Simple. Dont risk it.
I really agree with this. How would your wife ever forgive herself if something went wrong and help was delayed because you were at home.
Homebirths are very trendy right now, but not worth risking your baby for imo.
Chat Forum
Homebirth - Recent report
-
Posted 6 months ago #
-
Well, reporting back after the midwife chat. Change of plan and we're now ruling out the Homebirth. The midwife could only do her duty and that is to give us the information and leave us to make the decision and the stat's are firmly lodged in my wife's head, so safety first and we'll go in to Hospital and hope for the best!! Thanks again for your comments, positive and negative, they have helped, but ultimately as many of you have suggested, we have to do what's best and try and relieve the pressure on what has become a very stressful end of pregnancy! We packed the bag together last night, which helped and I now need to reassure my wife that she will be perfect through the process and that we are doing the right thing! I know birthplans can go out the window and a lot of it will be "seat of the pants", but Mrs JJ will not want to hear that incase it's seen as a negative comment. Positivity is what's now required, anyone know where it's sold?!!!
Posted 5 months ago # -
If she doesn't want to hear it, just tell her it will all be great and be positive!!
Tips for labour.
Do as you're told
Try not to look freaked out, be calm.
Do as you're told
Don't tell her it can't possibly hurt as much as she thinks (it does)
If she says she wants an epidural don't argue with her
Do as you're told
Don't pop out to get your book at the crucial moment (as done by my friend, admittedly second birth arrived rather more quickly than expected)
Don't cry when the baby arrives. (only joking - you will)Oh and try and avoid being induced with the drip thing if at all possible.
Posted 5 months ago # -
My mate's girlfriend died as a result of a homebirth, so perhaps I'm biased, but the way I see it, you have a choice between providing proper medical supervision and care for your family, or not providing it.
Whatever notional benefits you might think a homebirth has, they don't even come close to outweighing the negatives.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Homebirths are very trendy right now, but not worth risking your baby for imo.
Recent experience shows this isn't the case - the midwifes said they only have about 5% of their business as home births .. saw a survey in the Guardian that was roughly the same. They were of the opinion it was being actively discouraged in our area.
My experience
1. Hospital - 1st child, we were somewhat nervous
- but not a terribly pleasant experience on reflection.2. Birthing center - very relaxed and all round a good experience for all involved.
3. Homebirth - there were no complications with the first two, and Mrs b had delivered with just gas and air and crushing my wrist. So we wnet for a homebirth as it was what she wanted and we saw no significant risk - this lark has been going on for some time you know.
As it turned out, there is no way we would have got to hospital in time, and luckily 2 midwives were just finishing up around 5 miles away, else I'd have been delivering it. Aside from that, no drama, and the best experience all round. Ruined the mattress though
ou have a choice between providing proper medical supervision and care for your family, or not providing it.
Whilst I see your point, the midwives ARE proper medical supervision. We got better care at home than in hospital. But if there were any hint of issues we'd have been booked in to the hospital.
Posted 5 months ago # -
brassneck - Member
Whilst I see your point, the midwives ARE proper medical supervision. We got better care at home than in hospital. But if there were any hint of issues we'd have been booked in to the hospital.
Not criticising midwives in any way, but if something goes seriously wrong, they're not surgeons, there's no operating theatre, there's nobody else. My friend's wife died from loss of blood, possibly similar to what the chap further up the thread encountered, but thankfully he/they had an operating theatre nearby to help them, my friend's girlfriend didn't.
Now, you can argue that it's highly unlikely that any of that stuff would be needed, and I would agree with you, but there's still that chance.
Whether you're happy to take that chance on the life of a child/wife/girlfriend or not is entirely up to you, but it's not a chance I'd take, however small the risk.
Posted 5 months ago # -
My experience is zilch, had both of ours via emergency c section on a Sunday night, both at 7.04pm, on the same table, with similar teams just 16 months apart. I like it when the universe does stuff like that
Anyway, two mates of mine have 3 kids each, all born at home with absolutely no problems whatsoever. I do remember that for the first one, they both had an ambulance outside in case, but I don't know if that's policy or just a local thing.
Another friend had the worst possible outcome, 15 minutes away was too far.
