Homebirth General Discussion #1

Been quiet in here - where are all the homebirthers??
Ok, so, the time is near, just don't know how near! The house is set up and ready to go - birth pool got a great test run and it's half-inflated, I got my salt lamps, candles are ready to light, my oils box and electric vaporiser have been getting daily workouts, I made up some aromatherapy products for myself and for DS (a face spray, cos he'll want some when he sees me use one!) and my music playlists are good to go.
DS is really looking forward to meeting his sibling in the birth pool and sharing BFing :)

**pokes head in** do I count? I'm technically a home birther now even though it wasn't planned that way...

I wanted to tell someone anyhow- I get it now. The idea of hb always appealed to me but I found it scary. Now I understand why everyone raves about it. It was so much nicer, for all concernced, to have dd at home. My only regret is we had to transfer to the hospital afterwards.

If I ever have another one, there is no way I would go to the hospital. I would find dome way to birth at home. I just wish there was some way I could describe exactly how it feels to all the hb sceptics out there ;)

Maya, you sound all ready to go hun :D You've got to be excited. Abd I bet your ds can't wait. Just for curiousity, are you worried about him seeing you in pain? (if you are in pain, I think I recall your ds's birth was pain free)

Lori, you ARE a homebirther now, huh?? I'm so, so glad you got to experience it and the whole 'oh, puhlease, I so don't believe I'll be safer in hospital' to your DH ;) Please don't regret the transfer - it happens from time to time in planned homebirths (Tracy Bartram had to transfer after hers!), doesn't make it less of a homebirth :)
I never worried about DS seeing me birth. His birth was not a loud, vocalised affair (just the way it worked out, and the way I visualised it was for serenity, I do know vocalisation is an important part of it for others!) - I worked through all the sensations using the HypnoBirthing. I guess I'm assuming it will be the same this time round! If it's not, I'm not worried, still - the midwives and DP will talk him through it and I'll give him tranced-out snuggles to let him know I'm ok. The environment will be too nurturing for him to think I'm in danger, so he might just be confused if things get vocal, but hopefully not alarmed.
Yeah, it's not so weird and foreign to plan a homebirth...even 'normal' people do it :p Not that I'm one of them...

Bimboo, thanks for sharing your story. Here's to hoping you get a much better birth this time round :hug:

And Maya, I saw your piccies on FB- absolutley beautiful hun, you should be very proud :)

wow bimboo....if you need any extra support anytime just PM me. If it feels right to you then its right for your family!

Oh, Bimboo :hug: I hope the HB network up where you are can get you in contact with a great middie!
I can relate to not enjoying pregnancy and feeling like the pregnancy grinch - so many people bang on about how wonderful it is to be pregnant...last thing I want to hear when my pelvis is screaming at me and I have to prematurely stop normal activity that keeps me sane (horse-riding!) etc. In a big way, I think being so hellbent on a peaceful, water and home-setting birth is my way of reclaiming my pregnancy experience for feeling ripped off during the pregnancy. Apart from always feeling that my births would not be the medicalised, traumatic version of birth peddled by contemporary society.
Hey, if you want it and set the wheels in motion to get it, you're so much more likely to achieve it than if you don't dream it at all :) Good luck, babe xxx

went to an OB/Gyno yesterday for a routine pap and boy did i get a lecture on homebirth. (went to an Gyno as i had a few medical questions i wanted to ask him rather than a clueless GP).

The lecture went for 10mins, and he used the statement 4 times "Well you got away with it once".... Then said if i was to have another baby i could negotiated from 35/36weeks when (not if) he would induce me..... using figures like 3-5% chance on Csec and 10% Special Care nursery...."but risk SO much safer than homebirth"....

He even said it again in the waiting room in front of everyone else! DH (who was in the waiting room) and i were ****ed off but just not surpriseded.

Like i would ever risk setting into a place like that when/if i got pregnant again! The private hospital that the Drs rooms are attached to have a 70% Csec rate!

