not entirely on purpose. I know that if she'd had any sort of complications or risk for it that she would have found a way to be at the hospital if she could have planned to. And it still could have gone very wrong. If I had any risk of complication that could be known about beforehand, I definitely wouldn't.

Erin90210girl

I am not for or against, it just seems so strange to have a baby, clean-up and then be able to bake a pie or something right after. I read a good book called Midwife by Chris Bouljain. It is fiction and tells a story of a home birth gone wrong, it focuses more on the trial afterwards but really interesting! For me I liked having time in the hospital postpartum it was like a mini vacay especially when #3 came along. I think if I did a home birth I would not heal properly because my OCD would have me vacuuming, folding laundry, changing sheets. Etc. but whatever works best for the mother I say go for it!

Emerald27

Erin90210girl said:

I am not for or against, it just seems so strange to have a baby, clean-up and then be able to bake a pie or something right after.

Hehe. This made me giggle. The idea is not that you hop up and move on with your life, but that you snuggle your newborn and spend every moment bonding and getting to know each other without interruption or intervention. But your mom/mil can bake that pie and you can avoid yucky hospital food!

Emerald27

GhostMonkey said:

Emerald27 said:

Erin90210girl said:

I am not for or against, it just seems so strange to have a baby, clean-up and then be able to bake a pie or something right after.

Hehe. This made me giggle. The idea is not that you hop up and move on with your life, but that you snuggle your newborn and spend every moment bonding and getting to know each other without interruption or intervention. But your mom/mil can bake that pie and you can avoid yucky hospital food!

Not all hospitals have awful food. Mine was quite good actually.

That's true! Mine wasn't great, but I devoured it anyway. I was playing to her baking a pie example.

beckynsean11

It's not something I would consider. I'm terrified of something happening & baby or myself not making it to the hospital in time.

Even if it was something I would consider, I would never ever risk a 2nd VBAC not in a hospital. I'd be really shocked if you found a midwife that would even consider it because of the ridiculous risk. TBH, I can't see myself considering a VBAC a second time no matter where I was going to give birth. Obviously I've never given birth, but that's where my head is now.

GirlOnTheBeach

I'm all about going for a home birth. When I talked it over with DH he said that it made sense to him since they had a lot of them in his family. I am always extremely uncomfortable in medical settings and around hospitals especially so that plays a huge role in that choice.

Being at home, I feel like I'd have a lot more opportunity to relax and feel comfortable than anywhere else.

Jellyfish42

I have throwing around the idea of having a homebirth. DH said he wouldn't be against it, but wanted to be able to have more information and the chance to interview a homebirth midwife. (I love him!) I have a pros and cons list about it right now. The major cons for us is the area we live in doesn't have many midwives and they are all located at least an hour from us. This being our first, I know that hour might not be a problem. And if we deliver in a hospital, we are an hour away from the only hospital in this area I would deliver in (unless I had no choice but to deliver elsewhere). We are 5 mins away from the hospital in this town, but the OBs in this area suck. They are very c/s happy and don't like their patients to step out of line in regard to interventions, and they don't like them to go all natural. So, there's that. IF we had to transfer from homebirth to hospital, we'd have to go here. I would hate myself and everything about that! I think, as of right now, I lean more towards homebirth emotionally and more towards natural hospital birth with a good natural-friendly OB realistically.

GinnyJ2012

With DS it wasn't even a consideration. I did want to labor at home for a while, but once stronger contractions hit my water broke. The rule at our hospital was to go in immediately if it was your first birth.

I did get to labor in a birthing tub for a few hours and that was amazing. It allowed me to easily change positions through contractions. I highly recommend this. I did get an epidural about half way through and that was the best decision for me. I plan on going this route next time. Although I have thought about a birthing center attached to a hospital and trying for a natural birth, but I really like having the epidural option.

rboisvert

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

PugMum

I would like to give birth in a midwife birthing centre. DH is comfortable with this, but doesn't want it to be in our own home as he says it "grosses him out". 

Obviously I would only go this route if my birth was low risk. 

