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So has anyone had a successful home birth? Any time it's mentioned everyone who has had a horror birth story chimes in about how their baby would have died at home, but it's rare that someone who actually had a home birth tells their story. I'm interested in actual home birth stories, good or bad, from women who actually gave birth at home. Thanks,
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try http://www.redhairedgirl.com/main/ -- she had two homebirths.
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That's because home birth is really rare. If you want to read about them go to the mothering.com boards--and if you want some horror stories go to The Skeptical OB or "Hurt by Homebirth". One friend had her second dc at home in a birthing tub--thought it was the greatest thing ever. Another friend labored at home for 24 hours before she and midwife agreed it was time to head to the hospital--her db was born via c-section 6 hours later.
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or: well then, as a UB lady without direct homebirth experience but a lot of medical malpractice law experience I'll say that not all midwives are created equal. Certified Nurse Midwives are generally competent to handle normal births at home and identify when a problem necesitates going to the hospital. Direct entry midwives (CPMs) are often totally incompetent when a problem arises. Also--the baby needs to be examined by a pediatrician within 24 hours after birth. A lot of home birth fatalities occur when baby is born apparently healthy but there is a failure to recognize an underlying heart defect, jaundice, infection, etc.
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I did not -- not what I wanted in my small NYC apartment :) -- but my sister and two good friends from outside the city did. he thing I found most reassuring about their stories was the fact that when problems arose they were easily and successfully handled by midwives. So my sister did wind up at the hospital after her birth to deal with a placenta issue, but it wasn't horrible or stressful, nor did it in any way undermine what she considered a moving and successful homebirth experience. Another friend who had a successful homebirth for her second child wound up driving to the hospital after she had meconium in her fluid when her water broke. Again, midwife recognized that this was something that meant delivery needed to be dealt with at a hospital, they went to the nearby hospital, and all was fine. And then her second was delivered happily and uneventfully at home. Third friend just had her second happily at home in December.
[ Reply | More ]There are medical situations that need immediate,within minutes, attention.That drive to the hospital would take too much time for me.
[ Reply | More ]Sure but that's your choice. The chances of picking up a hospital-borne infection is much GREATER in a hospital than for a homebirth. Really. I still chose the hospital for my birth, but it's all about the risks you find acceptable and the ones you don't. As long as the risk isn't high (and it isn't, for homebirths) then it's not an unreasonable choice. I don't bash moms who took a risk by getting amnio and suffering an amnio-based miscarriage.
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I know someone who had a home birth and was thrilled. I think the OR above is correct -- most midwives know when it is time to head for a hospital. I don't think there's any reason to bash another person for their choices. I never considered anything but a hospital, but I also had to argue with OB about unnecessary interventions, but all was well in the end and I was happy with my birth choices.
[ Reply | More ]I'm sure there are success stories.But who in 2012, would want to take(even) a 1% chance it wasn't? We've also heard the stories about how for the quick work of the dr. mothers have been saved due to surgery etc. Praises to those who want to take the chance, it's there choice. Sure childbirth isn't an illness, but it's also something that can cause death.That's a fact. My mom still talks about an aunt who bled to death when people had babies at home as the norm. I couldn't begin to take that chance.
[ Reply | More ]I would. And it because hospital birth is not 100% safe either, and deaths do happen in hospitals. Doctors and midwives in hospitals can make mistakes, and nothing is assured. Mothers are saved with surgery, but it's not like you're cutting yourself off from emergency services because you're not planning on giving birth in a hospital.
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Comfort, mostly. Most home birth moms have fundamental objections to how "medicalized" birth has become in the US, with the c-section rate at an unacceptable 33%. They don't want to be pumped full of Pitocin as a routine measured, or to labor tied down to a bed with an IV and internal fetal monitor. They don't want to be denied food on the off-chance they'll need general anesthesia. Many also want to opt-out of routine newborn measures like Vitamin K shots and the antibiotic eye drops. If you're going to shun all medical intervention, you might as well just give birth at home rather than fight the system, right?
