by admin
Home births: wonderful or irresponsible?
September 2, 2010 in Expert novice by admin
Home births: wonderful or irresponsible?
Having had her first child at hospital, MTM&TB is considering a homebirth second time around and conveyed her distrust in recent US research claims that home births carry three times the risk of infant death than those in hospital. Response to the post, both on Family Vie and the author’s own website, has been predominantly in support of home births, with many readers sharing their own positive experiences and encouraging MTM&TB to fulfil her wish to birth in her own, familiar environment.
As an expectant first-time mother who is planning a home birth myself, I read MTM&TB’s post with vested interest and was bolstered by the general good feeling the majority felt about a woman’s right to choose where she labours. On reading the Guardian article that inspired MTM&TB’s post, however, confidence in my decision dwindled. For while the article itself focused on UK midwives’ belief that ‘there is a concerted and calculated global attack and backlash against home birth’, the comments that followed mostly seemed to suggest any attack and backlash was justified.
A far cry from the MTM&TB’s readers who described their home birth experiences as “beautiful” and “lovely” – exactly the kind of words I want to hear – commonly repeated terms among those who took the time to comment on the Guardian were “crackers”, “unsafe” and “selfish” (or something similar). Clearly, these aren’t quite so reassuring, though perhaps I should have stopped reading when I reached chriscostello’s thoughts -
“you can have your child in a big building full of doctors, operating theatres, specialty medical equipment or have it at home where you have a towel and a kettle… it is such a no brainer…”
He – like many of the others, I suspect – doesn’t exactly seem well-informed, but that didn’t stop me from reading on. And on. And on. Having clicked on the link full of confidence and excitement about my plans for a home birth, I closed the page wondering if I was, as several commentators suggested, self-indulgent for pursuing my desire for a calm, comfortable and self-controlled labour. Another post on family vie, a guestpost on The Blog Up North from Clued Up Dad seemed to think I am and that, in so being, I am putting my unborn child’s life at risk.
I emailed my husband in a slight panic, wanting to share the stories of all those who said either they or their baby would have died if they’d have attempted to give birth at home. But I didn’t go into detail, and nor did I propose booking us two seats on ‘a tour to graveyards to show [us] the unnecessarily dead babies and… mothers’ (as suggested by lobster1). Instead, I said, quite simply, that I’m scared.
Fear appears to be a common feeling in pregnancy, and while we try to assuage it through informing ourselves of our choices and the risks those choices entail, it is possible we can read too much, or place too much importance on those voices who claim authority but, in reality, are as ignorant – perhaps even more so – than we are. So how to find the balance?
Unhelpfully, I’m not sure I have the answer, though I’m thinking of plumping for good old common sense. While it was the internet that got me into this trouble, it was also what got me out. MostlyYummy, who commented on MTM&TB’s post here on family vie, pointed me in the direction of two successful, safe and happy-ending homebirth stories by Mummy Bloggers. Copious of similar experiences followed suit.
I have had an uncomplicated pregnancy. I am in good health. I have an excellent midwife. Should I need emergency medical attention, the transfer time from home will be the same as it would be from the local birthing centre, where – as in my home – there are no doctors, no theatres and no ambulances on standby. I don’t see that my baby or I would be any safer there than right here in my living room.
And so while I accept there are risks involved in home birth, I do so in the knowledge – as erinmidwife commented on Clued Up Dad’s post – that ‘birth carries risks everywhere, home or hospital’. Nowhere is entirely safe, but my home is entirely mine. It will also be peaceful, private and under the watchful eye of a highly qualified midwife, who will remain with me throughout my labour. At home, I can avoid MTM&TB’s post-birth upset of feeling ‘alone in a strange place once everyone had left me.’ My husband will not be kicked out, and our baby will be born into the very environment in which he will grow.
Photo by Flickr user christyscherrer
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I was truely overwhelmed by the comments I recieved on that post, I didnt realise how many of my fellow tweeters/bloggers actually had homebirths themselves. I read many successful homebirth posts that day , many bought me to tears just like Luschka’s birth story which I mentioned in my orginal post.