A few close friends/family members of mine had terrible hospital births and they both traumatized me. 

Valancyy

No way.  I've given birth twice and felt much more comfortable at the hospital.  I want to be ready for anything that can happen. 

One of our local hospitals has a birthing center right in the hospital.  If you're low risk you can qualify.  I'm considering that this time around.  One reason is that you get discharged a day earlier.  I hated being in the hospital after the baby was born.  Also, you stay in one room the whole time, and it's just more home-like.  They don't do epidurals there, which is another reason.  I didn't have any for my other births and would like to avoid one this last time as well. 

britt1141

Here is my UO: I think insisting on a home birth, especially when you are high risk, is selfish. I don't think you should put your unborn child at any elevated risk. Its just safer for them to be born at a hospital. I've personally known several people that would have lost their babies if not for a medical team in a hospital. Did I hate being bothered by nurses all the time? Yes! But I would go through anything for my kids' safety. 

Savannah2002

Hell no.

When I was planning on going to medical school I took a year off after my senior year in college and applying to medical schools.  I trained as an EMT and was able to complete some rotations with local midwives (some handling deliveries in the Amish communities) mainly because I was interested in obstetrics.  Midwives are amazing but that doesn't make a home birth a good idea.  Personally, I've read all of the studies about their supposed positives but nothing could ever change my mind after watching a mother bleed out (she survived but after a tremendous amount of blood loss) and an infant pass away because we couldn't get the mother to a hospital fast enough.  Had she delivered in a hospital she would have been wheeled into surgery ASAP instead of having to be loaded into a car and travel for 30 minutes, admitted into the hospital, and then wheeled into the OR.  Not to mention that the woman's insurance company wouldn't cover a penny of any of the costs that she then incurred in the hospital due to delivering at home.  This isn't to say that things can't go wrong at a hospital but after watching what appeared to be uncomplicated births suddenly become VERY complicated in a matter of minutes there is nothing like having the medical facilities and technology right on hand.  I assisted four different midwives and all of them preferred to deliver in birthing centers vs. home because of the risks.....but would do home births if that's what their patients insisted upon.  I was present at and assisted with over 35 births.  I'd say a little less that half had some scary moments where it would have been better to be at the hospital/birthing center (couldn't find fetal heartbeat, or heart rate drastically decreased, shoulder wedged, etc. etc.).   

I think birthing centers (usually attached to a hospital) are the safest and smartest decision for people who would like a more "home birth" like experience but less of the risk.  Birth can be overly medicalized (for some people) and there are risks in a hospital (infection, etc.) but I simply cannot compare those issues with the dangers of a home birth.  In some states midwives don't even need to have a certificate, degree, etc.  At least with a doctor you can look up there stats and background.  If I wasn't comfortable with a hospital or BC's policies then I wouldn't deliver there.  Just like if I didn't like a doctor in the practice I wouldn't use them. Considering that one in eight women died during childbirth (which took place at home and I know there were more factors leading to this statistic then just the at home delivery) during the 17th and 18th centuries there is no way that I'd deliver at home willingly.  

Savannah2002

GhostMonkey said:

rboisvert said:

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

Go back and re-read the OP. Actually she is considering that. And it's the only way she would be able to because there is no way on earth any medical professional would assist a home birth for her. Any that would assist would lose their liability insurance in a heartbeat. 

And no, most would not have high risked out of home birth. Most were perfectly routine pregnancies prior to delivery. There have been many babies lost because even a midwife refused to transfer shortly after birth. 

It can be done safely for everyone, but it doesn't take much for things to turn tragic if they do go wrong because midwives are not capable of handling emergencies, especially with minimal equipment.

Exactly.  I cannot imagine that she'll get any licensed midwife to deliver a VBAC#2 at home.  The midwife wouldn't be covered in cases of liability and it's just way too dangerous even if she lived directly across from a hospital (which I doubt is the case).  

BankerBSN

GhostMonkey said:

Pretty sure no midwife will touch you for a VBA2C, let alone for a home birth. Their liability insurance would drop them in an instant. 

And only a complete moron would attempt a homebirth without a medical professional present. Freebirthing is idiotic. 

