Home Delivery

Quite agree with you about home births, Mishap. I've never seen the point, in spite of my mother having been delighted to have 3 of her 4 at home. I was happy to be in hospital for all mine even though they were all easy labours. Apart from any consideration of being within easy reach of emergency help, if required, you don't have to bleed on your own sheets!

I was delivered at home - by forceps. Mine and all my GC were born in hospital, some of them very short-stay, but safely.

I had my first child in hospital and my second and third at home in the 1980's. in those cases I was very close to a hospital in case anything went wrong. Both were wonderful experiences, particularly my second birth when I had a lovely midwife who had provided all my antenatal care. I think there is still a place for home births as long as sensible precautions are taken.

Both of my sons were born by emergency section due to obstructed labour, first had gone into transverse lie during labour, second got his head jammed into my pelvis.
I hate to think what would have happened if I had been at home.

My first (1970) was a straightforward, in a lovely local maternity unit, so I was offered the option of home for my second (1972). Actually in my parents house as husband away at sea. It was an easy delivery, and did make for a lovely cosy experience. I can recall my mother (retired nurse) and the midwife sitting at the end of the bed as I worked hard, discussing an article they had found in a magazine about the menopause! They did break off this rivetting discussion in time to deliver my son!

All done and dusted in three hours, and everyone back in bed and asleep by 4am.

My first labour, in 1970, was less than 2 hours in length, so 19 months later I decided on a home birth. This labour lasted for 24 hours but was hardly painful. I remember cooking the usual Sunday roast then pottering around the house for the rest of the day, being visited a couple of times by the local dragon midwife. Even in the final stages, during the night, I needed no pain relief. The GP came and stitched me up then it was back to normal life the next day. DD1 awoke to find her new sister had brought her a toy piano (mistake!!) and it was a wonderful relaxing experience.
However, if either DD had decided on a home birth I would have been worried sick. I think all the TV programmes emphasise the possible difficulties which could arise, and I was probably rather naive when younger.

Yes - I am sure a home delivery can be a wonderful experience if all goes well, but it is very hard to predict those that will go well and those that won't.

I felt very sorry for the woman on this programme, delivering her first baby at home - baby failed to breathe and there was a big rush to get her to hospital - I would have been pretty scared in that situation.

I always think it is worth remembering that a hospital birth can also be a wonderful experience. The assumption that this is not the case is not very helpful for young Mums really.

A toy piano shysal?! - with a new baby around?! - as you say, not a great choice!

I had my first two in hospital, due to living in an old cottage, no hot water, outside shared toilet across the yard, then number three was going to be born at home as we`d moved into a brand new house with all mod cons, but at the last minute they decided to send me to hospital as I was so anaemic I needed a blood transfusion before the birth. That was over 46 years ago, and I STILL haven`t had the transfusion! Babies four and five were both born at home, which, as far as I was concerned, was far better than hospital, but I was lucky that nothing was wrong and it all went swimmingly.

I had my middle child at home. It was one of the best experiences of my life.

I agree with you Mishap. DD delivered her first in hospital but had a desperately rapid labour with continuous contractions. DGS was becoming distressed as there was no "recovery time" between contractions and they did a forceps delivery. Thank God for intervention.

DD was 3cm when she was told to go in and delivered after 3hrs.

I had two C sections, when it was discovered at 38 weeks DS's head was nowhere near engaged and my pelvis was the wrong shape. No question of anything else with DD.

At the time the feminist movement was heavily in favour of woman giving birth naturally and considered that men were taking this possibilty away from women. With all this propaganda I did at the time feel rather guilty about this "failure."

I can't help thinking that risking a possible complicated vaginal delivery out of principle is unfair to the child.
I would never have considered a home birth for a first child.

Interesting research that shows the comparative risks of home births and other births in different medical settings

www.nhs.uk/news/2011/11November/Pages/hospital-births-home-births-compared.aspx

Thanks for that link - it was interesting to note that 45% of first pregnancies planned to deliver at home finished up in hospital; but for subsequent low risk pregnancies home biorth seems to be also low risk.

I think it is important that hospital delivery is not seen as the big bad ogre and to be avoided at all costs. My experience of maternity unit midwives is that they work very hard and bend over backwards to make the birth as good an experience as is possible.

I agree with you there Mishap, it's obviously a long time since I gave birth but my first (hospital) birth was a very good experience despite some unforeseen complications. My decision to have two subsequent home births was really driven by having a very good friend who was a founder member of the 'Association of Radical Midwives' (I wonder do they still exist?) and who gave me the confidence to believe I could do it at home. She did not deliver either of my babies but gave me lots of advice and support.

My daughter had quite a good experience in hospital, although I have to say that the first, old school midwife who was there for the first part of her labour was far superior to the younger one who took over and who was preoccupied with completing paperwork even when my daughter became very distressed and exhausted after a long labour. It seems that midwifery is yet another profession that has become dominated by documentation.

I used to be an NCT teacher. Been at a number of home births and also had one myself. It was a good experience - went to bed as normal and baby arrived before 6am. (35 years ago this week). However did have a secondary haemorrhage 10 days later because midwife had not spotted that there was a broken vessel on the side of the placenta - it had a little bud off the side, which had not come away.
I have some concerns
1. don't try it with a first baby.
2. don't try it against medical advice
3. there is not the backup system now that there used to be - the obstetric flying squad was an established feature in the days of "call the midwife"
5. community midwives may lack practice these days
4. there is a shortage of midwives. Not sure that the NHS can afford the luxury of servicing home births as a "right".

I would have liked a home birth with my last two children, but because of my great age (36/38!! ) and that they were my 5th and 6th pregnancies (3rd baby died in utero ) I was told that I was too high a risk. After some negotiation we agreed that I would have 'Domino' care; i.e all ante-natal treatment at home and my midwife would accompany to hospital and deliver baby and I would then be discharged appx 6 hours after birth.
This worked brilliantly both times; I enjoyed the continuity of care, and the midwife was reassured that if complications arose or I changed my mind about anaesthesia (didn't want any - didn't have any) help would be at hand.

Yes - agree with all your provisos Jess.

When my OH was a young GP he did all the maternity care for his practice and he would not do home deliveries because he said that young GPs and midwives had insufficient experience of them to make them safe. And that was a few years ago - I imagine that little has chamged.

Yes I had Domino care also, it was great. I was an "senile gravida!" first Mum - aged 35 - and I had the midwife and her trainee assistant visiting me beforehand, and then at the birth, at the lovely local Maternity Hospital, which has since closed and is now part of the general hospital in Colchester. We built up a good relationship and I trusted them and was happy to know they would be with me at the birth, and for antenatal visits.

For the trainee I was to be her first birth, (with the midwife on hand too) and she only just got there in time, as things moved quickly. If everyone could still have Domino, I think hospital births are safer and preferable. You really never know what may suddenly go wrong.

However, I don't think Domino is available now. I have heard stories of people being left alone for ages, frightened and no continuity of care. I suppose this is the type of experience which makes people want to have a home birth. Things move on but not always in a good way.

I picked up a magazine the other day and there was an article about "was it a good idea to have my children when i was so young?". She was 26 when she had her first. Young? Apparently she thought the norm was mid 30s. Which I suppose it is in todays middle class women.