Oh, man! I had this happen to me, too - go to a doc (in my case it was a GP) for something unrelated, they notice I'm pg and ask about my plans, then spout all their RANZCOG crap about risk and safety and 'life and death in a matter of minutes'...then it's too late an hour later when I want to go back and tell them that with skilled midwives it's so very rarely a matter of minutes for life and death to be determined because they know NORMAL birth and pick up on problems far sooner than medicos who only really see the tail end of birth...and usually medicalised birth, anyway! How frustrating for you - it's not easy to put it out of your head when you've been assaulted with that kind of negativity.
Like I say to people who tell me I was 'brave' - I'd be braver to take my chances in hospital!

HI all, it's been a while.

Has everyone heard about the new amendments to the bill? The ones that say that MW's must collaborate with GP/OB? And considering RANZCOG don't support homebirth (they have a formal statement that says so), that's really gonna work out well :doh:

Anyway, there are rallies in Brisbane (outside Rudd's office) and Melbourne (not sure, I'm in Brisbane ;) ) on Monday, so if you want to share your disgust, please come along. It's very important!

If you want more details about the rallies let me know, I'll post them. They may already be a thread about them...

Going tomorrow to Julia Gillard's office if my headcold is better, or I'll be too shattered to parent my children for the rest of the week if I go and I'm still feeling rotten!

hi Bimboo, I was wondering if you'd found a midwife to help you yet. Have you thought of contacting Alan (one of the BB support people)? I understand he's a very good midwife and works out of QLD.

GL

Hi all who are considering home birth!

Firstly I would like to congratulate u all on one of the most exciting times of your life!

I had my first at home. He was still born. Had we been at hospital we would have had access to all the equiptment needed to prevent this. Instead we waited 10 minutes for the abulance, then another 10 minutes watching my 'grey' lifeless son being revived. Thank god he was, but with all the complications we had we were then in hospital for the next week anyway, and 2yrs later are continuing with spicialist and surgery as a result of his birth complications.
Because I wasnt at hospital what should have been the best day of my life was the most traumatic.
And before you ask... yes I am young (in my mid 20's), fit, healthy and had no concerns throughout my pregnancy... the PERFECT homebirth candidate. I had midwife pre natal care, I wish i didnt as the midwife was also incompetent enough not to realise that my son was breech before the birth. so yes, a disaster breech homebirth.
So these are some of the risks you are taking by having a home birth. We are now trying for our second, and I can tell you now that I will never put the life of my child and my own at risk like that again.
I hope you all make the decision that is right for you, but it is likely that after you give birth you will need to rush to hospital anyway.

