Would you give birth in a midwifery led unit?

[bellyjiggles]

... BTW.. don't think my post was clear.. most way through my pregnancy I was advised by a community or NHS midwife, who didn't hold out much hope of home delivery for first time mums, it was when they told me she was breach that i was told how it was gonna be in hospital, strapped up an all that! - terrified I sought out my independent midwife.. but at that point it was being consultant led.. don't think midwives would have been very involved atall.

[paradise lost]

Yeah i had community team care, sounds like mine were a lot more supportive than yours! I was given the 70% figure too - you know that's 70% of those who DO transfer are first time mums, NOT 70% of homebirthers transfer. Sounds like they twisted that little statistic to scare you! About 20-40% of homebirthers transfer, the majority do so for analgesia options for a long labour which they don't have access to at home (epidural, pethidine etc. (my midwives had some morphine in my fridge but i didn't use it)). It's only around 8-14% who transfer for obstetric need (distressed baby, abruption etc.). Or at least this was the stats in 2005 when i was PG.

I don't know how i'd plan a breech to be honest. I have about 20 homebirthing friends and one of our more recent births was a catastrophic surprise breech at home and the babe ultimately died (very sad story - baby had no chin-to-chest reflex and got stuck with her chin up behind the pubic bone, and when they got her unstuck (more than 15 mins later) the placenta came right behind her head, and they think it might have detached before she got stuck, so clearly there was something going wrong before that point) and realistically a section at 39 weeks would probably have prevented all that, though to be fair at 39 weeks (and indeed at the outset of labour) she was head down and good to go, so they wouldn't have OFFERED a section. I have another friend who transferred from midwife centre to obs ward to have a section for a surprise breech. I don't know how i'd feel. Rationally i know women can birth breeches but when a baby you know has died of ANYTHING it changes your viewpoint of whatever it was, iykwim.

Sadly for most women the care in a breech case is only as good/experienced as the carer they have, and increasingly in the UK Obs and midwives do not see vaginal breech births and thus it IN FACT becomes more dangerous as the years roll on to attempt one. I'm so glad you could find a midwife who had the knowledge and experience and heart to care for you.

Bx

[bellyjiggles]

Hi.. yeah think I did say that she was talking about first time mums, as that applied to me.. but certainly can't comment on others situations.. some of which sound too distressing and awful to think about.. we do all know this stuff happens, in and out of hospital, but my point really was that the rates of ceasarian at 25% in our local hospital are recognised as being too high, and therefore obviously done all too readily - to prop up, I believe, a drastically falling level of experience amongst midwives generally to really manage these situations, as exposure to them during training and after is so rare and for the Ob even more so.. Wish I had a pound for every time I heard someone say they were told they would be hours and to go home, etc.,etc.

.. as for what the mum needs.. she needs to be in the place she feels most relaxed and confident, under a bush or in a high tech hospital unit! cos I think thats the key to helping reduce difficulties during labour, along as the staff can be trusted to not intervene unnecessarily! - which I couldn't do!