Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though baby and I had no risk factors, my third would be dead if I had him at home. Don’t.

This is absolutely ridiculous and just the kind of histrionics I'd expect on this board. You have no idea what the issues were with her 3rd or if she really even needed medical intervention. Do you see how many women here claim they needed an "emergency cesarean", yet they weren't placed under general anesthesia? Here's a newsflash, that's called an unplanned cesarean, almost always done unnecessarily.

I've had a free standing birth center birth, homebirth and I'm planning another homebirth. I'm a big advocate for birthing at home.

I will say, it's not for the faint of heart. I doubt many of my friends have the pain tolerance to handle it. They'd likely demand a hospital transfer after a few mins of transition. I do believe it's almost always healthier for the baby and mother to deliver in the home environment. Also brings baby into a calm and loving environment, that's a much better way to be welcomed onto the earth side.

"Almost always done unnecessary" - please site your source.

This is anecdotal but a friend of mine nearly died along with her baby, giving birth to her first at home. She is incredibly fit and healthy, no family history of complications, had a great smooth pregnancy during which she ran and did yoga every day.

She had to be rushed to the hospital for an emergency C-section. The baby was stuck behind a bone in her pelvis and never would have made it out without intervention.

Both home births and hospital births have risks. Stop trying to convince others that one is clearly superior in every aspect than the other. It’s not, they both have pros and cons that are hard to put a value to.

For me the main difference is that for a hospital birth you don’t need to think or prepare for how you’ll deal with every possible complication since there’s already a protocol in place. For a home birth you need to set up those protocols with your midwife and be sure you’re comfortable with the risks for you and your baby.

I’m a FTM and I’m going with midwives in a hospital since that’s the level of risk we feel more comfortable with as a family. We’ll see next time.

Anonymous wrote:Another mom of 2 here via home-birth. My own mom delivered my brother and I at home. She still waxes poetic about it. My mom was present at both my home-births. It was wonderful. DH, mom, midwife, and mid-wife in training. I was so beautifully taken care of I loved every (painful!) minute of my kids' births. I was 31 with my first and 36 with my second.

Glad you were lucky.

Another mom of 2 here via home-birth. My own mom delivered my brother and I at home. She still waxes poetic about it. My mom was present at both my home-births. It was wonderful. DH, mom, midwife, and mid-wife in training. I was so beautifully taken care of I loved every (painful!) minute of my kids' births. I was 31 with my first and 36 with my second.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though baby and I had no risk factors, my third would be dead if I had him at home. Don’t.

This is absolutely ridiculous and just the kind of histrionics I'd expect on this board. You have no idea what the issues were with her 3rd or if she really even needed medical intervention. Do you see how many women here claim they needed an "emergency cesarean", yet they weren't placed under general anesthesia? Here's a newsflash, that's called an unplanned cesarean, almost always done unnecessarily.

I've had a free standing birth center birth, homebirth and I'm planning another homebirth. I'm a big advocate for birthing at home.

I will say, it's not for the faint of heart. I doubt many of my friends have the pain tolerance to handle it. They'd likely demand a hospital transfer after a few mins of transition. I do believe it's almost always healthier for the baby and mother to deliver in the home environment. Also brings baby into a calm and loving environment, that's a much better way to be welcomed onto the earth side.

The ignorance in this post is astounding. What about moms who have medical
Conditions that require hospital birth? What about a wanted epidural? A needed blood transfusion? A planned Cesarean for mom with a heart condition who can’t deliver vaginally? The mom who develops severe hypertension in her final weeks of pregnancy? Would it “almost always be better“ for these moms and babies to deliver at home?

The idea of “unnecessary” C sections implies in hindsight that the delivery mode was improper, unwanted, or unwarranted. However, unless
You have a crystal ball you have no way of knowing how the birth could have gone. So the speculation is ridiculous and the judgement completely unwarranted and inappropriate.

You clearly think you are a better mom for having delivered at home for your pain tolerance. Guess what? No one gets a medal for giving birth. You clearly don’t support free choice for all women and your own biases are clearly demonstrated by the ignorance of your perspective.

