Homebirth General Discussion #15

[Lily Dust]

Welcome to Homebirth General Discussion. Are you planning a homebirth? Or perhaps think that might be something you would like to know more about? Then this might just be the thread for you.

This thread is for general discussion about all things homebirth. Whether you are pregnant, TTC or just want to support those who are venturing on the path you have walked, please feel free to share your thoughts and experiences.


You might also like to check out these links:
Having a homebirth in Australia
Home Birth—Why It's Necessary By Ina May Gaskin
Independent Midwife recommendations in Australia


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You can find the previous thread HERE

[Arimeh]

Shiny new thread!

I had a midwife appointment yesterday, not with the normal midwife, but one of the back ups and she's just lovely. We ended up talking about all sorts of things, and especially had a rant to each other about that stupid Sunday program and the homebirth crap they put on there.

Anyhoo - after my ranting at her that the baby was breech, she checked and the bugger had flipped! Pretty sure he has flipped back now because I feel something hard under my rib, but I'm happy with that because it shows he still has room to move! And since he hadn't moved for weeks, I really thought he was stuck! She did mention I would have to have a scan closer to my due date though, simply because he will probably keep flipping now.

And other news from the appointment - BP 100/58 (58 is a little low for me, usually I'm around 64), fundal height 33cm (only 1cm different than gestation which was the same as last appointment), baby heartrate 145, urine was free of anything, iron level was fine, I have some slightly elevated white blood cells, but DS had a tummy bug last week so its probably because of that. Or it could be because of my SPD and the inflammation from that.

Also promised to start monitoring my blood glucose levels more regularly since I promised I would do that after declining the GTT. I keep forgetting....

Made another appointment - down to fortnightly visits now!!! Thats scary, now I'm getting closer to the pointy end of the stick....

[meow]

So glad to hear the little guy is still flipping around! Sounds like all is going well

[Cricket]

Pretty sure he has flipped back now because I feel something hard under my rib, but I'm happy with that because it shows he still has room to move!

It's his bum. I can tell from here.

About the GTT - I've declined it in my last couple of pregnancies, and my midwives are fine with that. I'm in a totally different system though, of course. My midwives just want to be sure that I'm making an informed decision (so I know the risks). I am low-risk, and have never had any hint of high blood sugar in any previous test, and small babies, so I'm OK with skipping it. I've also declined the Down's testing and the GBS swab.
I don't think it's wise to skip tests without thinking about it and considering your own risks, etc. It should be something you discuss with your midwife, and make well-informed choice about. But if you know what you're doing, then it should be your free choice!

Feeling a lot more b/h these days, and starting to be a little more tired and sore. Mostly feeling good about the upcoming birth, but occasionally a minute of panic sets in as I think about going through labour again.... Time to haul out the good reading material!

[Mum2twoBoys]

Subbing

[Dot Face]

You can decline the GTT? I didn't know you could... What if you're doing a hospital funded homebirth program?
I doubt I would decline it especially now as I've made my appointment but it's interesting to know you can decline it.
Had my appointment with my middie today and I asked what the policy was with breech birth and she said if the baby was breech they'd call off the homebirth and try to have it turned at another hospital and if that didn't work then it's epidural and stirrups :/. Then she said "but you won't be breech! Think positive thoughts!" Yeah true I should stop being a worry wart but I just wanted to check what they did exactly in the case of a breech.

[ummAadam]

Dotface.. I've never had the GTT and was never given any grief about it. My last midwife thought they were pretty pointless all together and basically just said make sure I eat well and exercise and all should be alright. If she was concerned about babies size then we would've discussed it but never needed too.

[ummAadam]

Regarding the breech - at least she didn't say its an automatic c-section!

Hopefully you won't have to worry about any of that

[Arimeh]

You can decline the GTT? I didn't know you could... What if you're doing a hospital funded homebirth program?
I doubt I would decline it especially now as I've made my appointment but it's interesting to know you can decline it.
Had my appointment with my middie today and I asked what the policy was with breech birth and she said if the baby was breech they'd call off the homebirth and try to have it turned at another hospital and if that didn't work then it's epidural and stirrups :/. Then she said "but you won't be breech! Think positive thoughts!" Yeah true I should stop being a worry wart but I just wanted to check what they did exactly in the case of a breech.

