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Thinking of a home birth but really not sure... can anyone put my mind at ease?
Hi ladies,
I have a 9 month old and am due with no. 2 in June (dd will be 14 months. i had an epidural last time which i had a bad reaction to causing me the most awful pain in my leg throughout (worse than the labour.) i dont want to be tempted to have the epidural again (i am still having pain from it now)
also I had a bed bath last time but really dont like having showers/baths in the hospital either.
However, I am really nervous about having a home birth. how does it differ? Who will be there?
Can anyone offer any advice or stories from experience? x
I have a 9 month old and am due with no. 2 in June (dd will be 14 months. i had an epidural last time which i had a bad reaction to causing me the most awful pain in my leg throughout (worse than the labour.) i dont want to be tempted to have the epidural again (i am still having pain from it now)
also I had a bed bath last time but really dont like having showers/baths in the hospital either.
However, I am really nervous about having a home birth. how does it differ? Who will be there?
Can anyone offer any advice or stories from experience? x
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Replies
I would say that having had a home birth the 2nd time around after hating my hospital delivery the first time around and I also had an epidural that I didn't really want but felt pressured into having.
To make the decision to have a home birth is a big one. It does take some courage to feel positive enough to stand by your conviction to go ahead. Always trust yourself if you are considering it then I would certainly try and go forward with it.
In terms of differing, things like pain relief are certainly more restricted, normally your midwife will be bringing 2 bottles of gas and air but more can be brought if necessary. In my county thats all we have available at home, I know others who have gotten prescriptions for pethedine or similar.
Normally you will have to call your hospital and tell them you are in labour and that you are booked for a home birth, they will then arrange for the oncall midwife to call you back to establish whether they need to come immediately or whether they have some time.
Upon there arrival they will assess you either by just watching what is happening but in most cases they will do an internal to establish whether you are dilating and also how far along you are. The same really as they do in hospital. Depending on where things are your midwife may need to call for the second midwife to attend if she thinks the birth is relatively imminent.
I found the whole experience completely relaxing the level of pain to me felt no where near as great as when I was in hospital and I strongly believe alot of this was down to not having the anxiety that I had when I was in hospital.
Once the baby was born, all the usual checks were done, then I had a bath in my own bath with the midwife just checking in on me every so often to make sure I was ok but nothing more intrusive than that. I then got out, dried with a little help from the midwife as I was a bit shakey, then into my own bed which was amazing drinking my own tea and my own food.
I hope this helps you with your decision if you can get through my waffle!!!
Good luck with your decision
xx
I love being at home while in labour it is much more relaxing then after being left with you hubby, DD and new baby in your own home is heaven.
for more info look at www.homebirth.org
Ive just had my second home birth on saturday and my son is 14months. After having such a wonderful home birth first time round there was no way I could have considered going to hospital this time round. Everything was so calm and they way I wanted it to be with DS, and I could have whoever I wanted there with me. There was no need for drugs of any kind, I just used hypnobirthing and water (I actually used our big bath as our mw said there wasnt enough time to fill the pool which I debate!) This time round - and with even less time with a labour of only 1 hr!! - I ensured that the pool was filled immediately and it was SOOOOOO WONDERFUL (even though I only had 2 mins left of labour but enough to deliver DD's head and then her body
I understand you not wanting to go for an epidural again. I dont react well to anaesthetic either, which is just one reason for me to wanting to go there. As the girls have said, g&a is available to you by the mw's but if you were interested in considering a water birth then IMO you wouldnt even need it as the water is such great pain relief. If you go with hospital mws then you would need to get your own pool sorted out. If you chose to hire independent mw's then they should be able to supply a pool for you.
For me, I would say the difference between a hospital birth and a home birth is that you have more control over what YOU want with a home birth as your wishes are more respected. You can also choose to have whoever you want there and you arent restricted by hospital policies. It also is certainly more convenient when you have a 14mo to consider! But going into labour during the night when DD is asleep is most ideal
Especially after my recent experience, I would say to bare in mind the length of your first labour. The second is likely to be shorter, and moreso if you are at home as you are more relaxed and you dont interrupt things with a transfer to hospital. Mine was a LOT shorter (1hr down from 6.5hrs the first time!!) and this took us by surprise as I was expecting at least 4 or 5hrs. If we hadnt opted for a homebirth this time I would most certainly have had to deliver in the car, not ideal IMO!
Ive just posted my birth story for DD so you can have a read if you like. Please dont be scared off by the fact that DH and I ended up delivering her on our own due to the speed of it all! Here is a link to my first HB as well:
http://www.babyexpert.com/community/forums/thread/1150327
There is nothing like being in your own environment to welcome a new addition to your family. If you do decide to go down this route, know that many will be against your decision, but the decision is yours. It's about what is best for you and your baby and getting the birth experience you want. If your pregnancy has no risks or complications, i couldnt recommend a better entry to the world!
Good luck with your decision.
I hyperventilate when in pain which is why gas an air didnt work last time (i have managed to slow my breathing down though last time i had kidney stones and managed to get the G&A working
Also I had a bath at home when i labour last time and we dont have a very big bath and found it very uncomfortbale when a contraction came along as i couldnt really move when sitting up/slouching down. Not sure how that would compare to a water birth.
My mum is very supportive with a home birth and my mw was trying to convince me to have it from day 1 lol. my dh on the other hand is sceptical as i think he likes the security of the hospital x
i really want this baby at home, but im worried about what happens during labour etc. im seeing my mw on thursday so i think i need to talk her about it all.
reading your experiences does make it sound amazing!!
getting into my own bath and bed afterwards sounds perfect and having hubby with me the whole time too.
xxx
really dont want to go to hspital but worried that i am too much of a wimp to cope with the pain at home and that the mw's will just get angry with me x
He was a planned home birth i was reffered to a community MW from 28wks and she cisited me at home for the rest of my pregnancy. we hired a birthing pool from a great company and you can put it up wks before the birth as i had heard so many stories about njot having enough time to fill the pool.
I was really nervous about having a home birth and was convinced that i was going to be the one who said take me to hospital for some pain reliefe as at home you can only have gas and air, water and i used a tens machine (which was fantastic, weird but fantastic) I also downloaded a hypno birthing cd from online for free. they say that you should listen to it about 3-6mths beofre you give birth i listened to it for about a week before but i have to admit it really did help and im not even into all that stuff.
my labour was quite fast and my MW didnt make it in time my husband nearly delivered him with a guy over the phone telling him what to do but luckily the ambulance drivers turned up and they werte fab and got me into our birthing pool and i had a fantastic birth.
I am someone who can not stand pain but the tens machine then the hypno birthing technique, and then the birthing pool was all i needed.
My DD was asleep in her room and my DH and best friend were with me and about an hour after i had family come to visit, it was amaing.
I am pregnant with no3 and the first thing my DH said was birthing pool at home and he was dead against it when i first suggested it.
Just remember when your at home you always have the option of being transfered to hospital. good luck and i hope this has helped x
i got a tens machine with dd1 but never used it so will try again this time i think. Where did you hire the pool from and for how much? Where did you get the hypnobirthing cd from?
i am usually not into that stuff either but will give anything a go lol x
http://www.birthworks.co.uk/hexagonal-birth-pool.php
We payed for the 4-5wk period but in the end i had my DS 3days after we put it up it was great.
There is an option of having them come and set it up for you. also for them to clean it after your done. but my DH was okay with doing it himself to save money. we went for the gold package with the water heater.
with the hypno birthing i think i just googled free hypno birthing downloads and found one. if you want you can personal message me your email and i can see if i can send it to you as i have just found my cd.
Hope all of that helps. and good luck xx