Home birth vs hospital for first born

4foxsake · January 2015

@CreechMommy As previous posters have stated, a cord around the neck is not a medical emergency. 1/3 of babies have their chords around their necks at birth and midwives are more than qualified to deal with this. You just stop pushing for a moment and doc/mw unwraps the chord. The only reason so many women think having a chord around the neck is dangerous is bc thats what their ob tells them when they've just performed a cs for not very good reasons. "Oh thank god we did this cs, cause the chord was around the neck". Its just not true. A knot in the chord can be an emergency, or a chord that is wrapped VERY tightly, but the truth about these situations is that no one realizes what is wrong until it is too late and you may lose the baby before it is born. If this happens it does not matter where you are, as evidenced by your statement that you know women whose babies died AT the hospital. However, in the super vast majority of cases, a chord around the neck, even a few times, is not a medical emergency. It is actually believed to be somewhat beneficial, since it can prevent chord prolapse. I know lots of women who had homebirths,chord around the neck, everyone is fine, not an eyelash was batted. There are always going to be stories of babies that died "because they were home" or because "they were in hospital", because freak accidents and crazy circumstances happen, but the truth is, statistically speaking, both places are generally safe.

Knottie73253386 · January 2015

Hi! I tried to have a home birth the 1st and ended in the hospital bc my baby was breeched. This time we're going to try the hospital. Hopefuy everything will be much faster. I was in labor for 12hrs because the midwife made a mistake not to check me until it was almost too late. Hopefully things go better this tidme around

CreechMommy · January 2015

@4foxsake So what about a home birth situation where a baby has a prolapse cord?

JHaworth84 · January 2015

@gotdiesel2007‌ - I can't comment on the situation in US having never even visited there never mind worked there but here in UK whilst long term NICU is provided in a tertiary centre all hospitals where babies are born have paediatric teams on call including an anaesthetist with paediatric training, full neonatal resuscitation facilities and the ability to provide NICU care until care is transferred to the retrieval team. Patient preference determines where we deliver as all care is free at point of delivery. Our country is greedy and does not value our wonderful NHS, it is slowly being privatised by our government. I'm sorry you are having to consider finances when making decisions about your healthcare x

4foxsake · January 2015

CreechMommy said:

@4foxsake So what about a home birth situation where a baby has a prolapse cord?

This rarely occurs in homebirths, because it is more common with breech babies, and most midwives dont delive breech at home. Sometimes a midwife is able to push the babies head up and move to chord out of the way, but the usual solution is immediate transfer to hospital, for an emergency cs. While waiting for an ambulance the midwife may have you get on all fours with your head lower than your butt, to remove pressure from the cervix. She may lift the babies head off of the chord, further removing pressure. This happens sometimes to women who were planning hospital births, but at home their water breaks and the chord slips out. If this happens to you at home, call 911 immediately.

4foxsake · January 2015

I'll also add that chord prolapse is far more common among babies with low-birth weight, transverse lie, that are breech, that are premature, that have excessive fluid volume, and that are multiples. Most of these babies would not be scheduled for homebirth. My homebirth midwife would risk out a woman with any of these factors. Chord prolapse is very serious, very scary, and very dangerous, and is a situation that is much better dealt with in hospital.

claudia3059 · January 2015

Infant mortality is 4x higher with home birth vs hospital birth. Here is a link to the most recent study by the center for disease control (CDC). This study was completed in 2014, the previously referenced study is from 1995. https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20140203/study-ties-home-births-to-higher-infant-death-rates

britlove101 · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:
hospitals will always be better prepared over a midwiexplain her bag of meds coming to a home birth. i find it sad that many of the more vocal ladies on here who have zero medical background offer up so much advice, dr google is not real life. so flame away, you are probably the same people who are choosing to not vaccinate...because after all medical intervention is the devil.

Ummm,
Home birth and vaccination are two different subjects. One doesn't have anything to do with the other. Also the devil is a very weird thing to bring up. Lol. So women having intervention free births at home are doing it because their crazy Christians?