I have had 2 uncomplicated births.

1st I hemorrhaged out

2nd my baby was born lifeless. Apgar score of 2. They revived her successfully but the blood tests that came back at 10 min suggested she needed immediate interventions. Very happy I delivered at Fairfax Inova even if it was during a pandemic.

Anonymous wrote:It seems to me the type of person who would consider a home birth -- especially those who would be outspoken about it -- would also be the same person to have extreme anxiety about COVID and see threats everywhere around the virus.

In order to reconcile these two things, you have to acknowledge that this person has a very poor ability to judge risk.

Agreed.

It seems to me the type of person who would consider a home birth -- especially those who would be outspoken about it -- would also be the same person to have extreme anxiety about COVID and see threats everywhere around the virus.

In order to reconcile these two things, you have to acknowledge that this person has a very poor ability to judge risk.

Anonymous wrote:I had an accidental home birth. Delivered at home and then we were taken to the hospital. Despite being scared at the time, my memories of giving birth are amazing and I felt so empowered and had a paramedic who was an absolute rock star. Plus I got delayed cord clamping, immediate skiN to skin, golden hour. I was the first person to hold my baby and the first thing she heard was my voice. Postpartum at the hospital was exhausting and obnoxious. I totally get why people plan home births!

I will say it is riskier for a first birth. There is more that can go wrong. I would want to live near a hospital, a highly experienced birth team, and a rock solid transfer plan I.e the moment something is in doubt you head for the hospital.

I also had an accidental home birth. Baby was born purple and was barely breathing. The 10 minutes until the EMTs arrived were the longest of my life. (She’s completely fine now).

OP, I think it depends on if you are a low risk candidate, have competent and highly experienced midwives, and are prepared to accept the consequences of whatever risks there are.

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Don’t do it

Too much risk

Why chance it ?

Why not educate yourself? There's very little risk involved with a homebirth, they will calculate your risk and determine if you're a candidate. You're far more likely to pick up sepsis in the hospital than have a problem with your homebirth.

Hello, made up statistic! (a/k/a lie)

Risk of maternal sepsis - 4%

Risk of needing a transfer to the hospital during home birth: 10-37%

Both of my kids were born vaginally but both came out limp and blue and not breathing. They each had a full NICU team waiting. Both are fine because of my medical team. I would never ever feel comfortable with a home birth after my experiences.

My first got stuck on my hooked tailbone (an issue never previously identfied), which had to broken and she needed a vaccum assist to get over the broken bone. Totally unexpected. Very painful and scary as her heart rate started dropping while they tried to solve the mystery of why she was stuck in the birth canal. She was crowning when the issue arose--not at good time for a hospital transfer.

My second was larger than her ultrasounds predicted. Shoulder dydystocia-i.e., she got stuck after her head had come out. Very, very dangerous and very scary. A midwife might have been able to get her out, but in the hospital I had 6 people assisting. Some pushing on my stomach. Some getting things for the doctor. There is no way a single midwife (or even two) would have been as efficient and every second counts as the baby is being suffocated. I am enormously glad for the NICU team who immediately treated my limp, blue, not breathing baby when she came out.

OP has never come back to answer questions about her risk factors and I get a strong impression she's FTM. This is a terrible idea.

I had my first (and only) at home with 3 midwives. The laboring with no pain relief was intense, no doubt. My midwives had the experience to suggest some different positions that helped him come out when it was time to push. DH caught him and we immediately had skin to skin and he nursed right away.

If I were going to do it again I'd probably go with a birth center connected to a hospital and ask a lot of pointed questions about hospital policies (do they have intermittent or remote monitoring that allows me to move freely? How long do they allow mothers to labor before administering pitocin? If GBS positive, how do they handle antibiotics during labor? Will there be strangers in and out of the room to check on me or will I have dedicated support throughout the entire birthing process? Etc.)

Anonymous wrote:

Anonymous wrote:Even though baby and I had no risk factors, my third would be dead if I had him at home. Don’t.

This is me exactly... only I'd be dead, baby probably would have made it.

Look at Kara Keough’s recent tragedy.