There was this simple beauty to having the baby in this natural environment surrounded by familiarness. Maybe it’s my own bitterness at what happened after Oli was born which wants me to go down the homebirth route next time. I’m filled which such sadness when I think back to the tears I shred when they said Jon had to go home. We’ve just become a family , why seperate it when it’s barely began?
I’m so happy that you get to have this choice and I wish you all the luck , when baby has arrived and you’re sat in your bed with a nice cup of tea (or coffeee) and you look down at baby in the crib next to you – it will all be worth it.
I know the horror stories you read dont help but then there’s horror stories with labours that happen in hospital. We all know that something wrong can happen at anytime, that’s life! But we shouldnt let it come in our way of what we want. (If that makes any sense?!)
Looking back to my pregnancy days I’m angry that I wasnt offered choices , I’m not sure if it was something I had to suggest myself or if I simply wasnt told about it because at the time I was a unmarried mother of 20.
When the time comes to have our next child I am going to be fully in control of the pregnancy and what happens after he/she is born. Hopefully that will be in the form of a homebirth and you can tell me/share your experience with me!
I gave birth my son last year, I had him hospital. I had considered a home birth and I was a good candidate for one after having a trouble free pregnancy. However my son was born with a congenital diaphramatic hernia which was not picked up in my scans. If I had him at home he would have died. I am lucky he had made a full recovery post surgery and neo-natal intensive care. A home birth is a risk, why risk the baby’s life, when hospital births can also positive experiences.
Jane, it must be a huge relief that your son was born in hospital, where he was able to have immediate treatment, and I can fully appreciate your subsequent concerns re home births. While I realise there is a risk in opting to try to have my baby at home, as I suggest in the piece above, I don’t think there is any place that offers 100% security for labouring women. That said, in the majority of cases, labour doesn’t need to be medicalised to the extent it can be – and often is – in hospital. This medicalisation can lead to slower, more complicated and difficult labours, causing (sometimes unnecessary) stress to both woman and child. I realise this isn’t always the case and don’t doubt many women have positive experiences in hospital.
If I weren’t having the baby at home, I would have chosen the midwifery-led unit, which would have offered no more pain relief or emergency medical assistance than I’ll receive at home, and is therefore no safer an option. That my home support will be one on one and continuous instills me with great confidence that should my midwife be concerned in any way about the health of either the baby or me, she will transfer me to hospital in good time.
Given your experience, I completely understand your reasons for not believing the benefits of a home birth outweigh the positives. I’m happy that your son made a full recovery and wish you all the best.
I am expecting my first child. I am obviously not carrying the baby myself but if dragging myself to NCT classes has taught me anything it is that the well-being of my partner is the most important thing during labour.
Oxytocin is something that i would have guessed aided a chesty cough but instead, “nicknamed the cuddle hormone”, it is an integral part of helping the birth process aiding contractions and the delivery of the child.
And what helps to create Oxytocin? An overwhelming feeling of security, happiness and well-being. Now I know i can’t speak for everyone but when I am at home I feel relaxed. When I am in hospital i feel anxious and uncomfortable. Even a recent trip to an ENT specialist reminded me of that. So it seems logical to me that having a home-birth within your own surroundings with a highly-qualified midwife and a loving partner mopping your brow is a sensible path to take.
At the end of the day, there is no right or wrong but it seems to me that you have your baby’s best interests at heart and that you are putting in place all of the measures necessary to have a healthy birth and a healthy baby.
Good luck and i look forward to hearing how it all works out.
Such a thoughtful piece and many thanks for the mention.
As you know, I did have a homebirth with my fourth child and it was the most amazing, positive experience and I wish with hindsight that I had been brave enough to have had a homebirth with all of my children.
Some of the negative views I have witnessed of late against homebirths quite frankly have shocked me. Difference of opinion is one thing but being labelled as being an irresponsible and selfish parent for the choice that I made? i don’t think so!
The fact is, that many of the articles that I have read have been based on irrelevant and incorrect statistics as I’m sure many professionals would (and on occasion have!) agree! And so many more have been based on personal opinion which is fine, everyone of course is entitled to their point of view – but it is just that! An opinion isn’t necessarily right or true.
There was one blog post in particular that you have mentioned in your piece that positively made my blood boil! (And I did tell the author so!)
Homebirth was beyond any doubt THE best thing for me and my family and it can be for so many other parents too. The sad fact is that if something is going to go wrong – it will never mind where you give birth.
