Homebirth General Discussion #17

My m/w normally charges $4.5k. Not sure what it's costing me this time, haven't asked. Lol Thankfully, my PHI covers $3k and this time I'll also get a portion of my pre and post natal visits through Medicare.

Can I ask where you got the flags from? I want to do them for this baby's Blessingway. Getting the henna and having my belly painted sounds like fun too, but this time around my belly feels like it's a lot bigger. Measuring a bit behind, so maybe it's just my over-stretched muscles going sideways. :/

I should really get organised if I'm going to do it, I'm nearly 30 weeks too.

My lower back pain is completely gone, but I can really feel my pubic bone pulling now. I think it's probably because baby is firmly head down.

Cassius, I think your/our midwives love you too, because they were $5k for us! :rofl:

I'm in Victoria, but west of Melbourne.
My midwife was just over $3k last time. I haven't actually checked the exact amount this time.

I can ask her if she knows any over the East side.

I need to find a back up actually too.


The Mrs. I am also feeling exhausted and am basically not exercising anymore. I taught last night (at gym) and it was fun, but I am so unfit.
This is pregnancy number 4 for me and it is by far the hardest. Nothing even specific is wrong but I am tired, sore, nauseated. And emotional!!!

Brain fart...try Martina Gorner! She has a website called tenmoons and her quoted fee is $4k, but I'm not sure if she'll work alone.
Special, I think I can understand how you'd feel that way!! I'm stopping at 3 - I'm not doing this to myself any more, if I can help it ;)

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Can I ask where you got the flags from? I want to do them for this baby's Blessingway.

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Made them myself! I just grabbed some cheap white fabric from spotlight, hemmed along the edges (very badly, if we're being honest :lol:) and put little loops on the tops so I can hang them. I can send you a few if you like? I made far too many :) As I said though, they're badly made :p I'd send you the neater looking ones, of course.

ETA: If I can find the link again, I also considered buying specially-made ones from a blessingway shop I found online...

I organised two sets of flags for separate friends, and just ordered some calico from eBay, cut them into rectangles and at one blessingway we painted them on the day, many with ribbon borders (we had some other crafts and glue, as well as fabric textas) and I glued them to a thicker piece of ribbon to give to our friend. I had intended to sew them on but ran out of time to find my sewing machine and get it all sewn, but the flags weren't that heavy, so they glued on nicely :)
Sounds, increasingly, like I'm in a minority of hand-made, unprofessionally finished things, though ;)

I hand make heaps of stuff, but try to finish them off. I tend to get creative ideas late though, so end up doibg early mornings or late nights to get them done.

will have to post a photo of the knitted mama that my friend made for my dd. she has breasts and a pregnant tummy and baby comes out her vagina. she is awesome.

And I'm thankful again I live in a place where homebirth and midwifery care is completely covered by provincial health insurance....:o .

About the pain and pressure - I got a support tank to wear and it made a BIG difference in how I felt. It was comfortable to wear and wasn't lumpy and awkward under clothing, and helped my back and lower belly out a lot. Mine was called a Blanqi, but I'm sure you could find others that would suit as well. I also found that when I wore a skirt without pantyhose, I felt more sore than when I wore snug fitting jeans - they seemed to add some support too. Finally, baby #3 was when I started getting a vaginal varicose vein. OUCH! Those really hurt, especially when they first start (didn't bother me in my last pregnancy, other than a bit of a swollen feeling.) You can get special supports to wear to help those too. (I haven't tried them myself - good underwear generally were enough for me.)
Oh, and don't DTD in the morning! Leaves everything too swollen and you'll be sore. :redface: Hope that helps!

I used belinda Henkel, I can go look at my receipts and Medicare rebates to let you know how much all up she cost me if you like??

Cricket- makes me feel blessed to have the hospital home birth program too. I have never laid a cent to have a baby. Even though technically I did free birth lol as in give birth without a midwife... Not on purpose though.