I don't know, you can't be forced to have a test that you don't want I suppose. I've not gone through a hospital home birth system so I don't know how they work. I didn't get it done last pregnancy either. But I was with an independent birth centre run by independent midwives.

[Cassius2]

Dotface: I am 99% sure that you can decline and still have a hospital program HB. I am fairly certain that some of our BB girls who went through the programs did...

Arimeh: ohhh! pointy end indeed!! exciting! could the hard bumpy bit you are feeling under the ribs be the bum?

[e_p]

You can decline the GTT? I didn't know you could... What if you're doing a hospital funded homebirth program?
I doubt I would decline it especially now as I've made my appointment but it's interesting to know you can decline it.

You can decline any test - none are mandatory. My IM didn't suggest GTT - we discussed the pros and cons and I wouldn't have done it even if she suggested I do.

That's interesting PZ - apparently a lot of the midwives have changed in the last few years? A friend was booked to go through Sunshine last year and they put a lot of pressure on her to do GTT (though she has a higher BMI so might have been why?) and when she questioned it they said things like 'if you have to transfer to hospital you're not going to be difficult are you?'. She ended up switching to IMs and I reckon lucky she did cos her babe was born at home at 43 weeks

[PumpkinZulu]

I did the Sunshine hospital HB program, and I declined the GTT. Actually I declined the downs testing, GTT, strep test and whatever else there is. In fact, my midwives were really supportive of that choice and said often that they really didn't think it was necessary for a lot of women.

[PumpkinZulu]

Eutra, both my midwives left the program shortly after I had DD1...they didn't think a whole lot of it.

[meow]

You can decline any test you want. Whether that means you still fit within the parameters of a public program is another matter.

I was considering declining the GBS test when I was birthing in a birth centre. To me it seemed that getting a false positive and having treatment shoved at you wasn't a good thing so it was better not to test and just monitor baby after birth. I had a long discussion with my MW about what declining the test would mean and what the outcomes of taking the test and being positive would be. It turned out that if I didn't take the test and transferred to the main ward I would be considered positive. And in case of a positive test result I could still birth in the birth centre and decline antibiotics. So I decided to test as it seemed better to take the chance on a negative (which I was) than be treated as positive in any case.

That's a little different to the GTT which causes harm by ingesting the drink though. I would chat to your MW and find out what the outcomes are of your various options and then decide. Testing your blood sugar levels for a period of time may be a good option.

[HotI]

Babies Arrived

- 2012 -
Jennifer13- Baby GIRL born at home 4th January 2012
Bella29- Baby GIRL born at home 10th January
HotI - Baby BOY born at home 21st January
*Ash*- Baby BOY born at home 14th February
loulabelle - Baby BOY born at home 24th February
Cricket - Baby GIRL born at home 15th May
chocorama - May
...Em - Baby BOY born at home 7th June
BellyBelly - Baby GIRL born 11th August
Tanya - Baby BOY born at home 16th August
phynna - Baby GIRL born at home 8th September
lady_neon - Baby BOY born 27th September
Ambersky - Baby BOY born at home 3rd October
Cassius - Baby GIRL born at home 4th November
Ice cream - September
mirriumu - November
Pumpkinzulu - Baby GIRL born at home 12th December

- 2013 -
Sara - Baby BOY born 18th January 2013
turtlejane - Baby GIRL born at home 31st January 2013
Bellany - Baby BOYS born 14th March 2013
Ree*Ree - Baby BOY born 18th March 2013
Aimz - Baby BOY born at home 21st March 2013
Beatrix - Baby GIRL born at home 7th April 2013
Rubyshoes - Baby BOY born at home April 2013
Dollyroux - Baby BOY and GIRL born 29th April 2013
HomeStyleMumma - Baby GIRL born 8th May 2013
ladybirdflies - Baby GIRL born at home 23rd May 2013




