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Talkback: What does it mean when your baby's head is engaged?

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  • @Patrice- What a load of rubbish! Women were giving birth long before hospitals. Opinions like yours irritate me because they are misguided and misinform people who read them. I had my first child in hospital- the WORST experience of my life I can tell you. I ended up having a stressful 36hr labour, stuck in stirrups (at their insistence) for hours upon end (slowing down the labour), they bruised me so badly doing checks that when my doctor visited me at home told me was the worst he'd ever seen. I couldn't sit down for 6 WEEKS! Circumstance meant that when I had my second child, I had to look at other options. I'd never thought home birthing still happened so I was surprised when I read about it. It was NEVER an option that was offered to me by my midwife- I had to ask. I researched it well as I'd never want to risk myself or my unborn child for a 'hippy fad' and was stunned to find that SHOULD I need an emergency c-section (worst case scenario) the transfer time from home to theatre was LESS than if I were in hospital. My midwife explained this is because in hospital, I'd be scheduled in- from home it'd be blue light emergency.. So SHOULD anything go wrong, I would get treatment quicker from home! The midwives carry equipment for resuscitation etc, the same as hospitals and you have at least 2 midwives caring for you exclusively at all times- which is impossible to achieve in hospitals and IF there is the slightest hint that there is a problem, they send you to hospital........ My point is, home birthing is safe for anyone who has textbook pregnancies. It is something that should be encouraged more. My 2 births were worlds apart. I had my second child at home, a boy. He was a 2.5 hour stress free labour, only gas needed on my part, no stitches required, I was healed within a week and was the most magical experience of my life.. So much so, I'm now 39 weeks gone with baby number 3 and am fully intending to have another home birth.. Please don't use your ill-informed notions to put women off what is an amazing experience. I wouldn't wish my first birthing experience on anyone and as a result, hospital is the last place I feel is safe for myself or my baby. I'll be going there only if I have no other choice...
  • i had home birth with my first son and it was best thing i ever did and planning on with my 2nd yes i am about 5 minutes away from a hospital but been at home its my calm relaxing and you can get up get shower and relex in bed whilst midwifes seeig to your baby they dont question you or anything they let you do what you need to do and then stay with you for about half an hour and leave its much better than all stress of hospitals and all different nurses coming in you get 2 midwifes who stay with you at home
  • I am a female doctor. I have 4 children. Two were born at home. For my first baby, I tried the "safe" hospital birth, during which I was given a "muscle relaxer" which put me into a coma (Glasgow coma scale of 8) for several hours. I was given an unnecessary episiotomy for a 2 Kg baby. I was given a shot by nurses who snuck up behind me and stuck me without warning. Afterwards she told me the shot was to contract my uterus and make the placenta come out, but the placenta had already come out. I was given a pudendal nerve block without my consent by the very doctor who had promised me a natural childbirth.



    After these many betrayals of trust, I researched home birth, and learned that it is statistically SAFER for healthy, low-risk pregnancies to deliver at home compared to a hospital. The hospitals tend to make too many unnecessary interventions, which worsen the outcome. In my case, for example, I could have died from the coma.



    While many women choose home birth because of the sacred, intimate, peaceful experience they hope to have, that was only part of my decision to have home births. For me, I choose home birth because medically, it was safer.



    In the case of my fourth child, I opted to go to the hospital because it was medically necessary. I would have had that baby at home, if it had been possible. The second hospital birth was almost as bad as the first, as far as unnecessary interventions. I was given an epidural, when a pudendal block would have been sufficient. Because of the epidural, I was not able to push, and the baby had to be delivered with forceps and suction. The nurse tried to take the baby away from me, and we literally got in a tug of war over who got to hold the baby. I wanted to go home immediately after the birth, and had hired a nurse-midwife to be with me at home, but the hospital forced me to stay. They said they would write AMA (against medical advice) on my chart, and then my insurance would not pay. So I had to stay.



    Home birth is a viable option for healthy women having a low-risk pregnancy. Hospitals who think they are approaching a home birth by their birthing centers, but just being in a hospital is inviting medical intervention. Healthy women can give birth without medical interventions.
  • I would never approve this idea of giving birth at home .One should always deliver the baby in hospital. Giving birth to a baby is such a complicated process. One should never take risk .You never know what kind of emergency you have to face. At hospital you have all the facility available for both mother and the child.
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