[name_m]Hi[/name_m] berries
I’m curious to know if any of you have had a home birth and or water birth. It’s something that has really interested me lately and that I would consider trying in the future. I’d really appreciate reading anyone’s experience with either or if you know someone who had a home and or water birth.
Thanks
I haven’t had one but I do plan on having a home water birth if I can. I’m not pregnant yet, but hopefully will be towards the end of the year.
I have been at two home births (my mother’s youngest two) and was my sister’s birthing partner at her hospital birth.
Honestly, I don’t remember a huge amount about the home births I attended as a child, but we have bits of the labour on our family videos and it seems peaceful and natural. I know my mother vastly preferred her two home births to her two hospital births.
As for the hospital birth I was at, I kind of felt like my sister and I were kind of on the edge of what was happening, even though it was my sister who was giving birth. There were little things, such as it being in the plan that I cut the cord, but the training midwife cut it.
I think if you do some research, you’ll know what choice feels right for you. Everyone’s different, so it would be different for everyone 
I haven’t had one but I do plan on having a home water birth if I can. I’m not pregnant yet, but hopefully will be towards the end of the year.
I have been at two home births (my mother’s youngest two) and was my sister’s birthing partner at her hospital birth.
Honestly, I don’t remember a huge amount about the home births I attended as a child, but we have bits of the labour on our family videos and it seems peaceful and natural. I know my mother vastly preferred her two home births to her two hospital births.
As for the hospital birth I was at, I kind of felt like my sister and I were kind of on the edge of what was happening, even though it was my sister who was giving birth. There were little things, such as it being in the plan that I cut the cord, but the training midwife cut it.
I think if you do some research, you’ll know what choice feels right for you. Everyone’s different, so it would be different for everyone
I had a water birth with my 3rd baby in a birthing unit. Not sure about where you are if you have birthing units, but here in NZ they are for natural / normal births - no drugs, minimal interventions and midwife care. Sort of between a home birth and a hospital birth.
Anyway, I found the pool to be great. Awesome to be floating and a bit weightless. In comparison to my 1st baby who was born on the bed (lying down) it was a lot better. Nice and warm and nothing to make you all uncomfortable. It’s still a painful job but I thought the pool did take the edge off!
My mum had a home birth with my youngest brother but I was 16 so tried to avoid the whole thing really!
Thank you for sharing. I’m just thinking about my options as marriage and having a baby hopefully, are in the very near future (2-3years). I like the whole idea of being in the comfort of my own home but I know there are also birthing centers in my area as well. I’m open to a hospital too but I’ll know what’s best for me and baby when I get to that point. What matters most to me is my and the baby’s safety and well being. I’m doing a lot of research as well. I just want to have as much information as possible you know and I love
[name_m]Reading[/name_m] about other people’s experiences have been. I’m also curious to know how the costs to home water birth, prenatal care, postnatal care with a midwife compared to in hospital and with an OB/GYN for you all. If you found out that it was more or less or about the same, if you don’t mind sharing.
Hopefully more people answer. Thanks again!
I am due in [name_u]November[/name_u] and planning to deliver at a local birthing center with easy access to a great [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Friendly hospital. [name_u]Baby[/name_u] Friendly is a kind of hospital rating system having to due with various policies and practices of the hospital.
The birthing center does have tubs in each room, so I can do a water birth if I want. This is my first pregnancy, so I don’t know what I will want when it comes down to it, but its nice to have the option.
I actually chose the birthing center for the prenatal care, though. This might sound dumb, but I don’t care as much about the birth itself. That is just one day (or so.) My main concern with that is a SAFE birth. This place is all certified nurse midwives with full hospital privileges. So if I need to transfer, it is easy to do so and the midwife will come with me, even to a c-section. So I feel good about all of that. It is a good balance if western medicine and midwifery woo, if that makes sense. They show you studies there to back up everything they recommend. I love that. I’ll let you know how the birth part goes in [name_u]November[/name_u].
