I really want a homebirth but......

moonandstars-88968 · Jul 22, 2010 4:21PM

I've started to get concerned about what sort of back up they bring with them for if things (God forbid) go wrong. Like, what if baby needs resuscitating after birth? Or what if I start bleeding and they can't stop it?

So, do the midwives bring medical equipment with them (other than birthing stuff obviously!)? Any advice gratefully appreciated!!

Thanks xxxx

michelle07-79314 · Jul 14, 2010 3:26PM

You would need to ask your midwife what they bring with them but the will have emergency equipment that they will bring to use while waiting for an ambulance (god forbid)

gem1 · Jul 14, 2010 4:11PM

I have had a home birth and asked these questions, basically they don't have any resusitation equipment with them however they are trained on how to manually resusitate for long enough until an ambulance can be scrambled. Again if you were to start to bleed excessively then all they can do is use the injection for passing the placenta and again call an ambulance. Be assured that they watch all these things very closely on a home birth. Your midwife should cover these things with thoroughly if you wish to go ahead. On a positive note I had a homebirth with my 2nd child and it was absolutely brilliant experience and I am intending with my 3rd labour to go for another homebirth.
Good Luck xx

born_in_a_barn · Jul 14, 2010 4:54PM

I had a homebirth with my first, and he didn't breath on his own, so needed to be resuscitated. There was meconium in my water, and apparently this was likely to have contributed.

The midwives had asked me before I went into labour to set up a resus area at home. This was basically a changing mat on top of our dressing table, with a towel on top, a lamp, and a pile of hand towels.

When he was born, I held him for a moment, and then they realised that he wasn't going to breath on his own. They cut the cord really quickly (my husband was going to do this), took him across the room to the resus area, rubbed him quite vigorously with a towel, and used a bag and mask to help him to breath. He then started to breath on his own. If necessary, they could have continued with the bag and mask until an ambulance arrived and we got to the hospital (and I understand that this is what they would do in hospital to start with anyway).

The midwives left after about an hour when they could see that all was well, and the emergency doctor arrived at the house shortly afterwards to check him over. Everything was dealt with perfectly well at home, and we didn't need to go to hospital.

After our experience, I have no concerns about the midwives ability to deal with anything at home, and am planning my 2nd homebirth this December. Obviously, I don't have any experience of the bleeding, but I'm confident that they would deal with this just as well if necessary.

xx

moonandstars-88968 · Jul 15, 2010 5:25AM

Thanks for the advice!

Born in a barn that was a very reassuring story, so glad everything turned out okay for you. I found the homebirth.org site yesterday too and they talk alot about what would happen if I were to bleed after birth - from what they say it looks like they would do exactly what they would do in hospital, as well as calling out an ambulance. I have my 28 week mw appointment in a couple of weeks so am going to ambush her and ask all my questions. I know they come to your home to discuss homebirth at about 34 weeks ish, but I don't want to wait until then, I want to know now!! After all knowledge is power!

fairythalia · Jul 22, 2010 8:03AM

Hi M&S

Although it's early days for me, I'm opting for a HB as this is something I've always wanted ever since I had my last baby 10 years ago!

Obviously as ladies who have experienced loss you feel extra anxious about the back up available for baby should he/she need help, but the thing that put safety into perspective for me was when I was looking at birthing centres and discovered that in the case of emergency they would transfer me to the nearest hospital which is 17 miles away from the birth centre. At home, I am 10 miles away from the nearest hospital so that reassured me; I am actually nearer to hospital at home than the local birthing centre is!! Also a neighbour called an ambulance recently and they were here in less than ten minutes which also made me feel better! And chances are, everything will be absolutely fine and we won't need to go to hospital at all anyway! xxx

moonandstars-88968 · Jul 22, 2010 4:21PM

Hi Fairy

Yeah, I think cos of my previous pregnancy I am just that little bit more skittish about stuff. Although I know that the vast vast majority of babies born anywhere are born perfectly fine, I am still full of but what if's. That's why I want as much information as possible so that I can make an informed choice.

On the getting to hospital front, we live really very close - in fact the ambulance would have just one long road to drive down. And I know from anecdotal evidence (ie my MIL gossiping) that at the first sign of complications the mw is on the phone ordering the ambulance.

I've started a homebirth topic in pregnancy - come and join in!

I really want a homebirth but......

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