Unfortunately GM we have one HB CNM in Chicago that does do VBACs at home. I cringe at the thought of that. There is a sliver of the population that is appropriate for home birth and a VBACS is not one of them.

And not all home births midwives have liability insurance...

ETA: The big University hospitals in Chicago just started to allow VBA2C recently. VBAC x1 c/s should not be done at home, let alone VBA2C!

Savannah2002

BankerBSN said:

GhostMonkey said:

Pretty sure no midwife will touch you for a VBA2C, let alone for a home birth. Their liability insurance would drop them in an instant. 

And only a complete moron would attempt a homebirth without a medical professional present. Freebirthing is idiotic. 

Unfortunately GM we have one HB CNM in Chicago that does do VBACs at home. I cringe at the thought of that. There is a sliver of the population that is appropriate for home birth and a VBACS is not one of them.

And not all home births midwives have liability insurance...

Well that is absolutely terrifying.  

lebradford

rboisvert said:

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

______
I said I'd like to be where the doctors and medical equipment are. They sure as hell aren't at my house. I'm not say midwives don't bring a lot to the table. I think having a midwife or doula AND a doctor would be great. But a lot of things can go wrong during delivery even in low-risk pregnancies. I'm not going to knowingly put myself in a situation where I need to be moved from my house to the hospital if something goes wrong. I'd want to be there already. I'm all for birthing centers attached to hospitals, but risking a home birth.... Yeah. I don't have anything else nice to say.

BankerBSN

BankerBSN said:

GhostMonkey said:

Pretty sure no midwife will touch you for a VBA2C, let alone for a home birth. Their liability insurance would drop them in an instant. 

And only a complete moron would attempt a homebirth without a medical professional present. Freebirthing is idiotic. 

Unfortunately GM we have one HB CNM in Chicago that does do VBACs at home. I cringe at the thought of that. There is a sliver of the population that is appropriate for home birth and a VBACS is not one of them.

And not all home births midwives have liability insurance...

But you have no birth centers. 

WTF.

We are SO close to birth centers! We literally have one ready to open in a near west suburb. It is not connected to a hospitals and 10 minutes to the closest. I will not get started on my personal view of birth centers...

ADH0906

jefa621 said:

Consider?  Sure.  Acutally go through with?  99% sure no.

Absolutely how I feel.  TBOBB was eye-opening in that I hadn't really considered that all ob-gyns are surgeons, and the inclination is to treat every pregnancy with a heavy mind toward surgical intervention.  We just moved to a new area, and I've always had a midwife in an ob-gyn clinic for my annual checks.  I'm having a lot of trouble finding one here, and if I go with the only MW I can find, there's a good chance that one of her 6 associated ob-gyns will end up delivering my baby.  I talked with one of them (becuase I have to travel out of my area to avoid this group) and she said she found homebirths to be barbaric.  I also asked if I would be allowed to labor naturally (they have a jetted tub for this) and she made a joke about how I could swim as long as I wanted, but she would eventually 'get down to business' and give me pitocin if I stalled at all.  They also have a 35% CS rate overall.  I don't believe there's any good argument in favor of treating 1 out of 3 cases of delivery as an emergency requiring major surgery. The fact that I might get an ob-gyn like that has caused me a lot of anxiety, and I'm not even pregnant!  TBOBB is absolutely pushing an agenda, but I don't know... there's some truth in there.

janda426

I would love to give birth at a birthing center, but NJ doesn't have any. So hospital it is.

There's a reason people moved on from birthing at home to a hospital over the generations- it's a lot safer. My aunt who had a NO risk pregnancy almost died because during delivery it was discovered she had this rare issue where (forgive me I don't remember all the details) she was sharing a blood supply with her baby or something and her and the baby almost died. She was in a coma for a few days. If she had been home, forget about it.

Giving birth is, for a lot of people, the biggest "medical procedure", if you will, they will ever go through. It's not to be taken lightly. And now were in this age where Pinterest-happy moms are crooning over the idea of these lovely portraits of a picture perfect family delivering their new addition on the living room rug, with the new baby wearing an Etsy-made "born at home" onesie shortly after. Lets get back to what really matters- getting the baby out safely.