There are a TON of prenatal appointments in any pregnancy In this practice, I get there at my appointment time, I get to see the midwife immediately, and she is with me throughout the 30 minute appointment. I can bring my son with me to all my appointments. [name_m]Just[/name_m] not having to line up babysitters for him is huge. They are very respectful and thorough and they listen well. Seriously, I wish I could find a regular doctor this good.
As to cost: honestly, that is another reason I chose them. I have really lousy insurance, waa never expecting tp get pregnant, and thus will be paying a lot out of pocket. To be clear, my insurance DOES cover just as much of the birthing center expenses as it would a hospital birth. I just still have to pay a lot.
Everything all together (all prenatal appointments, the birth, postpartum visits, etc) is about $7K. I checked at the local hospitals, its more like $7K just for a normal, unmedicated vaginal birth. Its more if you need an epidural or anything. And the prenatal appointments, etc, would be more on top of that. So cost was another of my non-idealistic reasons for choosing them.
Homebirths are actually illegal in my state. I don’t know which states they are legal in, but this would be something to look into. I know several moms who have had them anyhow, including a couple who had unattended births (“freebirths”) on purpose. You can get a direct entry midwife to attend homebirths, even here. It is pretty hard to enforce this being illegal bc you can always say that the baby came more quickly than expected. My problem with this is that if you do end up needing to transfer to the hospital, the midwife won’t have privileges there and it can be difficult to transfer. And I have heard of hospital staff being somewhat hostile to women who transfer.
Since you aren’t pregnant yet, my biggest advice is to research your insurance options. Check out what they cover and what they don’t. Some carriers won’t cover home birth, others will. They won’t cover it if its illegal in your state, so check and see what your state laws are.
Finally, both birthing centers and home birth midwives take only low risk patients who probably will not need any interventions during labor. Being higher risk is often completely out of your control, but to help your odds, make sure your BMI is within a healthy range (this was one of the requirements of the practice I am with.) Exercise regularly, eat healthy foods, don’t drink excessively, don’t smoke- you know the drill. Again, high risk is very often entirely out of your control, but you can do what you can do ahead of time to help up the chances of being able to have the birth you want.
@tarynkay: Thanks for that great insight. I’ve actually learned that it’s mandatory that all health insurances in my state cover homebirth. Idk how much they’ll cover everything but probably a good portion of it. Midwives here also have to carry a liability insurance. All of these things are good to know if I do decide to go this route in the future. I’m glad you’re having such a good experience with your birthing center I wish you and baby the best of health and looking forward to reading about it later on. I’m so excited about all of this stuff so I’m preparing myself now cause time flies and we’ll be ready before you know it. Also, I just always get a head of myself. I also have to look into insurance but luckily my SO’s work provides him with really great health insurance that would cover most of our
expenses. Thanks again and good luck.
It is 100% free in NZ for a midwife assisted birth (home, hospital, birth unit). That’s prenatal, birth/labour and postnatal care for mum and baby up to 6 weeks. Then baby is transferred to another free service for care until school age. Obviously if something happens and you need specialist care during birth (c-section etc) it’s still free. I think to go with an OB from the get-go it’s around the $1000-$2000 mark. So that’s not much help, as I know you guys have a totally different health system!
Absolutely, the safety of baby and you is paramount. You will know what is best for you. If you are near a hospital then I am sure (personal experience in a totally different country is all I have to base this on!) if there is any sign of distress etc then I would hope the midwife will put you straight in an ambulance for the hospital. I found a birth centre to best for me but would have loved a home birth if I had family in the same city to mind my bigger girls. If you are aiming for a no drug and intervention free birth then I feel that it is not always necessary to go to the hospital but you will know your own feelings on that. Good luck with all the research, it’s great you are thinking about it.
That’s awesome that you all are provided with those services there. I guess only time will tell what the best decision for us will be but it’s still good to read about this stuff. Thank you for the reassurance.
