OMG Janet! PMSL! (that's Peed - no need to call a doctor yet )

It's funny, when people asked me about the wisdom of my planned homebirth i told them i didn't call the doctor when i needed to take a dump so why would i call when i needed to birth. LOL. Got me some funny looks i can tell you. I also asked people how they thought they'd get on doing a poo if there was 3 strangers 2 feet from their arse telling them when to push! People obviously don't look at these things the same way.

I also think it's weird how it's seen as "lonely". Sure, if the woman wants to be alone that's her choice, but really i wouldn't be alone. I'd have my friend (who's had 2 homebirths) or her sister (2 kids, one at home) or a doula i know (who is currently in training, so i need to wait a wee bit for her ) or maybe even my MIL if she's willing. People who know and love me and who are familiar with birth and also one (the doula) who is more medically up to speed so she can identify if things are going wrong. DP (hopefully DH by then) would also be fully educated in exactly what should be going on and what is a problem and what isn't. I would be more "alone" in a room with 2 medically-trained strangers! I liked my midwives (loved them in fact, full of post-birth feel-good hormones) but i'd only met one of them once and i'd never seen the other one before in my life - that's not the sisterhood of the red tent ideal! Far from it. If i could have afforded a private midwife (3000-7000 GBP for prenatal and delivery and postnatal care) i would have, but i couldn't so i didn't, and the downside of that is that a (very qualified, very kind) stranger caught my baby. We made it as lovely and holy as we could, but would still have been nicer if the midwives i'd known through my pregnancy could have been there for me.

If the healthcare system worked so you got one or 2 midwives at book-in and they did all your care up to and including delivery and postpartum checks then maybe people wouldn't feel they wanted to go with UC...?