View Full Version : If you had given birth at home?
Just pondering this :detective:
Obviously these days most women give birth in hospital and have some type of intervention.
So if you had been forced to birth at home with no intervention (say there was a freak blizzard and you were trapped in your house with your DP :eek:) what do you think would have happened?
How many of us needed the intervention and how many would have succeded at home?
Homebirthers obviously you know the answer already!
:no: With my DS I wouldn't have succeeded.
He was posterior and I tried pushing for over 7 hours and he just wouldn't budge. I tried walking, crawling, standing in the shower, nothing worked. His heartrate was also showing distress.
I was hard on myself about it for months after, only recently have I come to terms with it but I know I did everything in my powers to have minimal intervention and drugs (as did my wonderful midwives).
Great question!
I would have been fine. In fact, when he came out that was one of the first things I commented on, I turned to DH and said "I told you I could have done this at home".
I had no intervention at the hospital either. No induction, no epidural, nothing that can cause the problems that the hospital fixes.
I don't think everyone should homebirth. Any sign of a problem next time and I will be off.
With DS1 I would've been fine. With DS2 I'm not so sure. He had shoulder dystosia and got stuck so his nose was squashed and he couldn't breathe.
UmmInayah
24-07-2008, 11:40
I would have been fine - probably better off cos I wouldn't have been sucking on the gas for the whole time and DD may have been less sleepy when she arrived!
But still, I personally wouldn't "risk it" would prefer to be there just incase.
Thermolicious
24-07-2008, 11:42
I would of been fine too, the midwives did not do much but try and grab his head so that it would stay engaged :rolleyes: (Not very helpful as he was posterior and engaged when he turned and was born 3 pushes after) no one told me to try holding pressure on him inbetween contractions/pushing as when I did this he turned straight away. They also made me get out of the bath! (okay I did need to pee but it would of been nice to get back in!)
This time I want to stay at home.
PunkyDiva
24-07-2008, 11:44
My unassisted homebirth did have major dramas but we coped and allowed my body to do it's thing in it's own pace and if I had been in a hospy I have no doubt I would have had a c/s. They would have been questioning whether I wanted to continue labouring and telling me pro's and cons and of course my brain would have overloaded and gone into survival mode, stopping labouring and destroying any chance to deliver vaginally or without intervention.
In fact our worst decision was taking bub to hospy afterwards for a check up as we were in shock and not able to evaluate situation very well ourselves, all our probs started once we set foot in the hospy and they freaked out going into medical overkill without getting all the facts from us first :(
I do conceed though that some luck, birthing experience and a lot of research and discussions with a freind who's a mw, about possible scenarios all contributed to a positive outcome and there are scenarios where death may have occurred without intervention. I just wanted to trust that my body would tell me, didn't count on not being able to verbally share my concerns with DH at the time though. Small regret that my mw wasn't present as her experience would have meant more control over the situation then we had the ability for.
Please don't quote me with these stats as I'm just going from memory but of reported homebirths in Victoria, transfer to hospy with some intervention rqd for vb was about 15% and c/s (both emergency and scheduled) was 7%. Then look at hospy figures which stand at about 70% for some type of intervention for vb and about 30% for c/s ( much higher in some hospitals).
I have no doubt that current hospy protocols, not so much the homebirth bit but more the fact that woman aren't allowed to labour at own pace etc has a lot to do with high stats and womans negative outlooks on acheiving a birth in a hospy without intervention.
prideNJoy
24-07-2008, 11:47
I would have been fine with both of my two bubs birth's.
I think i probably would have done a better job being at home with my 1st too.
Reidymac
24-07-2008, 11:56
I have certainly considered this question alot........and concluded I could have and would have been fine at home but was terrified that my only support people would be my 2 and 4 year children. That was a scary prospect that I wasn't comfortable with (for them) but thought would be inevitable.
#1 and #2 were both fast births without any intervention or VE whatsoever. #2 was born into my own hands just 7 minutes after arriving at the hospital.
#3's was an artificial rupture of membranes induction at 39 weeks due to PE, but once labour started it was only 20 minutes long and he was also born into my own hands without midwife assistance.
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but as such, you only ever have it AFTER the fact.
