not my own experience, but i have had similar concerns too, my midwife lent us "Labour of Love" a collection of aussie midwives experiences, not all strawberries and cream stories, but there's lots of ones where complications arose and how the midwives coped, from hospital, to the outback, to homebirth, to shoulder dystocia, to waterbirth, to stillborns, everything, and i found it so reassuring to read! Hope that helps you, if you can get a copy to read!
We planned a homebirth with a midwife and transferred after a long labour at home which didn't progress beyond 8cm dilation. Our midwife figured out the baby was lying asynclitic (with the head slightly to the left of centre on my cervix), and we tried all sorts of methods to move her, with no luck. We had a few group discussions at the time to decide what the best options were, and eventually (after 30 hours) decided to transfer to a public hospital for assistance. My husband drove me there, with my midwife and doula following us, since there was no medical emergency. We arrived at midnight and were admitted, given a syntocinin drip with an epidural and then a ventouse delivery.
I am so glad that I had my own team with me at the hospital to advocate for my wishes. I was so tired, but still coherent enough to make decisions if people addressed me to my face (which wasn't what was happening with the hospital staff most of the time). My midwife sat with me to explain every procedure fully, including the benefits and drawbacks of each intervention offered, and then ensured I had time to make a decision. I cannot imagine not having them there to support me. In the end, we got the best outcome possible given the situation we had to deal with. And mostly because of the care I received from my midwife and doula.
I have planned another homebirth for our second child who is due within a week from now. Our plan in case of transfer is to drive ourselves (if medically stable) or call an ambulance. My midwife has all the medical equipment we need to assist baby or me if there is an emergency- to cover the time it might take for an ambulance arrive. The only real risk of an emergency transfer is if I were to lose blood after the birth (I have a syntocinin script with my midwife in case this happens) or if baby was having trouble breathing (she has oxygen for this). The truth is there are very few risks to myself or to my baby having a homebirth because I am with medical professionals who have what I need to make it safe.
Good luck making your own decision! It's not easy.
We are planning our HB with an IM, and have had our first few appointments (at home on the couch, how awesome!).
This is something we have discussed a LOT (DH has no experience with HB, while it's more common in my family) - the safety elements, with DH asking loads of questions.
Our IM books us in at the Royal Womens as a backup. She does this with all her women - it's just a formality, and in fact she does ALL the paperwork! It's already done and I didn't even know about it til she mentioned it.
She is possibly a more 'conservative' HB MW, but that sits really well with me. She has told a few stories of times when a transfer was required, and there was always ample warning, discussion etc. DH is really feeling very safe now. Having a MW with yeaaaaaars of experience IMO has helped me feel really calm about it. I trust her completely to know if something is not right, before it becomes a problem (she was the MW for 2 cousins, and my little sister).
I really recommend asking your IM what she would do in all those situations (PPH, prolapse, breech etc) because I found the calm and sensible answers from ours to be most reassuring!
Thanks Talia - I think we have the same IM We're with Jan Ireland. Had our first meeting (on our couch) on Saturday afternoon. Feeling good about everything - she explained what would happen. I'm also booking in at Monash MC as a secondary backup, as it's closer to us. We're happy with her being "conservative". We just wanted someone sensible we could completely trust, so if she says we need to transfer, we're transferring!
Agree completely about wanting a sensible MW... When push comes to shove (so to speak lol), I trust that if she says "we need to transfer", then we need to transfer!
I didnt need to tf but we had talked a lot about when/when/why/how! I felt calm that the MW new my wishes and i new going into my labour that i trusted her enought that if it got to a point that she said go i would go!
Just think how much we plan all these what if?? and people say that we are not taking the safe options. How many people planning a hospital birth even think through these same situations?
Also try to think of all the reasons why you will not need to tf, there are a million to one positives to neg!
Hey Sarah, enjoy your birth, i look forward to reading your birth story!
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We're with Jan Ireland. Had our first meeting (on our couch) on Saturday afternoon. Feeling good about everything - she explained what would happen. I'm also booking in at Monash MC as a secondary backup, as it's closer to us. We're happy with her being "conservative". We just wanted someone sensible we could completely trust, so if she says we need to transfer, we're transferring!
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