Is Home Birth worth it?

Hello. My partner and I have been thinking about a home birth as I am prone to anxiety and I want the birth to be as relaxed as it can possibly be. What have your experiences been? Is a birth pool as amazing as it sounds? I am 24 weeks, so I need to make a decision quite soon. Thanks for your help!

Hi!
I'm prone to anxiety too - I knew homebirth would be the only way for me to feel safe and protected during birth :) Do you know much about the birth hormones? Dr Sarah Buckey's work might be useful to you in making a decision. Good luck whatever you decide!

ETA: forgot to say, yes the birth pool is amazing

Thanks Eutra! I'll look into it! :)

The birth pool really is amazing, though I ended up transferring to hospital. I suggest you read some birth stories!

Yes, put simply. When you say 'worth it' what do you mean? Worth what? The financial cost? The possible backlash from others? I had a home water birth three months ago and it was the coolest experience of my life to date.

my two HBs were the most amazing, empowering experiences of my entire life! I suffered a PTSD after the birth of my first DD in a hospital which meant that every time thereafter i found myself in a maternity ward/hospital i would competely freak out. we tried a BC but again it was no good even just after the tour.

what i love about HB is that you are in your own home, have a huge amount of love and support from your IM and are able to make informed choices regarding you and your baby's care. it absolutely fantastic for your DH as well as they are totally included and not shoved to the back of the room like they tend to be in hossy births.

i recommend reading some of the HB stories on here (we have a thread in this section i think with links). feel free to read mine (linked in my sig!).

i highly recommend HB. I cannot imagine doing it any other way now.

and feel free to drop into the HB general discussion thread. that is a nice way to get a 'feel' for the experiences of other pg girls etc.

I just had a hospital birth after 3 hb's and I can honestly say home birth is worth it in every sense for me. My hospital birth was pretty "normal" but I was so out of control and out of my comfort zone. I had 3 days of anxiety attacks after which I have never had surround a birth before.
At home I was relaxed and comfy and my births ran smoothly. And the birth pool is a thousand times better than the epidural!

I think it all comes down to your care providers in your birth, especially if you are prone to anxiety. I think a birth experience can be amazing anywhere if you are surrounded by people who you really trust, who are really well trained and allow you to have an empowered, safe birth experience, respecting your needs and the needs of your baby and family.

That said, I personally believe you have a greater chance of finding that support with a homebirth if you seek out a good, reputable, experienced homebirth midwife. Our hospital system is challenging to navigate when you want to know your care provider and tailor your birth experience to suit you. There is a lot of top down pressure to fit a prescribed birthing schedule in our hospital system. Sometimes this works, sometimes it doesn't and I can see a lot of fallout from the mothers when it doesn't work.

I absolutely agree with the previous advice to read some birth stories so you can get a feel of what the women going through the birth felt about their experiences. I also recommend you call to speak with some homebirth midwives. Chatting to some care providers may help sway you one way or another. I know that the difference between my call with a hospital midwife vs a homebirth midwife was astronomical and helped seal the deal right then and there for me to lock in a homebirth!

As for waterbirths, the pool is pretty nice but not for everyone. I certainly enjoyed it and was glad to birth in the water but I didn't find it as relaxing and relieving as I was expecting from the many HB videos I watched. This had more to do with my fast 'freight train' birth and my panic than the 'power' of the water though! What I really liked about the water birth was allowing DD2 to have a few seconds of calm between leaving me and entering the world. I distinctly remember the pause before lifting her out of the water when I could see she was born but was still 'not of this world' if you know what I mean. It was really beautiful and I felt it allowed me to calm down from the pushing and welcome her with full attention. Water birth is said to deliver calmer babies as they are born into familiar 'fluid' and I could certainly see this in DD2.

My birth story (stories - hospital and home) are in my signature.

I really wanted a water birth (not hb) but couldn't stand being in the bath in labour

yes, home birth is absolutely worth it

Yes! Feel free to read my birth stories.

I didn't like water in labour at all, but I also love the idea of a waterbirth.

My two homebirths were the best most empowering things I have ever done!