In hindsight, I would have been okay, but with pre-eclampsia which had started to shut down my placenta function in 3 out of my 5 pregnancies so far, then maybe I would not have been okay. :confused:
NibbleCurlynBub
24-07-2008, 12:07
Both babies would have been just fine. :yes:
But I would've had a lot of cleaning up to do! :laughing:
Oh, and in some cases hospitals will intervene when it is not really necessary. So you never know how the change in circumstance might affect that. ;)
I will awnser my own question now lol.
I would have died between 30 and 31 weeks as my liver and kidney failure progressed, thats if I hadnt had seizures and strokes from the high blood pressure. DS would have died in utero by 30 weeks plus 3 days at the latest as he was receiving less and less blood from the placenta.
Not a great outcome hey, another scary thought is if I had been born in a third world country I would also have died.
Lucky for my I live in a 1st world country with no blizzards and great maternity hospitals!
Nibblecurlynbun,
I have to say the cleaning would be the worst part of homebirth for me! (if it was an option).
It's very interesting hearing how we all would have coped with homebirth.
Myztiks#1Fan
24-07-2008, 12:31
Nibblecurlynbun,
I have to say the cleaning would be the worst part of homebirth for me! (if it was an option).
It's very interesting hearing how we all would have coped with homebirth.
yeah i was fine having coop at home even though it was very very unexpected. the cleaning for me didnt even happen as we went straight to the hospital as i was planning a hospital birth and i thought it was a good idea to go and as our dog is an upstairs dog, she cleaned up for us(well it would of been mum doing the final good clean but bella licked up all the mess, lovely isnt it)
sorry coopmum86 but ewwwwwwwww!
NibbleCurlynBub
24-07-2008, 12:36
sorry coopmum86 but ewwwwwwwww!
:iagree: :barf:
But then I am not really a dog person.. :p
Even as I was labouring in said to myself "I wish I'd just stayed home"
I wish there was a blizzard that prevented me from going to hospital. I would have avoid surgery and god knows what other kind of nasty, unessesary intervention was on the cards.
And I know it was unessesary. I have my notes :no:
NibbleCurlynBub
24-07-2008, 12:40
Even as I was labouring in said to myself "I wish I'd just stayed home"
I wish there was a blizzard that prevented me from going to hospital. I would have avoid surgery and god knows what other kind of nasty, unessesary intervention was on the cards.
And I know it was unessesary. I have my notes :no:
:hugs: :hugs:
yeah i was fine having coop at home even though it was very very unexpected. the cleaning for me didnt even happen as we went straight to the hospital as i was planning a hospital birth and i thought it was a good idea to go and as our dog is an upstairs dog, she cleaned up for us(well it would of been mum doing the final good clean but bella licked up all the mess, lovely isnt it)
ooh, thanks for the tip! :laughing::thumbsup:
squiglet
24-07-2008, 13:16
I'm not sure how I would have gone.
Could have been bad though. I gave it my all and I don't think anything was going to get DD out.
sorry coopmum86 but ewwwwwwwww!
:iagree:
:barf::barf:
punkbaby
24-07-2008, 13:23
My first i wouldnt have coped.
2nd, he was posterior but i had him in 3 hours no intervention
3rd...had her within 20mins of arriving they didnt even have time to do anything she was out
4th..well it was a pretty hard birth i could have done it at home but i probably would have been dead after hemoraging
growingbelly
24-07-2008, 13:43
i was induced so i dont know when i would have gone into labour etc but as far as my labour went i think it would have been ok, once i was dialated bubs shot out like a rocket, no real pusing required she just kinda fell out :laughing:
still am glad i was in hospital just in case, i am a worry wart :D
Ana Gram
24-07-2008, 13:53
Dunno really. My problems started when I got to the hospital, so I may have been able to avoid all of that. However, I am a bleeder and since I started bleeding out with 10 doctors in the room and they were freaking out because they couldn't stop it, I could have the same issue at home.
I didnt even have a Dr see my at all throughout my labour & delivery, just midwives.