And to do this all as a VBA2C.... Blows my mind. Why would anyone voluntarily put themselves at such risk...

Savannah2002

ADH0906 said:

jefa621 said:

Consider?  Sure.  Acutally go through with?  99% sure no.

Absolutely how I feel.  TBOBB was eye-opening in that I hadn't really considered that all ob-gyns are surgeons, and the inclination is to treat every pregnancy with a heavy mind toward surgical intervention.  We just moved to a new area, and I've always had a midwife in an ob-gyn clinic for my annual checks.  I'm having a lot of trouble finding one here, and if I go with the only MW I can find, there's a good chance that one of her 6 associated ob-gyns will end up delivering my baby.  I talked with one of them (becuase I have to travel out of my area to avoid this group) and she said she found homebirths to be barbaric.  I also asked if I would be allowed to labor naturally (they have a jetted tub for this) and she made a joke about how I could swim as long as I wanted, but she would eventually 'get down to business' and give me pitocin if I stalled at all.  They also have a 35% CS rate overall.  I don't believe there's any good argument in favor of treating 1 out of 3 cases of delivery as an emergency requiring major surgery. The fact that I might get an ob-gyn like that has caused me a lot of anxiety, and I'm not even pregnant!  TBOBB is absolutely pushing an agenda, but I don't know... there's some truth in there.

Well I think what TBOBB missed is the huge liability Ob/GYNs have vs. some other medical fields.  There are huge issues for them legally and financially if they don't follow the established medical guidelines so I think it's a lot to ask to expect them to deviate.  

BankerBSN

lebradford said:

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

______ I said I'd like to be where the doctors and medical equipment are. They sure as hell aren't at my house. I'm not say midwives don't bring a lot to the table. I think having a midwife or doula AND a doctor would be great. But a lot of things can go wrong during delivery even in low-risk pregnancies. I'm not going to knowingly put myself in a situation where I need to be moved from my house to the hospital if something goes wrong. I'd want to be there already. I'm all for birthing centers attached to hospitals, but risking a home birth.... Yeah. I don't have anything else nice to say.

I understand that you want to be near medical equipment but do understand there has been many research studies out there that indicate that technology is not improving outcomes. The US still has one of the highest Maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates of developed countries. I am not saying that home birth is the answer or that hospital births are either. Technology can give us a false sense of security as well as false suggestion that something is wrong. I have seen plenty of terrible outcomes from home birth transfers and from woman who never had a contraction outside of the hospital. I think that you need to do research on the type of birth you want and fully understand both the positive and negatives to any birth you choose.

Savannah2002

BankerBSN said:

lebradford said:

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

______ I said I'd like to be where the doctors and medical equipment are. They sure as hell aren't at my house. I'm not say midwives don't bring a lot to the table. I think having a midwife or doula AND a doctor would be great. But a lot of things can go wrong during delivery even in low-risk pregnancies. I'm not going to knowingly put myself in a situation where I need to be moved from my house to the hospital if something goes wrong. I'd want to be there already. I'm all for birthing centers attached to hospitals, but risking a home birth.... Yeah. I don't have anything else nice to say.

I understand that you want to be near medical equipment but do understand there has been many research studies out there that indicate that technology is not improving outcomes. The US still has one of the highest Maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates of developed countries. I am not saying that home birth is the answer or that hospital births are either. Technology can give us a false sense of security as well as false reassurance. I have seen plenty of terrible outcomes from home birth transfers and from woman who never had a contraction outside of the hospital. I think that you need to do research on none type of birth you want and full understand both the positive and negatives to any birth you choose.

Just to make a point our maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates are really not due to hospital births or technology but more because of many other factors.  We have more high risk pregnancies in this country then most other counties, we have a larger population having access to infertility treatments, we have a greater disparity in the level of treatment and prenatal care provided to the poor vs. the middle/upper classes, we have a higher number of teen pregnancies, we count live births differently then many other countries, etc. etc. If you break down stats by location and wealth we rank extremely high compared to other developed countries.  