My advice would be to be as careful as you possibly can, listen to your mid wives and other professionals and think beyond the birth. IMO the most important thing is to get them out safely, end of.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Its not as simple as that honourablegeorge. there are known, documented and proven downsides to hospital births as well.
any indication of anything other than a simple straightforward birth then hospitals are best. No contraindications to home birth - its a matter of preference and a balance of risks and benefits
Posted 5 months ago # -
From my experience the correct and only choice.
Good luck! Being a daddy is the greatest thing in the world. There is no point risking it , your wife, your child and your own life! for somthing that you dont have to do.
Hope it goes well for you.
Posted 5 months ago # -
Mrs trb is a nurse, so her birth plan read something like "You let any Doctors near me and you die, no, first I'll divorce you and then you'll die"
So we had both of ours at a Midwife lead unit (which was still 20 minutes away from the hospital under blue lights). A very pleasent experience, mrs trb stayed in for a couple of nights with no 1 which was her choice, No 2 we rolled in at 5pm and were home for a cuppa by 11:30pm. Not hugely different from a home birth but she had the moral support of a couple other new mums and there was less cleaning.
My sister had one of hers at home, someone forgot to send the adaptor to connect the gas & air, so she had a drug free birth - which sounds lovely in the NCT class, not sure she appreciated it at the time though.
Posted 5 months ago # -
TandemJeremy - Member
Its not as simple as that honourablegeorge. there are known, documented and proven downsides to hospital births as well.any indication of anything other than a simple straightforward birth then hospitals are best. No contraindications to home birth - its a matter of preference and a balance of risks and benefits
What kind of downsides are you talking about, TJ?
Posted 5 months ago # -
Me and the missus are due in 8 weeks
Boy are you in for a shock when you realise where the baby comes from. (Clue - did you notice that your missus got really big round the belly area?)
Anyway, on a more constructive note, some info about home birth in Holland where it is more normal than in the UK
Posted 5 months ago # -
The point I am making is that waving around that 45% stat' is meaningless with out further research. Unless you know why labour was moved and how many of those were due to complications in the labour its unhelpful to people thinking about a home birth. It does make a good news headline I suppose.
it doesn't really matter what the cause of the 45% stat is (if it is true I don't recal reading it in the BMJ article but it might have been in a table that I glossed over): I can assure you that following an ambulance with your wife in labour with the birth plan thrown out the window is not a pleasant experience for anyone (even more so when it pulls onto the hard shoulder and stops... ...what do you do?). I have personal experience of that (it was hospital-hospital transfer not home birth) and if nearly 1/2 of planned first time home births do end up that way then its probably worth asking if you want an "OK" experience in a hospital from the start or a toss of a coin that it starts nice but ends up with a scary bit in the middle. When a midwife tells you she needs to take your wife to hospital midway through you probably aren't going to talk her round that the kitchen floor is a better plan!Drac's experience is similar to mine. Monitors don't need to 'tie patients to beds'. Existing medical history meant Mrs P was monitored throughout with 1st birth, but encouraged to move around with the monitor on - there was even a wireless monitor. 2nd birth was rather less smooth but monitoring didn't restrict movement then either - medical complications did, and whilst you could argue it initiated a C-section, I'd rather have had that and the effective resus and week in Neonatal ITU that means I have an amazing daughter today than the alternative.
Despite two "medical" births that couldn't have been done at home, I don't feel the need to tell others that home births are bad. We knew before Mrs P got preagnant that it would never be an option. If we had been an easy case it might have been considered.
Posted 5 months ago # -
honourable george
incase you missed docrobsters link on the NHS thread
http://www.nhs.uk/news/2010/July07/Pages/hospital-births-home-births-compared.aspx
Its useful to read the entire thing but this is a couple of key findings
It is also important to note that there was no increased risk of neonatal death with home birth compared to hospital birth once the analyses excluded those studies of home births attended by people other than certified midwives. That is to say, when the home birth was assisted by a certified midwife, there was no increase in mortality compared to a hospital birth.
Planned home births were associated with fewer maternal interventions, including epidural analgesia, electronic foetal heart rate monitoring, operative delivery and episiotomy (an incision to widen the vagina). In terms of maternal outcomes, mothers who had home deliveries had fewer infections, vaginal and perineal tears, haemorrhages, and retained placentas (no difference in the rate of umbilical cord prolapsed).
Its definitely an area for informed consent - you get the information and yo make your own mind up. This obviously only applies if there is no reason to suspect anything but a straightforward delivery
Posted 5 months ago #
Reply
You must log in to post.