Thanks for sharing your planned homebirth outcome here :hug:
Stillbirths, unfortunately, happen at any planned birthing venue :( When discussing my birth plan, my middie and I talked about what would happen in the case of a stillbirth and if we had any religious preferences etc, so we were well prepped. Our midwives also had the resuc equipment that they set up as soon as they got here. They said they could count on one hand the number of times they'd had to use it in their homebirth careers.
Homebirthing didn't give rise to your stillborn, Bec, that was going to happen - it's the skill of a midwife that will determine how soon a complication is picked up. A breech shouldn't even be a complication for a good middie.
It's important to allow private MW's to continue practicing with their qualifications because they are more up to date in their professional development than hospital midwives and are able to mentor student midwives who otherwise would never see a homebirth (and often, never see a normal labour and birth). Word of mouth recommendations are good at the moment, but will deteriorate in reliability if private MW's are stripped of their credentials. Over the years what will be the benchmark of a good 'unofficial' midwife for the freebirths women will be forced to have?
Midwives who work in with other midwives are the best option for 'risk management' because you've got collective skill and experience. Yes, it's more expensive - we can't afford it, but we did it anyway.
Bec - you can't be sure that a hospital would have been able to revive your baby with any better success, and it would be great to think that they would have. It's just not based in fact. Hospitals can claim higher perinatal morbidity rates than homebirths or homebirth transfers. Homebirth in itself is not to blame.
I guess what I'm trying to say is that us in this thread are already made more than aware of this kind of risk of birth (not just homebirth, but a risk of giving birth and carrying a child). I'm tipping that those of us in this thread are also aware of the far more plentiful risks of giving birth in a hospital if there is no clinical need for it. For some of us that awareness may have come from previous experience, for others anecdotally.
This thread is a nice haven from the barrage of "geez, you're brave" (on the mild side) to the "you are risking your child's life", "your child could die", "leave it to the doctors" attitude we cop from many angles. I would just assume that we have weighed up the risks and benefits. Your assertion that being rushed to hospital is 'likely' is vague - hospital transfer for a homebirth in Australia is low. I know a lot of homebirthers and only one had to transfer for a c-section. Her first was a c-section transfer from a birth centre. She gave it a red hot go and had an ace midwife team for her homebirth who recognised in a timely fashion that things weren't going to go to plan.
Again, thanks for telling us the outcome of your planned homebirth. Have you debriefed your experience? There's a good thread for birthing debriefs on BB :)
How's everyone else going? Bimboo? Tashy - congrats!!
DS still talk about the birth! He talks now about when he was born in water and assumes other babies are born peacefully at home :)

Thanks Mayaness. We've booked an IM for a homebirth. I've had a few fear issues with this pg that relate to my previous m/c, so may need to consult with an OB anyway. Which I guess is what I think they're for - consulting on possible complications. My IM is pretty risk averse and would transfer for twins or breech. I'm OK with this, as it's our first and at least she'd still be with us at hospy. I hate hospitals though, so hoping it doesn't get that far.

Hi there Bec, and welcome to the homebirth general discussion thread.

First of all, I'd like to offer my condolences to you on what must have been a very traumatic experience for you, and for what I can see is something that obviously still affects you today.

I guess the most important thing that any of us who are planning a homebirth can glean from the research out there is that, while the risk of major complications is lower in homebirth than in hospital birth, that does not mean it is non-existent. Tragedy strikes, rarely thankfully, at home as it does in hospital.

I can see you carry a lot of the guilt over your son's condition, and also a lot of anger towards your midwife. The mother-midwife relationship is a very important part of the birth, and when something like this damages it, it causes much pain and anguish. One of the great advantages of seeking a homebirth is having the ability to choose your midwife, unlike the conventional hospital system where one (or more than one, often) is simply allocated to you. It is an important part of that process that we are satisfied that our midwives have the requisite skills and experience to perform their tasks. I am so sorry that in this event, it seems that was not the case.

One thing I would give you, to take away and think about, though, is what you think might have happened differently in hospital? If we discount the breech birth factor, what about the post-birth activities might have been different in hospital that could have given your little one a better outcome? I assume your midwife had the appropriate emergency equipment - oxygen, a bag and mask resuscitator - because if so, the resuscitation of your baby would have commenced at home in exactly that same way as it would have done in hospital.

I can very much understand your reluctance to birth at home for your next birth - obviously the trauma of your first birth would not allow you to be comfortable birthing at home this time. I wish you the very best for your next birth, and I hope that it brings with it all of the happiness you should have experienced during your first birth.

Just a note to avoid confusing our members: "stillbirth" refers to a baby that has died in utero and is born. Bec's baby was not "stillborn".

Oh Bec, what a horrible time you have had! I hope that you did get and are still getting the support you need. Like someone else said, i dont think that there is a homebirther out there that has not heard EVERY bad or negative story out there. Like you yourself claim, you were young fit and the perfect candidate. You were also probably well educated and informed.

I ask with the biggest respect but what were you hoping from your post? To stop others from homebirthing or to just open a line of support. Because we (the BB community) are very tight and will be there every step of the way if you need it.

I suggest you go to the debreifing site and tell your story as many times as you need to.