Babies On Their Way


sepata - September
WilliamsMummy - September
Arimeh - September
Cricket - September
Loulabelle - September
Dot Face - October
Eenee - November
Sunnylove - November
TeniBear - December
*The_Mrs* - December
Jennifer13 - January
HotI - February
Arcadia - February
Glorious - March

[HotI]

Babies Arrived

- 2012 -
Jennifer13- Baby GIRL born at home 4th January 2012
Bella29- Baby GIRL born at home 10th January
HotI - Baby BOY born at home 21st January
*Ash*- Baby BOY born at home 14th February
loulabelle - Baby BOY born at home 24th February
Cricket - Baby GIRL born at home 15th May
chocorama - May
...Em - Baby BOY born at home 7th June
BellyBelly - Baby GIRL born 11th August
Tanya - Baby BOY born at home 16th August
phynna - Baby GIRL born at home 8th September
lady_neon - Baby BOY born 27th September
Ambersky - Baby BOY born at home 3rd October
Cassius - Baby GIRL born at home 4th November
Ice cream - September
mirriumu - November
Pumpkinzulu - Baby GIRL born at home 12th December

- 2013 -
Sara - Baby BOY born 18th January 2013
turtlejane - Baby GIRL born at home 31st January 2013
Bellany - Baby BOYS born 14th March 2013
Ree*Ree - Baby BOY born 18th March 2013
Aimz - Baby BOY born at home 21st March 2013
Beatrix - Baby GIRL born at home 7th April 2013
Rubyshoes - Baby BOY born at home April 2013
Dollyroux - Baby BOY and GIRL born 29th April 2013
HomeStyleMumma - Baby GIRL born 8th May 2013
ladybirdflies - Baby GIRL born at home 23rd May 2013




Babies On Their Way


sepata - September
WilliamsMummy - September
Arimeh - September
Cricket - September
Loulabelle - September
Dot Face - October
Eenee - November
Sunnylove - November
TeniBear - December
Jennifer13 - January
HotI - February
Arcadia - February
Glorious - March

[HotI]

Babies Arrived

- 2012 -
Jennifer13- Baby GIRL born at home 4th January 2012
Bella29- Baby GIRL born at home 10th January
HotI - Baby BOY born at home 21st January
*Ash*- Baby BOY born at home 14th February
loulabelle - Baby BOY born at home 24th February
Cricket - Baby GIRL born at home 15th May
chocorama - May
...Em - Baby BOY born at home 7th June
BellyBelly - Baby GIRL born 11th August
Tanya - Baby BOY born at home 16th August
phynna - Baby GIRL born at home 8th September
lady_neon - Baby BOY born 27th September
Ambersky - Baby BOY born at home 3rd October
Cassius - Baby GIRL born at home 4th November
Ice cream - September
mirriumu - November
Pumpkinzulu - Baby GIRL born at home 12th December

- 2013 -
Sara - Baby BOY born 18th January 2013
turtlejane - Baby GIRL born at home 31st January 2013
Bellany - Baby BOYS born 14th March 2013
Ree*Ree - Baby BOY born 18th March 2013
Aimz - Baby BOY born at home 21st March 2013
Beatrix - Baby GIRL born at home 7th April 2013
Rubyshoes - Baby BOY born at home April 2013
Dollyroux - Baby BOY and GIRL born 29th April 2013
HomeStyleMumma - Baby GIRL born 8th May 2013
ladybirdflies - Baby GIRL born at home 23rd May 2013




Babies On Their Way


sepata - September
WilliamsMummy - September
Arimeh - September
Cricket - September
Loulabelle - September
Dot Face - October
Eenee - November
Sunnylove - November
TeniBear - December
*The_Mrs* - December
Jennifer13 - January
HotI - February
Arcadia - February
Glorious - March

[HotI]

I am so sorry The Mrs. Not sure if i missed you, or you fell off the list at same point. I just quote it each time, but maybe i quoted an old list.

Anyone had a doula and a midwife attend their homebirth? Just wondering what role the doula played. I am much more undecided this time about who i want at the birth. I kinda know what i don't want. and even if i think of a descriptor of who i do want, i don't know someone who matches the description itms. How much do doulas charge?