(Yes I realise the hospital home birth program has a lot of restrictions/limits but it worked for me and I was very happy with it, I live in Adelaide too though)

No hospital home birth program where I am - all GPs and ob's have been instructed not to 'collaborate', as with the hospitals :( I would qualify for the Casey or Sunshine programs if I lived near them. If we can't use our cattle sales to enhance our life, then what are they good for? ;)
HotI, I got the work finished, and realised I should have used the word 'polished' - 'finished' is what I meant by completely tidy trimmings, whereas I opt for the 'rustic' look ;)
I'm starting to get the questions now, from people finding out, about what hospital I'm choosing...I might just tell them I'm booking into the hospital my midwife works at!

i wouldn't qualify for the govt homebirth programs, and i don't think i could conform enough. i am so happy that i found my midwife when i did, cos i think she is the only one for my births.

SJ, do they not know you have had previous homebirth/s? I didn't volunteer the info last time, but offered it if people asked. Most people just assume that i am doing it again.

I don't know how many people know, but I don't hide it if anyone asks. I had the other two in metro Melbourne, and this time I'm out in the country where homebirthers are a much rarer breed!

Yeah I wouldn't qualify for hospital homebirth program either (not that there is one even anywhere near here) but at the same time would hate to comply with their restrictions.

I love my MW, she is more than just a MW to me! Due to my mental health issues she has been a huge support where mental health services around here have been seriously lacking and appointments I was told I could get months ago never happened. I'm only just keeping it together thanks to my MW that has been happy to see me weekly. If I didn't have her support I would have crashed and burned long ago! We are building a house at the moment and are in massive debt and so DH is working 6-7 long days a week so we can scrape together what is needed for me to have a homebirth. This will be my 3rd homebirth within 3 years (unless I have to transfer but I'd also take my MW so would still have to pay) so has been a huge chunk out of our savings as DH is the sole income earner. He runs his own business so if he doesn't get work or doesn't work we don't get paid, a lot of the time to we are waiting on people to pay which can be a few months overdue at time.

I actually did qualify for Sunshine Homebirth program. I went to one appointment, because I like to get all the info before I make a decision, but I knew it wasn't for me. Lots of ticking the boxes, and since I have gone past my edd and had decent sized babies in the past, she acted like I was a ticking time bomb. I would never have relaxed, just waiting for them to say, nope - hospital for you.
As soon as I saw my midwife from my last birth, I felt at ease. She is actually away for the week around my due date. I need a back up for then, but for some reason that isn't stressing me out. (Anyone recommend an IM out West in Vic?)

Paying for an IM is obviously a choice I made, but it is coming at a cost. Our car won't fit our whole family in once the new baby gets here, but I figured that a birth was a one off thing that I will remember 10 years from now. I doubt I'll remember having to wait a few more months to buy a car. We will just flip a coin and see which kids get to come. ;)

There is no govt homebirth program anywhere near me, although the great attitude I've seen at the local public hospital towards homebirth would make me think they could make it work. I wouldn't have qualified las time as a VBAC but probably would be okay now. But I love my midwife and it seems more like I'm a part of a community that includes some excellent midwives now. Feels more traditional somehow.

My sister is doing the flags for me, she's got sewing skills. I can even get her to have my interstate family members put their own messages on it too that way.

Booked into the local hospital as back up via phone yesterday. They only wanted me to fax over my details on this pg for their files and have a quick chat. The midwife I spoke to said my m/w's notes were excellent. I'll take bub up for the hearing test after birth there too.

Hospital home birth programs arnt for everyone, but I really really loved my midwives I had, I had a fantastic bond with them and I was never pressured or told I had to have any tests I didn't want. I didn't have the gestational diabetes one and the midwife didn't even bat a eyelid.
Personally if I wasn't allowed to homebirth through them I would have felt that there was a reason for it and happily gone to the hospital but thats my opinion. luckily im blessed with pretty good pregnancies and fantastic labours.

There is nothing in my pregnancies or labours that would disqualify me from a govt homebirth program. They have restrictions on many health conditions that have nothing to do with birth, and this is where i would not qualify.