I would also ask that you respect others informed decisions. None of us take birthing lightly and we are all doing what is right for our families.

I hope that this next birth allows you to forgive yourself for all those things that were out of your control.

hi everyone,

i just wanted to jump in and introduce myself, after a traumatic m/c in june, i'm very happily pregnant again with a good heartbeat and healthy first scan... phew :)

I'm really lucky to be involved in the Sunshine Hospital Homebirth program starting this year, where i'll get continunity of care with the same midwive (including if transfer if necessary) all for free!!!

thank you sunshine for being one of the more progressive hospitals in melbourne.... it's too scary to think where we would be without proper choices for birthing in this country. Got to keep up the fight to keep homebirthing alive in this country.

I'm sorry for your tramautic story, bec, I hope you find the comfort and support you need.

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DS still talk about the birth! He talks now about when he was born in water and assumes other babies are born peacefully at home :)

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Hehe so very cute :)

Aprel, that is fantastic, you lucky woman :)

thanks lorirae, I was quite amazed at how close to the private model the homebirth program is. Total continuity of care, reasons for transfer were very close to reasons under the private model, and I won't be forced into hospital if i'm overdue either (like in bc's)... i was amazed, if the baby is fine, then i'm allowed to wait and see under their model of care....

even the birthing pool is free....

unfortunately, there are restrictions with VBAC and women who are overweight, but hopefully one day that will change...

Welcome aboard, Aprel. Good luck for a happy and healthy pregnancy and an awesome homebirth.

ello ladies just thought i should do what i always say i should do.....tell the world about how wonderful homebirth can be!! i work as a midwife and have worked in private and public and the sad and traumatic births that i have seen....my goodness dont get me started as i may just cry! :wall:

On the brightside i had my beautiful daughter in the comfort of our own home last year in april, wow what an experience! it was wonderful, my hubby is probably the biggest homebirth advocate now he has experienced it (i already was a huge advocate!;)) the difference in our experience was huge, despite a decent length of labour, my bub and i were both so healthy before, during and afterwards and breastfeeding came naturally. i feel so bonded to my bub and have found that during my pregnancy, labour and postnatally with the assistance of my midwife i have learnt to listen to my instincts (finally!)

The continuity of care provided by my midwife made such a huge difference and she is still available for questions should i have any. I found the close friendship that bloomed between my midwife and i was magic and she truely only needed to give me that "i believe in you" look when i was in labour and immedietly i felt so much stronger! Even when i had been pushing for 2 hours neither my bub or i were stressed and my midwives continued to support me and encourage me, no time limits that has to be one of the most fab things of all! Both my hubby and i know that we would not have had the birthing experience that we had should we have chosen to bith in hospital. My contractions were fab until about 6-8cm when my labour started to have large rest periods and my progress slowed down due to my bub being asynclitic and compound (head to the side and arm by her head) should i have been in hospital i would have been encouraged to have a synto drip, which very well may have stressed both mum and bub as it often does after a long early labour then i may have caved and wanted analgesia (prob not though im pretty stubborn!) and very possibly ended up with an instrumental birth as there was slow progress when i was pushing (once again due to asynclitic bub).

my husband and i are forever gratefull for all the support we received from our midwife, she was out on her feet but still 'with' us which is all we truely needed.

Our experience has also given me a goal for the future as continuity of care and homebirth is what i would love to provide for all women.Thank god for homebirth midwives i say!!

as some would say i was not brave for having my baby at home, they are brave for having theirs in hospital without fully understanding the differences!:leap:

oh bimboo I so wish I could be at your birth! It would be lovely. How sad is our medical world that when my mum was a mw in sydney 35yrs ago all she saw was twins birth naturally, she can not understand what all the hoohar is about. I'm only in redland bay!