I'll keep saying this because for some reason people don't realize birth is a human thing, not an American thing. We are one of the only countries who have women go to hospitals to give birth.

Think about this: why are Americans on average taking 4 prescription drugs a day? A rise that has occurred only in the last 20 years or so... who benefits? Prescription drug companies. Who benefits from hospital births? Well, hospitals, doctors, and uh prescription drug companies. Do women benefit? The evidence points to no, not really.

Maybe you'll have better peace of mind, but you're outcome is rarely going to be better. That's the facts, I honestly don't know why anyone would choose to go to a hospital if they didnt have to, after doing their own research about it. Other then them giving themselves a false sense of better control of their outcome.

4foxsake · January 2015

If you read the bottom of the article it talks about the flaws in this particular study, and why the data is probably wrong, and misleading. Most other studies on this subject say that the risk at home is 0.2 and the risk in hospital is 0.1. If you are afraid of that 0.1 inreased risk, then choose hospital if it makes you feel safer. What the statistics show for certain are that home you have a much lower risk of every intervention, so if you want an intervention free birth, the best way to get that is to not be in the hospital. https://www.bmj.com/content/330/7505/1416.abstract Homebirthers also have lower rates of hemorhage and infection.

claudia3059 said:

Infant mortality is 4x higher with home birth vs hospital birth. Here is a link to the most recent study by the center for disease control (CDC). This study was completed in 2014, the previously referenced study is from 1995. https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20140203/study-ties-home-births-to-higher-infant-death-rates

4foxsake · January 2015

@LukyDuky7‌ Right now, the only person you are making look bad, is yourself.

Mamamads · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:
hospitals will always be better prepared over a midwife with her bag of meds coming to a home birth. i find it sad that many of the more vocal ladies on here who have zero medical background offer up so much advice, dr google is not real life. so flame away, you are probably the same people who are choosing to not vaccinate...because after all medical intervention is the devil.

Most of the ladies on here seem pretty educated in regards to home births. The best you can do is give your advice/opinions as others give there's. Some people feel strongly about home births and it is after all THEIR lives and birth experiences.. Who are you to tell them what is right/wrong?

kladd7182 · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:
hospitals will always be better prepared over a midwife with her bag of meds coming to a home birth. i find it sad that many of the more vocal ladies on here who have zero medical background offer up so much advice, dr google is not real life. so flame away, you are probably the same people who are choosing to not vaccinate...because after all medical intervention is the devil.

You're comparing apples and oranges with home births and vaccinations. There are plenty of hospital birth moms that do not vaccinate. My best friend is one of them, we have different views on vaccines but I would never judge her for it.

Also, yes they are more vocal. They are the minority, and are also trying to educate people on home birth. I am pro hospital birth because: 1. I am a c-section mom 2. I was not educated on my options my first pregnancy.

Honestly, I envy women who have the choice. If I could have delivered my second at home, I would have. VBAC was not an option for me. Be open minded, and embrace everyone's birthing decisions. It does not make them any less of a mother than you are.

sschwege · January 2015

4foxsake said:

If you read the bottom of the article it talks about the flaws in this particular study, and why the data is probably wrong, and misleading. Most other studies on this subject say that the risk at home is 0.2 and the risk in hospital is 0.1. If you are afraid of that 0.1 inreased risk, then choose hospital if it makes you feel safer. What the statistics show for certain are that home you have a much lower risk of every intervention, so if you want an intervention free birth, the best way to get that is to not be in the hospital. https://www.bmj.com/content/330/7505/1416.abstract Homebirthers also have lower rates of hemorhage and infection.

claudia3059 said:

Infant mortality is 4x higher with home birth vs hospital birth. Here is a link to the most recent study by the center for disease control (CDC). This study was completed in 2014, the previously referenced study is from 1995. https://www.webmd.com/baby/news/20140203/study-ties-home-births-to-higher-infant-death-rates

Agreed, it's impossible to get an exact number because there are too many factors that can't be controlled for. The most accurate way to study it would be a randomized control and test group, but of course that would never happen. So they must analyze data after the fact, making it far less reliable.

