Hey all

I was just watching a TV show on freebirthing aka home births and it kind of interests me. I am not pregnant but hope to be soon!
My questions include:
What are people's experiences (either you or a friend/family member) with homebirths?
What is the risk ratio, death ratio and other unfavorable outcomes?
How much does a mid wife cost and what all can she do to help in the process as well as in an emergency situation?
And any other info on the topic is welcomed. I am open to your opinions either for or against the subject just be respectful and tell me why you feel that way. I am looking for a mature conversation not an attack... debates are fine but again just be respectful to everyone.
Thanks!!

I guess I am old-fashion because I would love to have my baby at home but then I think about the "what if" factor. What if something goes wrong? I would prefer to be in a hospital.

Home births are usually for a pregnant female that has no medical issues and is at low risk. So if a pregnant women has any medical factors then home births shouldn't be consider.

The only upside that I like about home birthing is that you can have as many people as you want present and in most hosptial you can only have one.

Another thing to consider when planning a home birth is to find out where your nearest hospital is in case something happens.

As far as cost, it can vary and the fee can be higher in some cities than others. Some insurance carriers cover home birth, but others don't. If you have insurance through an HMO that doesn't have an in-network provider who does home births, you may be able to get the HMO to provide some coverage for an out-of-network provider, although you'll probably have to be persistent.

We used a cerfified nurse midwife for my sons birth. She was fantastic. Planned for a home birth with a rented spa but needed to go to the hospital due to an inability to get labor going when the amniotic fluid was too low.

The downside of doing this was there was a real rift between the hospital and the CNM... the doctors were aghast that we would have gone without "proper prenatal care"... BS!! She gave us an hour and a half of her time every week, talking to us, educating us... unbelievable how angry and clueless some in the medical field are... we actually left the hospital same day. They tried to make us do metabolism testing, for ex, that isn't even deemed reliable by the developers until at least 48+ hours after birth.

Ranting, I know...

I have respect for those in the field. My cousin is a nurse on the delivery floor. But we are far too quick to cut a woman, in my opinion, and far too quick to assume a woman's body is poorly designed and broken.

The first time my wife birthed a child, long before I was in the picture, she had hours and hours of back labor in the hospital. They all but strapped her down. The second time through, we were more educated. We had to fight a nurse to back away to get my wife to be able to move around, get on all fours on the bed, and do pelvic tilts to get the baby to turn. Guess what? It worked. She had probably 20 minutes of back labor before the baby shifted after her positioning. Had we done what was told by the night nurse, it wouldve been ugly. That said, the morning nurse was FANTASTIC, younger, more open and understanding... so you can't judge by one person... still, I think sometimes there's a lot to be desired in med center birthing.

Anyway... as I said... our experience was good, but the home birth did not happen.

If you are interested look in your area for home birthing centers. You'll find people who can give you answers. One option our CNM had was shed renovated a beautiful four story victorian home. If a couple wanted to birth outside the hospital, but not at home, they could go to her center, which, again, was really a charming, historic home.

While I am all for the natural and most comfortable methods of birthing, I am also overly cautious when it comes to home births. There are a number of things that can, and eventually will, go wrong.

With a home birth there is not always a fetal heart tone monitor. Fetal heart tones are important to determine fetal wellbeing. There are accelerations and decelerations of the fetal heart rate that tell us of impending danger or impending delivery. One also must consider the risks of prolapsed cord, which is an emergent and life threatening situation, the only cure is an immediate C-Section, which cannot be done at home, and must be done in a matter of minutes. No time to travel to the hospital. Midwives are not certified to do C-Sections, only surgeons are, so this cannot be done at home.

Fetal heart rates tell us if the baby is at risk of hypoxia (low oxygen) which can result in permanent brain damage. They also tell us of cord compression, head compression, as well as uteroplacental insufficiency.

Then you have meconium stained fluid (baby poops in the uterus). This can also be a life threatening emergency for the baby. At home there is no respiratory therapist who can attend this birth to suction the fluid from above or below the vocal cords. This can result in aspiration pneumonia and can be extremely dangerous to the neonate.

This all depends also on what area of the world you come from. Some midwives are trained as extensively as OBs, yet others no so.

Ok thanks! As I said Im not pregnant right now so it will be quite awhile from now.
I am worried about all the complications that can occur.
I was wondering how much of an unassitted birth we could have at a hospital? Like I would want to be there in case of issues but I don't really want to be hooked up to a ton of wires and stuff so I can move around freely , etc. And I have heard that you don't have to strapped up to all kinds of wires to monitor the baby. That you can use other tools to check on the baby every so often.

And after you have the baby if you are in a hopital how long does it take from delivery till you get to hold the baby? I think that is a big part for me. I want to hold my baby immediately after it comes out! And not just for a few seconds. So can you tell me more about how things work in the hospital?

Thanks!!

We monitor the baby continuously, especially after the membranes are ruptured. Babies can go "bad" in the blink of an eye. There are other ways to monitor, but something called a "subtle late" will not necessarily be detected with a dopplar. Subtle lates are an ominous sign.

As far as holding the baby, if everything is fine and you are breastfeeding, we put the baby to the breast immediately.

What I suggest you do is interview several doctors and midwives. Visit your local delivery departments for tours. Do this now so that when you do become pregnant you will have a game plan in action. There are some midwives who work hand-in-hand with doctors.

My first child was born in a birthing centre attached to a women's hospital and down the corridor from the maternity ward in case of an emergency. The conditions to use their birthing centre involved going there for regular check ups throughout the pregnancy, attending natural birthing classes, and to be in good health.

I loved the idea of being able to have a room to ourselves where I could set it up the way I wanted, would be free to walk around, moo like a cow if I liked, pelvic rock, whatever. It was an easy labour and after five hours, my husband at the time delivered our son with his own hands and cut the umbilical cord. It was was the most beautiful and extraordinary moment of our lives.

For the birth of our second child, we were keen on a home birth. We were living in Japan at the time, and I think the birthing world by this time had tipped in favour of close fetal monitoring and intervention. I hadn't quite grasped that at the time. Fortunately, my Japanese doctor who was partly trained in Australia was supportive of a home birth and even keen to see it happen.

We were practically all set, when towards the end of the pregnancy it was clear our baby was in breech position. Our doctor first tried acupuncture to encourage the baby to turn and I was doing all sorts of exercises... almost stood on my head at one stage... without success. As a last resort, my doctor wanted to turn the baby with his hands by massaging and manipulating my stomach. Just before we were headed to his clinic to have this done, he panicked and decided against it. Long story short, I ended up in a very nice women's clinic where I was promised a natural delivery if it were possible... I was confident I could do it.

I was not prepared for the amount of fetal monitoring or birthing chair they insisted I use... and I was not happy about it at the time. I remember it was like trying mounting a horse while in the middle of contractions... totally awful. After around six hours of labour (from memory) the baby was getting distressed a caesarean was necessary.

My husband was with me when the baby was born and whispered into my ear that we had a baby girl :)

Although we didn't have the homebirth we hoped for, being confined to bed for a few days after the birth instead of going home the next day as I did with our first baby, gave me precious time to just enjoy my baby daughter for hours on end. It was just as beautiful a time as when our first baby was born.

Do as J_9 says and explore all your options... go in with as much information and as open minded as possible. There are some inspiring midwives around, that's for sure.