Just as I wouldn’t call parents who have hospital births selfish – I don’t expect to be labelled as this either! Hey, hospitals are full of superbugs that can kill a baby. You are lucky to have a midwife to yourself throughout your whole labour in hospital. Hospital births are more likely to end in medical intervention – putting you both at untold risks.. Need I go on?
I choose to have my first (and only) child at home. I had to have plenty of check ups and extra tests done due to having had an op for Scoliosis and have asthama. However I passed all of the tests and because I was so determined they said Okay. I had a normal pregnancy with no problems at all.
When the midwife came to my home I must admit she tried to change my mind by saying if I wanted to change my mind this would be the last chance and that they might be too short staffed to let me have baby at home. However after saying no to her offer to go to hospital and her making calls regarding the staff the answer was yes. Because you had to have 2 midwives present this midwife very kindly stayed on past her shift and one more turned up.
I had no problems having baby at home. It was so much more personal than being in hospital and I was so glad I’d done it. It’s lovely once baby arrives to be at home, get into your bath and your own bed. It’s lovely to be at home with just the midwives and your partner.
I say if you want a homebirth go for it, otherwise you will regret it. Just trust in the midwife. They would let you know if there were problems.
Very interesting, but at same time very apprehensive. I had high blood pressure and had issues throughout and I cannot image what would have happened had I been at home. I had emergency operation post birth, so for me a home birth is out of the question. I do admire those who do it. Its been done for ages, but its that “what if” that leaves me unsure. What if you need an emergeny c-section? Anything can happen, either at home or at the hospital. But either way, I will be having the rest of the brood at the hospital.
The emergency C-section was a concern to me when I first considered a home birth, but in reality, the majority of “emergency” c-sections aren’t performed within minutes of making a decision but still require 30 minutes – 1 hour of planning, arranging an anaesthetist etc. I’ve therefore been advised that being a 20 – 30 minute drive from hospital won’t increase risks of complications because were I in hospital, I’d likely be waiting a similar time for the operation anyway.
My midwife has assured me that should she think there is any risk to the baby or me, she would ensure I transfer in plenty of time.
As several have pointed out above, one of the greatest benefits of being at home is the potential to remain relaxed and active, thereby reducing the need for medical intervention which, from my understanding, once started, can easily escalate from monitoring – which relies upon you remaining still and therefore inhibits the natural process of labour – to other forms of pain relief and labour aids (ventouse and forceps) to a c-section because labour has been elongated and both mother and baby are tired and / or distressed.
I completely understand why some women would prefer to be in hospital, where doctors can be on standby should anything go wrong, and as Mostly Yummy says, I wouldn’t criticise that choice at all. I’m just grateful to be in a position in which we do have the option of labouring at home.
Sweety, the first thing I’ll say to you here is if you’re planning a homebirth, you need to banish fear from you, because fear causes a rush of adrenalin, and adrenalin prevents the feel good hormones from surfacing and you need those hormones (dopamine) for pain management – as your birth is coming closer, I’d stop reading what the naysayers are saying (baring in mind a bitterly small percentage of them have actually ever HAD or even ATTEMPTED a homebirth, and 90-something percent of those who have done both said they’d rather have home the next time) and rather begin focusing on positive birth stories.
I found this today, and despite the weird bed ad at the end, thought it was beautiful: http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=wp8z29mddU4&feature=player_embedded
and here’s my birthstory in pictures that Emma was talking about above: http://www.diaryofafirstchild.com/2009/11/18/birth-story-in-pictures-2/
Sorry, it’s me AGAIN! I just wanted to add that it is so clear that you have given homebirth such great thought and have certainly done your research! I do hope that you get the homebirth that you wish for xx
Personally I would always opt to have my children in a hospital but that is purely based on my first pregnancy and the fact that I needed emergency care. Second time around I suffered from DVT and had to be induced. I then suffred from a retained placenta and ended up in theatre. Had I of been at home I may not have been able to get the emergecy medical attention that I required.
I really respect people that have successful home births but I am just too much of a worry wart to consider it an option for me – plus I wouldn’t want to have to clear up any mess afterwards! lol – when I had my 2 there was blood everywhere!