I think I could have done it anywhere. My ONLY issue at home would be the mess, Oh god there was so much mess, we would have needed fumigate if I had to do it in the house.
with ds i would have been ok, apart from the pe. it was a long slow labour though and i just felt more comfortable at hospy with great midwives helping me through it.
with dd, she would have been fine but i may be dead. i only have 1 problem with childbirth and thats the placenta, once bubs is out my placenta didn't detach either time. when i had dd it actually broke apart and only a small part came out, the midwives did all they could but i had to have my uterus cleaned out in the or. if they hadn't it would have started rotting inside me and caused blood poisening.
DS1 - might have been touch and go, he was slightly blue from his cord being wrapped twice around his neck, it was slightly loose, but enough to make his breathing difficult for him.
DS2 - Would have been absolutely fine, 3 hours, he slipped out and screamed his little lungs out until I scooped him up :D
sam's mum
24-07-2008, 14:30
DD1 - no idea. a lot of the problem that I had with her birth was that I had absolutely no idea what I was doing, so I had been at home who knows. she was a VB, but I was in labour for a few days in hospital and ended up with a lot of stitches. could have been better at home, could have been worse.
DS - both of us dead. He was breech above my placenta, there was no way that he was coming out nicely.
DD2 - I don't really know. My waters broke at 34 weeks and I never went into labour. maybe I would have gotten an infection, maybe I would have been fine. I don't know how long it would have been until I ever went into labour. At the time that they did the CS though, she was breech with her arm down in the birth canal, so I can't imagine that it would have been much fun birthing her. By the time I went into labour maybe she would have moved though.
DH would have lost us both :gloomy:
mum2bubba
24-07-2008, 14:46
Well I DID give birth at home and it wasn't planned that way. I had no idea I was in labour (just a few very mild craps off and on for a while) until it was too late. I wasn't really scared though I was in a lot of pain by the end and more scared for Skye, though she was fine, she had a bit of a temp but they fixed her up in hospital
I didn't have any pain medication for either of my kids, not meaning to sound like I'm the best or whatever but I had really quick labours (and birthed one at home) so there was no time. I gave birth to Hayley only 10 minutes after getting to the hospital.
Tam-I-Am
24-07-2008, 14:53
I would have been fine with my first - much better off in fact. And my 2nd was a planned homebirth that all went swimmingly :)
I have to say the cleaning would be the worst part of homebirth for me! (if it was an option).
I didn't do any ;) My midwife and DH did it all :)
(just a few very mild craps off and on for a while).
yes, well they do say that is one sign of labour ;) :laughing:
Lipsmacker01
24-07-2008, 15:06
Dont think I would have had much luck! With Sarah I suffered maternal exhaustion as I had contractions the whole night long prior to giving birth and didnt get a wink of sleep not to mention eat anything! Therefore I had no energy to push even though I had given it my best shot. It was inevitable but they had to use the vacuum extraction tool for my girl plus he had to turn my girls head at the same time as she was slightly facing another direction. Plus I heard them saying that her heart rate had increased so there was a risk. They had to intervene and I just dont think you could get this in a home birth! I congratulate all those that do have the guts to go through it!
PS thought I would ad that they had to rupture my membranes also as I wasnt progressing, something to do with the position of my girls head being slightly sideways. When I think back now I cant thank the staff highly enough at my hospy for all the effort they went though to help us bring Sarah into this world! Walking up and down the stairs at hospy that was suggested by the midwives helped heaps also with gravity, sped up the process a lot.
shelle65
24-07-2008, 15:19
Physically it would have been fine, but mentally no way - I was completely freaking out and couldn't calm down until I was at the hospital with the midwifes telling me everything was fine, the doctors nearby, and oh yes the wonderful wonderful drugs :D.
Having done it once I could probably do it at home next time if everything was the same... but I won't because I'm just not brave enough.
Lillynix
24-07-2008, 15:32
If I had stayed at home with DD I would never have had an unnecessary "emergency" c-section that almost cost me my life. Simple as that.
:no: I desperately wanted one to the point of not going to my check ups because I was convinced I'd be fine and didnt want to be "tricked" into a hospital birth!!!:shame: me. At 30 weeks I got a bad feeling and after going for a check up I had very high BP, Polyhydramnious to say the major. I decided to give up on the idea of home birth and I'm very glad I did. Without my induction I would have died. Also Besides having my waters broken I had the birth I wanted it was amazing. I owe the maternity staff mine and my sons life:D:D
Sammilee
24-07-2008, 15:56
Hindsight is a beautiful thing, but as such, you only ever have it AFTER the fact.