Either way, whether you want to say HB and hospital birth are equally safe or that HB has an increased infant mortality rate of 2 or 3 times that of a hospital birth (which seems to be more in line with my research), the absolute risk is still extremely small. Making it a safe option provided certain criteria is met.

I liken it to flying with a lap child on an airplane. When we went to Ireland this past September, DS was under two, so we chose not to purchase a seat and fly with him on my lap. Now, the absolute safest option for him would have been to spend $1,000 on a seat for him and we did consider it. But when I read that a baby is still safer flying unrestrained in your lap than driving on a highway in a properly installed car seat, we decided in favor of saving the money. The absolute risk was still extremely small and we were comfortable with taking that very small chance.

sschwege · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:

hospitals will always be better prepared over a midwife with her bag of meds coming to a home birth. i find it sad that many of the more vocal ladies on here who have zero medical background offer up so much advice, dr google is not real life. so flame away, you are probably the same people who are choosing to not vaccinate...because after all medical intervention is the devil.

@LukyDuky7 I find this comment disgusting and this is coming from someone who is a hospital birther and whose children are fully vaccinated on time including the flu shot. I am fortunate that we have a wonderful low-intervention hospital close to home, if we did not I would have considered a HB for #2 & #3.

Here's the difference between vaccinations and pretty much any other parenting choice you will make for your child. Your choice whether to vaccinate affects everyone else, it is a social responsibility IMO and everyone who can be vaccinated should be! How you choose to feed your child, diaper your child, raise your child and birth your child doesn't affect me or my family.

Ha, if there's any doubt go over to the Natural Birth board and ask them their thoughts on vaccines...98% of those girls will tell you they fully vaccinate their children and do so without reservation. Throwing out mass generalizations about people speaks volumes as to your credibility on the subject matter.

4foxsake · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:

ok wow. until you have seen basically dead babies brought into you and have the parents crying to you to save their baby from a home birth gone bad i don't really think you all can jump on me so viciously. i hope this is never you, but none of these parents ever thought it would be them either.

No one viciously jumped on you. The women on this thread were having a rational and calm conversation until you waltzed in here madly, throwing around judgements and accusations, and and contributed no nothing constructive to the dialogue. Also, I don't believe your vague anectdotes, considering so few babies are transferred to hospitals after homebirth.

Mamamads · January 2015

Lets put it this way, if home births were sooooo flipping unsafe they would not be legal. If babies were dying all over the place from home births we would hear about it. So @LukyDuky7‌ if someone wants to take the small risk of something going wrong what is it to you? Seems you are being very judgmental.

britlove101 · January 2015

LukyDuky7 said:
ok wow. until you have seen basically dead babies brought into you and have the parents crying to you to save their baby from a home birth gone bad i don't really think you all can jump on me so viciously. i hope this is never you, but none of these parents ever thought it would be them either.

Oh my... keep you're horror stories to yourself. You cannot convince anyone that "dead babies" only come from home births... the hospital runs into the same issues, and it is NOT common. God, where do u work where you have soooo many "dead babies" coming in that you feel it's necessary to get on a board where people are saying they are having home births, and say things like "dead babies" due to home births. What the hell is wrong with you?!

I'm sorry but you're just wrong. Shhh...

LarahKT · January 2015

Watch the Business of Being Born. It's a documentary that poses this precise question and does a good job of laying out the upsides of home births and downsides of hospital births. You can find it on You Tube. I found it very helpful.

Bountifulbride · January 2015

My first three were in hospitals (the second two being completely unmedicated) and I had zero complications. My 4th was a home birth and there was zero complications and that is the plan for this baby as well. Do your research on both the hospital and their staff as well as a potential home birth midwife and make a decision not out of fear but realistic facts. Whatever you decide, I hope you have the birth experience you desire...every mama deserves that.

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