Homebirth General Discussion #17

[e_p]

Can anyone else help ease my mind? The only thing that slightly makes me nervous about having a homebirth is the thought of hemorraghing. My sister had a super intervention hospital birth and a nurse told her they give pitocin after birth to every woman because of not there is a chance they could be to death in 5 minutes. I can't get what she said out of my head. Is it common for women to hemorrhage? Thanks for listening to my rant. I just want to get this fear out of my head before baby arrives.

oh dear :/ For one, that nurse was lying, or is scarily ignorant about birth physiology. That is *not* informed consent and statements like that are designed to instill fear and make women comply (whether the nurse was doing that intentionally or not). The available evidence shows that a physiological 3rd stage is safe and haemhorrage is unlikely when following a normal, physiological birth. Getting in the car and going to hospital while in labour, lying on your back for monitoring, being induced/augmented, repeated vaginal exams, instrumental delivery, coached pushing etc etc interrupt the flow of hormones designed to prevent haemhorrage. Being well nourished, emptying your bladder regularly durin labour and staying home with an experienced, known care provider who supports your body's normal processes and is observing you closely following birth is probably the best way of avoiding a PPH. It definitely can happen at home so it's sensible to work through your fears and have an understanding of how your attendants will manage it if it does happen (e.g. some midwives carry synto and can administer it if necessary). I can dig up the links to the studies if you'd find that helpful?