Lomcmuffin

I love the idea of a home birth. We will be using midwives but doing a hospital delivery. DH would not be on board with a home delivery.

BankerBSN

Savannah2002 said:

BankerBSN said:

lebradford said:

lebradford said:

Um, no. I'd like to be by the people who studied delivering babies for like 10 years and all of the medical equipment.

Umm seriously she didn't ask about free birthing.  We are exploring a home birth due to limited vbac options in our area.  The midwife we are working with to determine appropriateness of a HB has been practicing for 20 years.  She's a highly trained medical professional, a CNM, a NP and works with an additional nurse with many years of both training and experience in infant resuscitation.  She is not shy about transferring to a hospital at the first sign of something going wrong that is out of her scope. 

HB is certainly not for everyone, I would have risked out for DD due to specific issues with her positioning.  For those that say they would have lost their babies if they hadn't been in a hospital you most likely would have risked out of a HB prior to delivery. 

Yes stuff happens.  We had a mother pass away recently in our community who started with a HB.  She developed a fatal, rare condition.  She was immediately transferred.  They lost her but saved the baby which is rare for this condition.  Sometimes it doesn't matter where you are shit happens.

______ I said I'd like to be where the doctors and medical equipment are. They sure as hell aren't at my house. I'm not say midwives don't bring a lot to the table. I think having a midwife or doula AND a doctor would be great. But a lot of things can go wrong during delivery even in low-risk pregnancies. I'm not going to knowingly put myself in a situation where I need to be moved from my house to the hospital if something goes wrong. I'd want to be there already. I'm all for birthing centers attached to hospitals, but risking a home birth.... Yeah. I don't have anything else nice to say.

I understand that you want to be near medical equipment but do understand there has been many research studies out there that indicate that technology is not improving outcomes. The US still has one of the highest Maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates of developed countries. I am not saying that home birth is the answer or that hospital births are either. Technology can give us a false sense of security as well as false reassurance. I have seen plenty of terrible outcomes from home birth transfers and from woman who never had a contraction outside of the hospital. I think that you need to do research on none type of birth you want and full understand both the positive and negatives to any birth you choose.

Just to make a point our maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates are really not due to hospital births or technology but more because of many other factors.  We have more high risk pregnancies in this country then most other counties, we have a larger population having access to infertility treatments, we have a greater disparity in the level of treatment and prenatal care provided to the poor vs. the middle/upper classes, we have a higher number of teen pregnancies, we count live births differently then many other countries, etc. etc. If you break down stats by location and wealth we rank extremely high compared to other developed countries.  

I do agree with our population and IF and the gestional age of what is consider "viable" is now at 23 weeks where I am at. But C-Sections are included in maternal mobidty and mortality. And continuous fetal monitoring has lead to an increase in C/S rate without and increase in fetal wellbeing. This is what specifically can to mind when talking about "technology" when we are talking about a 'normal' term delivery. I have been in the business of having babies for 10 years. (Well, not me having the babies but bringing babies into the world) I have many personal biases and stories that get in the way of my feelings on issues. Thank you for grounding me.

Savannah2002

GhostMonkey said:

Savannah2002 said:

Just to make a point our maternal/neonatal morbidity and mortality rates are really not due to hospital births or technology but more because of many other factors.  We have more high risk pregnancies in this country then most other counties, we have a larger population having access to infertility treatments, we have a greater disparity in the level of treatment and prenatal care provided to the poor vs. the middle/upper classes, we have a higher number of teen pregnancies, we count live births differently then many other countries, etc. etc. If you break down stats by location and wealth we rank extremely high compared to other developed countries.  

Definitely this. There are countries that don't count micropreemies at all. Once you reach viability, you get counted into the stats in the US. 

Yup....and considering that we have higher rates of multiples (and other high risk pregnancies) in this country we also have lots more micropreemies and preemies so it really mixes up our stats.  Clearly we could do some things better but our numbers are really not indicative of the true state of prenatal and delivery care in this country.