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Natural Birth
Homebirthers come on in!
I'm on the fence, and I've been on the fence pretty much since the beginning of my pregnancy. Whenever I visualize my birth in my head, I picture being at home, in the water, but when I start thinking about it rationally, my head tells me it's not a good idea. I'm not concerned with it safety wise (I'm about 5 minutes from a level 2 hospital, so they wouldn't even be ready for me by the time I got there), it's more the logistics of the whole situation. The main issue for me being the fact that our master bedroom (and where we would set up the birthing pool) is on the second floor, and the only bathroom is on the main floor. I can see this being a huge pain in the butt.
My husband and I attended a home birth information night last night hosted by our midwife's clinic. It was really informative, but it also made me realize that a home birth would be a lot more work than I originally anticipated. I was always under the impression that the midwives take care of all the clean up afterwards. Our midwives do strip the bed and put on fresh sheets, but that's about it. They leave the soiled sheets in a garbage bag for us to decide what to do with (whether it be wash or trash), we have to take care of emptying the pool (which would not be fun with no bathroom close), they even leave the placenta with us to dispose of.
All along I've been planning on a hospital birth with my midwife. There is a tub at the hospital for labouring in, but you cannot actually give birth in it. I really don't know what to do. All things considered, what would YOU do if you were in my situation?
ETA: I guess I should elaborate a little bit on what my hospital birth would look like. The midwives here have the authority to discharge you from the hospital, so I could essentially labour at home for as long as possible (the midwives can come to the house to assess when to go to the hospital), go to the hospital, push out the baby, and be home a couple of hours later (as long as there were no complications). But I still wouldn't get to birth in the water...
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Re: Homebirthers come on in!
I had a homebirth in August.
What we chose to do was to set up the pool near the kitchen. This way we had access to running water in case of needing a refill, and also once it had to be emptied, the sink was a few feet away.
We did not set up the pool in our room because I wanted to be able to move to the room after delivering LO and the placenta and begin bonding. I didn't want the midwife, her assistant and the doula to disturbe us while they cleaned up.
It actually worked out quite nice. We had the pool just to the side of the kitchen sink and we set up a mattress we bought on CL for $50 right next to it, in the living room and I planned to deliver my placenta right there. Turns out that my placenta came out really fast so as I was getting out of the tub I barely had the chance to sit on a kitchen chair and out it came.
We did have the luck that our birth team did all the cleaning for us. They did the laundry and emptied the pool. Have you thought about getting a Doula? They might be able to help more with the clean up after baby.
Also, we had our placenta dehydrated, so the Placenta specialist came to pick that up and it was one less thing we had to worry about. You could also look into donating it, planting it.... I am not really sure how else you would dispose of it.
GL and feel free to ask any questions.
I am setting up my pool in our family room. It doesn't have to be in your bedroom.
My MWs help empty the pool and do all of the other clean-up. They will start the load of laundry and will clean any stains that appen to pop up on furniture and carpet. I haven't asked about the placenta, but it doesn't seem like that big of a deal to just put it in the trash. We are going to bury ours.
Are there any other midwives that you could work with that would be more willing to clean up? It seems strange that yours don't do it. But even if they leave you with a garbage bag of laundry to do, it doesn't seem like that big of a deal.
Also, are you renting their tub? I think part of the reason my midwives help with the clean up of te tub is because it is theirs. They will take it with them when they leave that day.
i had a homebirth in september. i gave birth in a hospital (planned homebirth transfer) in 2006, though that entire labor (plus 8 hours of pushing) was at home. i cannot fathom giving birth in a hospital ever, ever again. granted, my MWs did not have hospital privileges, so i was under the care of an OB once i got there. it was the postpartum period that was awful in the hospital and so SO much better at home.
some thoughts for you:
1. would you be willing to give up your homebirth in exchange for not having to put some sheets in the washing machine with some stain remover (if there is any blood, usually, chux pads containt any blood)? having done it twice, it's really not that big of a deal. surely they would at least put the chux pads in a garbage bag, so then it's just the sheets. and i doubt they'd want to be working in a mess, so chux pads that are used during labor would also be trashed.
2. i read a story here when i was pregnant of a mom who put the tub in the living room so that she could retire to her bedroom in peace after the baby was born. i had always thought we'd put our tub in our bedroom, but i kind of liked the idea of having my bedroom to myself and not having any mess there. we ended up putting the tub in the basement family room (there is a bathroom there) and since my labor was short, i spent the rest of the day in the living room with my parents and in-laws. you might consider putting the tub on your main floor, both for distance to a sink and so that you can use the bathroom when you need without having to climb stairs. logistically, i don't know how you'd fill the tub if it were upstairs - perhaps a super long hose.
3. easy solution to the placenta being left...placenta ingestion!! raw in a smoothie or dried and encapsulated. or, you can just put it in a bag and throw it away. again, would you trade homebirth for hospital birth just so someone else would throw it away?
4. i never really get laboring at home until it's time to birth. you have to spend time in the car when your labor is nearly over (not the most ideal, IMO), and most people don't have a qualified birth professional with them (i see above that you do) during this time, when recognition of developing risk is essential (it's as if the actual birthing part is the only part of childbirth that carries risk). why not stay that extra hour at home, have your baby, have an attendent with you the majority of your labor and not have to go anywhere when it's all over?
birthing is so extremely personal and defining. you have to select the environment that you are most comfortable with. and you need to listen to your gut (your subconscious), which has been telling you something already. listen to it!
Im planning on a homebirth in a few weeks. I will have a birth pool set up in my kitchen. Reason for placement being- a. No carpet. b. Right by the washer (water source to fill pool). c. Right by back door (will drain quite easily right out the door when time to.)
Im probably do some laboring in my bedroom but like pps said, I do want that room to stay mainly tidy for after the birth. But who knows, I may wind up birthing in my bed... I dont have any holdups about where Ill birth. Not pushing a waterbirth, just accepting my body will push where it wants to and feels most comfy.
Personally, I wouldnt give up the option of homebirthing just to get around a mess! You can always invite a "housemother" to attend your birth who can assist your dha nd midwives in cleaning up. No one is expecting you to get right out of the birth pool and start cleaning up the mess. You do pay these midwives for a reason!
1) I would set the pool up downstairs, and then go upstairs to your bedroom after.
2) I think that most midwives do more cleanup than what you described, so you could either look for another midwife group, or hire help. A doula could be helpful with cleanup as well as labor support!
3) None of these things would make me give up on a home birth. I wish I lived as close to a hospital as you!
when i had my homebirth with dd, i labored downstairs in the bathroom the entire time, then went upstairs to the bed when i was ready to push. it wasn't a big deal to walk up a flight of stairs between contractions.
the midwife's assistant did a lot of the cleanup, with dh's help. they told dh how to prepare the sheets for the washer and helped him clean up the bedroom. there was still plenty of clean-up left over for dh and my mom to do the next day, but again, it wasn't a big deal.
i had asked to keep the placenta, but it was late at night and i guess the mw's assistant got confused, because she threw it out in the trash. i don't see why you couldn't just do that if you don't want to keep it.
i thought homebirth was a lovely experience, so i would highly recommend it if you are leaning that way!
Honestly a home birth was easier than the hospital for me.
Especially if you get some help post birth from family/friends to help with some clean-up.
The biggest part (other than the birth itself) was making sure I had all the supplies available for my MW.
And the placenta part is not a big deal! Just keep it bagged well in the freezer until garbage day then throw it out.
I would so choose a home birth over hospital (I had one with DS) it's a much more calm & relaxing environment!