:iagree:
Yep, hindsight is a wonderful thing, shame we don't have it before the event :D
In hindsight I would have coped very well with a homebirth. But an unassisted homebirth? I don't think so considering that I had a PPH, so I definitely would have needed a middie to give me a jab to help stop the blood loss. However, as DS was my first I never even considered a homebirth as I knew nothing about the whole birth experience etc. Now that I do, I would seriously consider a homebirth for bubs #2. I even mentioned it to DH. He wasn't too keen but I'm sure I'd be able to sway him when the time comes :D. But again, I'd have to have an independent middie in fear that I would bleed out again after the bubs was born.
I would have been alot better off.
If I had been able to birth in water I think that I would have gotten away with alot less tearing then I had with Kaidayn.
Sammilee
24-07-2008, 16:02
...as our dog is an upstairs dog, she cleaned up for us(well it would of been mum doing the final good clean but bella licked up all the mess, lovely isnt it)
sorry coopmum86 but ewwwwwwwww!
:iagree: :barf:
But then I am not really a dog person.. :p
I agree with all the others... :barf: :barf:
(Reminds me of one time when my DS did a HUGE projectile vomit, it went everywhere including DS, me and the leather couch we were sitting on. The first thing I did was jump in the shower with DS, and then I was going to clean the couch. Once out of the shower and dressed, I went to clean up the couch but the vomit was gone??? I turned around and there was our dog sitting on the other couch licking his lips. Mmm... noice! So we laughingly say our dog is also BF :laughing:).
cheezelkat
24-07-2008, 16:06
Both times I would of been fine. I wouldn't of had my daughters placenta ripped out of me either.
NibbleCurlynBub
24-07-2008, 16:12
:iagree:with Cheezelcat
They injected me against my will and pulled DS's out. It was awful. Then they pushed and squeezed my belly and it hurt!
With DD it happened on its own (though the midwife did pull out the needle, asked me first) and all was FINE!
:rolleyes:
Just wanted to clarify that I am not trying to convert everyone to homebirth just curious thats all!
My great grandmothers had between 5 and 13 (thats right 13!) children all at home, of course for some women that would be fatal but one of the benefits was the older daughters would assist with the birth and got to see how well a natural birth can go IYKWIM.
Of course I wouldnt want to return to the days of women dying due to no intervention but I wonder if for healthy full term pregnancys (ie the opposite to mine) homebirth would help women have positive births.
My hat goes off to all those who are strong enough to fight conventional attitudes towards birth and do it at home!
RedPanda
24-07-2008, 16:15
DS1 would have taken a bit longer, but he still would have come of course!
DS2's birth would have been exactly the same at home. I had nothing at hospital that couldn't have been done at home (I had about two sucks of the gas, which I still maintain does NOTHING! It's just a placebo!).
Although my first birth was a hb transfer to hospy, I now know it could have been avoided, and how, and my second was an awesome homebirth, as will my next one in Jan be :)
miloand4
24-07-2008, 17:18
I probably would have been better off at home with ds1 and dd1 but definatley not with ds2 he was not breathing when born as he had shoulder dysplasia (I had drug free birth however) and he had to be resuscitated (scary) and definatley definatley not with dd2 as I have a metal hip from a car accident a few years back and we both would not have made it.No budging metal and screws now is there! so I had to have a c\s but it all went great and we are both here:yelclap:
forbetoel
24-07-2008, 17:28
I wouldn't have succeeded. DS1 had his head curled right over and his neck for actually against my cervix...not his sweet little head...so not much dialation, and he wasn't going to come out neck first either.
Susan Mac
24-07-2008, 18:36
If I was forced to give birth at home I would have really struggled because I had absolutely no idea on how to push. It took a good hour before I got the hang of it.