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There is nothing in my pregnancies or labours that would disqualify me from a govt homebirth program. They have restrictions on many health conditions that have nothing to do with birth, and this is where i would not qualify.

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fair enough...

I am only sharing how wonderful they were for me and how they could be a option for others. I know that the majority of homebirthers don't rate the programs as highly as i did and that's their opinion so I guess im in the minority regarding them but I strongly believe they have their place and can be a positive experience.

sorry but sometimes I get the feeling that because I used that program its less of a 'real' homebirth experience

My experience with the sunshine hospital HB program was great, not amazing like private midwives the second time around, but pretty great...right up until my waters broke, were slightly mec stained, and I had to transfer. And then neither of my two midwives were available. I do think they're a great option and I wish every hospital could offer a homebirth stream. Having said that, I'll most definitely be going with IM's again next time.

I think govt HB programs have their place. I think they are great for introducing homebirth as an option for women who may never have considered homebirth. I don't believe they are any safer than homebirth with an independent midwife, and sometimes this is how they are presented.

Really interesting to read this discussion. I'm living in the Netherlands at the moment and here homebirth is the norm. In fact, unless there is a serious medical reason directly relevant to the birth requiring a hospital delivery health insurance companies will cover all costs for a midwife assisted homebirth but none of the costs of a hospital birth. Of course the situation is different for many many reasons.
What I find really interesting is that given how my last birth went I'm too high-risk for a midwife assisted homebirth here in the Netherlands and I'll have to have a midwife assisted birth at a hospital next time.
Now I think if I was still in Oz I could probably find an independent midwife willing to give homebirth another try with me. However, the system here is fully regulated so that there are just normal registered midwives who work in the normal system, there are no independent midwives that I could go to to try to get around this.
Personally, I'm not too concerned about it. As long as I can take my own midwife with me into the hospital I'm happy. And I do know how close me and my son came to dying during his birth and can definitely understand their reasons.
I just find it interesting that here where homebirth is such a norm, it's in some ways more restricted.

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thanks for your post nyigi. that is one of the potential problems that I see with govt regulated homebirth programs.

I don't think homebirth will ever become the 'norm' here, and the regulations that have been introduced have already had a significant effect on the number of midwives working independently. if the situation doesn't change track soon, we will have a similar outcome of few independent midwives, but without the culture or practise of widespread govt supported homebirth.

I don't post often but saw the discussion on hospital homebirth programs and thought I'd add my 2c.

I birthed at home through the Sunshine Hospital homebirth program in Melbourne. I think hospital homebirth programs get a bad rap because there are some misconceptions about them.

Yes, there are restrictions on who can get into the program, and they appear to have more restrictions on when they ask a woman to transfer to hospital. My experience with Sunshine was that I had the same midwife throughout my pregnancy, and, presumably just like most IMs, an alternate midwife who attended when my midwife was unavailable. They worked in a caseload team and we were able to meet the rest of the team during the pregnancy.

Most of my early appointments were at an out patients Clinic, until later in the pregnancy when they were at my home. I was provided with a birth pool, oxygen tanks and synto (the latter two were never used).

What I think is misunderstood about these programs is the notion that they are restrictive because "the hospital says so," like it's just some crappy policy made up by Obs. The real reason though, is that the people running the programs want it to succeed. The Sunshine program, for example, was originally a pilot funded by the government. The midwives in the program are as passionate about homebirth as anyone else, and they wanted it to be rolled out further and funded on an ongoing basis. In order for that to happen, they needed to protect the program from poor outcomes. The less "risky" a pregnancy, the more successful it will be as a homebirth. The less transfers, the better for the overall statistics. And the more positive outcomes (including from those that transferred), the better for the program. By keeping it to very low-risk pregnancies, the program is protected for other women to utilise it. It's a bit of a socialist approach to homebirth, I guess - if there is a poor outcome during one of the homebirths, then there is more likely to be negative attention from the media, more scrutiny, and less chance that other women could access the program in the future. In a way, by joining the program and accepting the policies and conditions, each woman is taking one for the team.