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I didn't have one, but I have 5 friends who have had them, with a total of 8 births. Of these, 7 went well with no complications and the moms rave about their experience. I don't know exactly what went wrong with the last mom (I think a combo of hemorrhage and infection), but she wound up in a coma for a week and her baby almost died. I do think she had more of a lay midwife rather than a CNM, but I can't say for sure what happened there.
[ Reply | More ]While I think home birth is wonderful and I do believe that there are too many interventions in a hospital setting, the thought of it freaks me out. My daughter is studying colonial times and one of the things she learned is that 8% of women in those times (home birth with midwives) died. Sobering.
[ Reply | More ]My friend's daughter went into heart failure during labor. Long story,she and the baby were saved.A cardiologist was there and it was some fast work done. That's all I had to hear. For what? Just so you can say you had a home birth? Sometimes,and I repeat sometimes, people hold themselves up as being very special for doing this. Well, good luck to them.
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^^^"hold themselves up as being very special". That's just nonsense. Many women believe they are less likely to pick up infections or get unnecessary interventions at home. They aren't doing it to brag. Really. You sound so insecure. Just don't worry about other people's choices -- I don't. I chose a hospital birth but know people who didn't.
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I find it ironic that the same moms that claim to be so "concerned" about the tiny risk of a home-birth complication are happy to undergo amnio or cvs, which also has a tiny risk of harming your child for absolutely no reason except the insistence that knowing a few months early about your child's downs is worthwhile. Choices, everyone, choices. Let's not judge reasonable choices.
[ Reply | More ]What are the statistics on home birth? I actually don't know. What are the statistics for women who choose home birth who end up at the hospital? Serious question.
[ Reply | More ]np: here's the thing--the real statistics are secret and the Midwives Alliance of North America won't release them. Many people guess that the outcomes are not good for direct-entry midwives (CNMs) and that the organization is protecting them by not releasing the data.
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This. The stats also lump in home births with unlicensed and/or inexperienced midwives or home births with no medically trained people attending because they were planned that way or because the woman couldn't get to a hospital for whatever reason and had to have the baby at home alone or with someone untrained. So the stats are skewed.
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For the posters who are saying, why take the risk: Would you say the same thing about a standalone birthing center?
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My sitter bled out twice on the labor table--each time she needed an immediate transfusion and life-saving measure. No known problems and she was told it wasn't likely to happen the second time. She's stopped having kids with dc #2 needless to say.
[ Reply | More ]I had a successful home birth with #2 and would be happy to answer any questions you have.
[ Reply | More ]Thanks. Did you have any complications in your labor? How did you find your midwife? How did you deal with people telling you that you were putting your life and the life of your baby at risk?
[ Reply | More ]No commplications. My first labor had been very fast, so we figured this one would be as well (in fact the whole thing from first contraction to baby was an hour an 15 minutes.) How did I deal with other people's opinions? Well, I am a (hospital trained)nurse-midwife myself, so went into the process pretty well informed. I knew some of my family members weren't comfortable with it, but they also never asked about what safety measures were in place (e.g. my stepmom was pleasantly shocked when I told her that my midwife brought, among other things, a tank of oxygen.) Home birth is definitely not for everybody. But a low risk pregnancy, an experienced provider, and a reasonable back up plan all tend to result in excellent outcomes.
[ Reply | More ]Wow. You must have had contractions that you didn't feel right? How do you have a contraction and a baby an hour later? Doesn't it take time to dilate? Were you asleep and woke up with contractions? I have heard of women sleeping through labor, waking up in the morning and having a baby. Curious.
[ Reply | More ]I went into a false labor 10 days prior, had painful contractions and dilated to 4cm then, but labor stopped. So I walked around for 10 days at 4cm. I was sleeping when my water broke. It woke me up and I went into hard hard labor (like the movies!) in about 10 minutes. If he wasn't born at home he would definitely have been a baby born in transit or on the sidewalk.
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