Duchessa
24-07-2008, 19:13
With my first (MCDA twins) I had them at hospital with a lot of intervention. The first was fine and I definitely could have had her at home. The second turned transverse and had to be manually, internally, turned and then extracted via forceps. I strongly suspect that had I have had them at home the second twin would have descended, though I will never know. I was prone for most of the labour to having both an ecg and a scalp monitor (one for each twin) so the second didn't have the helping hand of gravity and movement to assist her descent.
Now that I have had a singleton footling breech at home with just my husband and no midwife or doc or ob, I would have the wisdom and confidence to give it a go, but unfortunately back then I didn't. Nor did I have the wisdom to refuse the excessive monitoring and the drugs - the two things that create the need for hospital style intervention.
I will never again underestimate the ability of a hospital to create the need for a hospital.
NibbleCurlynBub
24-07-2008, 19:22
I will never again underestimate the ability of a hospital to create the need for a hospital.
:yelclap: Exceptionally well said! :yelclap:
mum_I'm_hungry
24-07-2008, 19:40
Interesting question!
I really don't know. My first was all natural and very fast, so actually getting her out would have been fine, but as soon as she was out, I had a postpartum haemorrhage, so how I would have fared without drugs for that, I don't know. My husband is medical, though, so that would have been some help (unless he was out in the blizzard!).
My second would have been fine. But I would have been really peeved not to be at the hospital because he was born on sticky date pudding day :D
LivinOnAPrayer
24-07-2008, 21:02
Would not have been good for us... :no: We would have lost dd for sure.
Thermolicious
24-07-2008, 21:50
I will never again underestimate the ability of a hospital to create the need for a hospital.
:iagree: could not of said it better myself :yelclap:
I have no idea as I was induced - or is it DS who was induced??? :dizzy: I was a mental and physical wreak before I had even started though as I was enormous (tummy of 1.5metres), hadn't had a decent nights sleep in months and 16 days overdue.
I'm glad I was at hospital though as there was mec in the water. Usually ok I know but does give it a slightly higher risk.
Don't know with the twins.
I was induced at 35weeks because of pre-eclampsia.
Gabriel, well it would have been exactly the same :laughing:.. we were only in the hospital for 4 mins before he was born... my middie literally only had time to stick her hand under his head as he catapaulted out onto the yoga mat, so he didn't clock his little noggin. :laughing:
My ds wouldn't be alive if I'd had him at home. Eventhough he was monitored they didn't realise there was a problem til after he was born. He cried ok when he came out, but a minute later he stopped breathing and needed the full team of doctors and nurses working on him to get him back. So, I'm very glad I was in hospital with a great medical team around. Lots of problems at time of delivery are just not predictable.
Mum2Bella
25-07-2008, 12:14
i had 3 unassisted homebirth n would have another if i could
sweetsugardumplin'
25-07-2008, 23:16
With both births it would have been fine.
1st birth DS in hospital with no intervention :)
2nd birth DD in a birth centre, she arrived minutes after we entered the room :eek:
I said to DH, if we go again (ie make another baby) this time it will be a homebirth :yes:
Ys_Woman
25-07-2008, 23:51
Just pondering this :detective:
How many of us needed the intervention and how many would have succeded at home?
We did have one at home..totally unplanned..90 minutes after the hospital sent us home saying I wasn't in labour and wouldn't be for at least three days.:rolleyes:. famous last words..lol.
Anyways..aside from finding it hard to wake anyone to help me (we had only been home 45 mins but gone straight to bed as it was past midnight) ..when they did finally hear me and wake up they were brilliant..dh delivered while dd1 got towels and blankets. It was pretty easy all up. Once the head was out I got dh to check that the cord wasn't trapped and then whoosh..all over bar the shouting. Makes a shocking mess of your loungeroom carpet though..:laughing:.
I would have liked the last two at home but our birthing centre couldn't get the insurance to cover it. They at least let dh deliver them though:yes:
It's a pretty cool experience in my books..and the best part is..I can listen to that birth any time I want from the 000 tape as hubby was trying to call an ambulance while delivering bub.
Amy:)
reAllytee
26-07-2008, 00:03
With Boof if i had of given birth at home things would have gone a lot better & neither of us would have been put at risk like we were.
With Squeak it would have been plain sailing ! He arrived not long after we arrived at hospital & i did it all myself !
Homebirth all the way next time :yes:
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