I fully respect why many women will say they prefer an IM, that they dislike the restrictions on the hospital-run programs. That is their prerogative. And yes, some IMs will manage a homebirth differently to how an hospital program would manage it. But the hospitals have different mandates and when the tax-payer is paying the bills, they have to protect themselves.

FWIW, the restrictions were also negotiable in my experience. I hit 42 weeks and whilst the "policy" was to go to hospital after that, my midwife negotiated for me to stay home until 42+2 (I birthed at 42w, so it was not needed in the end). I was also given full respect and autonomy over everything that happened. There was no pushing for inductions, or interventions, or tests. During my labour, no one touched me, except occasionally to check baby's heart rate. No one touched me or baby during delivery or afterwards. My birth was perfect and I would recommend a hospital program to anyone who thought it was a good fit for them.

Very balanced post Rubyshoes, I'm doing a hospital funded HB program at Casey hospital (also caseload) and my midwife said the same thing about the whole reasons for restrictions being so it's a successful program and can continue to be implemented and expanded to other hospitals. I love my midwife she's very pro hb, had one herself for her second child and she's really easy to talk to and is comfortable to be around. I've met another midwife when my midwife was om holiday and she was also awesome and calm. Looking forward to my birth, God willing I don't go over and have no complications so I don't have to transfer. 38w+6d now so hopefully not long left :).

First midwife appointment at home! Went really well and I'm really happy with her, as I knew I would be :) Very flexible payment, too, which is handy.
Osteo appt was timely and incredibly helpful. I have a physio friend who is going to start seeing me next week through the hospital (so it's funded!) for maintenance between osteo appts.
I'm going to book into the local hospital, into the ward, and let them know what I'm planning, after having a chat with the MW/GP (not the one I had been seeing!), so that I can attempt to establish a trusting relationship with them.
Anyway, feeling good about it all!

Special- same here..I stopped working out because I just feel blah

Getting closer to some more bubs, I see!

Who's next on the list?

I'm 36+2 but I usually go over 40 weeks.

I'm 39 weeks today so looks like I'm next!

ooh, that's exciting! I didn't realise we were getting close to new squishiness.
wishing you a beautiful birth, dot face, may you feel loved and respected as you meet your bubba.

I'm 39 weeks and 5 days, due on Sunday.
Never been over 38 weeks before, and it has started to mess with me a lot mentally. Saw the antenatal psych team today at hospy after a huge meltdown and have been given some visualisation aids to practice with. They were so kind and caring, and really listened to my fears. Honestly, I thought i'd kicked the birth trauma from DD2010 after DS2011's fantastic birth, but alas I am a wreck from my first birth.
Also had a s&s done, which seems to have kick started things, just hoping they don't fizzle out now and leave me at square one again, which I think they might :pray:

big hugs Sunny love. it is so hard when past traumas raise their heads again. I am glad you felt listened to, and supported today.

this is a different birth journey to that of 2010, and different birth journey to that of 2011. your baby may need a bit more tummy time than the others, but they will be here before too long. do you have a bath you can chill out in for awhile, so good to get the pressure off your amazing body that has been doing a great job growing your babies, and will soon help you to meet your new little person.

I will be thinking of you, and looking forward to hearing that bub is here.

Good luck sunny love and dot face!

Sending plenty of calming and beautiful birthing vibes to Sunny Love. Hope that all the care has paid off and you're not far off from meeting your bub just as you wish.

Sending many birth blessings to both DotFace and Sunnylove! your babies are so close to earthside now!

Sunnylove: i think it is completely normal for the past trauma to rear its head. i know that it played alot more on my mind at the end of DD3s birth than it did for DD2s birth. something about having had such a fantastic birth with DD2 almost made it harder to believe that i could get that again. i think as well, after coming out of a great experience after trauma there is the grief and realisation of just how tough it was that traumatic time ITMS.

Well here we are, edd day. Wonder how much "over" I'll go!

What have your other pregnancies been like dotface?

They've been imaginary, Bella29 :p. This is my first! :D