Hi everyone! I'm due to homebirth in August, I thought I'd dive in and say hi :D

I've just chosen a private midwife, and everything is full steam ahead from here! My first birth was a horrific hospital birth that ended in c/sec and ptsd. My second was a planned hb tf to necessary c/sec, my third was a planed homebirth, tf because of premature labour at 28w which resulted in a vba2c but my son had died pre labour. THIS TIME I'M DOING IT AT HOME!!!!

forthontheway: What an amazingly strong women you must be! Those births! Your poor little man :( I am so sorry for all you have gone through. I am so proud that you are still focus on your dream to birth at home. I put my hand up to be as much support as you need over the coming months and i so look forward to reading your birth story in August/September this year!

Wishing you a H & H pregnancy and speedy from months!

Thanx Tegam for the wonderful warm welcome :D I look forward to getting to know you all!

I decided against scans this pregnancy, I was considering having one because I thought I might have ben a little bit out with my estimated gestation, but the mw said I feel like I'm about 12-13 w so that's good enough for me :D

Twins! how exciting!!! Can't wait to hear about their arrival :D

Good luck ladies!! I'll be awaiting birth stories ;) My friend just edited my birth vid, so I'll post a You Tube link when it's all done and uploaded!

HOw is everyone feeling about the politics atm? It looks like I'll be having an illegal homebirth!

Just found out before :( It's too late at night to be angry...so I'll just be angry tomorrow, instead :(
Doctor shopping, methinks!

hi ladies so lovely to meet you all.:leap:

fourthontheway: im so sorry to hear of your loss, i agree with tegam you are an amazingly strong woman best wishes for the impending birth of your beautiful bub how exciting! My bub isn't even a year old yet and im getting clucky, lol smile and nod! As per tegam i hope you have an amazing birth and the one you truely deserve and want.:dance:

bimboo: how exciting twins, it is amazing what the power of the mind can do, but i truely hope you have some support with you for your birth because although being alone sounds like heaven after your experiences sometimes it doesnt hurt to have someone with eyes and knowledge that sit outside the square, but best wishes regardless cant wait to hear about it!;)

Mayaness there will still be midwives working ;)

I know :) I meant shopping for a GP who'll happily refer to a middie and not give lectures. I guess that's the next legislation...stop us from GP shopping!

Thanx for your kind wishes everyone :)

If I go to the gp and say I wanna have a homebirth, and they ask me about my birth history there's no way they'd collaborate. But if they don't ask then I'm fine :lol:

Maybe you just wont be able to remember all of your history forthontheway....i mean that pregnant brain can be a killer LOL!

wow how slow am i!:redface: shows how busy i have been, i have only just seen the senate decision that sucks! homebirth advocates unite this is c**p! doctoc shopping shouldnt be needed, women should have choices without judgement and politicians sticking their stupid noses in! sorry very grumpy!!

hate to be a dampener but do you really think that there will be ANY GP/OBs who will happily sign a collaboration agreement with a IM? When the position is written clear as day in every AMA/RANZCOG press release? (its something "... does not support homebirth"

This is a very, very dark day for Midwifery, and women's rights, I am deeply deeply worried about the future for my daughters and nieces and Friends who are yet to start families as they have just taken away a huge chunk of our reproductive rights.

Won't be long and will have not one midwife legally practicing who has seen a breech vaginal or twin birth. :shakehead:

Very sad and will just force more Freebirth!

yep will force those already in the homebirth frame of mind to freebirth (like myself), but what about those women who have had a traumatic c-section and are faced with the option of another c-section, back at the hospital that traumatised them or a freebirth and are not supported in their choices by partners and families? This is what the choice would be for my sister and its not good enough!

Shame on you Nicola Roxon

I know of only one in Melbourne. Lucky for me I'm friends with his nephew!!

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I know of only one in Melbourne. Lucky for me I'm friends with his nephew!!

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I've read elsewhere that not even he will be signing collaboration agreements due to concerns about litigation and his insurance.

Writing letters to the independent senators seems to be the only hope we have for now, then going underground

yes we have regressed at least 50 years backwards. well done Australia!