I’m typically a pretty laid back person, I rarely go to the doctor and generally let my body fight off whatever ails me (within reason). But as a nurse working in a specialty paediatric hospital on a paediatric medicine floor where I see complex care children on a daily basis, I would never be comfortable with a home birth for myself.
That’s not to say you shouldn’t do it, plenty of people do, I’ve just seen so many perfectly healthy pregnancies end with a child needing resus at birth that being outside of a place that could provide that in the moment would make me incredibly uncomfortable.
Of course in healthcare we alway hear the horror stories too, of midwives waiting too long to call an ambulance where fetal or maternal distress was evident. Not to say things like that can’t happen in a hospital, I’d just personally feel more comfortable in a place with RTs, neonatologists, a NICU etc.
I had a home birth with my 4th kid. It was more comfortable but still painful. It’s better than the hospital. Believe me!:rolleyes:
Midwives here bring equipment to a homebirth to resuscitate a baby if needed.
I think a well trained midwife is important, and here in NZ the statistics relating to the outcomes of hospital vs homebirth are very similar.
As I live close to the hospital, I feel comfortable that I could get there by the time they would have a surgery ready for me if I was to need an emergency c-section or something.
I had my daughter at home and plan to with the new baby as well. I actually went into labor at 37.5 weeks and had a small baby (5lbs14oz) and a relatively short labor for a first baby (about 14 hours), so I might be singing a different tune if I had been in labor for 24 hours with a 9 pounder! I had a great experience. I walked around between contractions, ate snacks, took showers, went for a swim in the pool, and then went through the transition labor in our own tub (a large one). I was planning on birthing in the tub, but then I just really wanted to get out and get in the bed. My midwife tried to direct me to the birthing stool (it’s like 3/4s of a toiled), but after 5 minutes I wanted off. I can’t explain it…the bed was just calling my name! There was a period of about 20 minutes when I was transitioning where I would have screamed for an epidural had I been in a hospital, but since it wasn’t an option, I knew I just had to carry on.
I don’t have a medicated or hospital birth to compare it to, but I was amazed at how quickly I recovered. I was tired of course, but I was physically up and about almost immediately with only a little soreness in the expected places. I was able to nurse immediately without being self-conscious (I didn’t even put on a shirt the first day). My husband and I spent three days just hanging out in bed with baby and watching Netflix while people brought food. It was great!
If you go with a homebirth, I’d recommend not fixating on any one birthing position. I wanted to change positions constantly. Sometimes I wanted to be in water, sometimes I wanted to bounce around on the birthing ball, sometimes I wanted to be on the floor with my backside in the air. Sometimes I wanted to walk up and down the hall. Sometimes I wanted to lay in the bed with a pillow between my legs. That’s the nice thing about homebirth, though. You can do whatever you want without asking permission or waiting to get unhooked.
Both my little girls were born at home, and I’m planning another home birth for this [name_u]November[/name_u]. Giving birth is amazing. I can’t wait to do it again!
I’m a land birther though, I absolutely can’t stay still when contractions hit, I need room to run (ok ok, briskly waddle while I hold my stomach or back and moan like a wounded hippo. Whatever.) and so I found being in a pool or tub too restrictive. Hot water is a great pain reliever though, so I spend a great deal of time in the shower when I’m in labour. I prefer to give birth standing up.
Where I am, birth centre births and hospital births through the public system are free (thank you medicare) but I don’t even care. I’m willing to fork over several grand for the care I need and the kind of birth I can enjoy. I’m a big fan of continuity of care, and I like being able to call the shots on everything that happens.
Here is a link with some great info on water birth. Evidence on Waterbirth
Thanks for the opinions and sharing your experiences. [name_f]Glad[/name_f] that they’re mostly positive, it’s very reassuring. Definitely will be something to consider.
I have been debating my approach to labor recently, so this discussion is super interesting. I’d imagined a home water birth for years, but my partner and I were discussing how far away we live from a hospital (1.5 hours to the one we’d feel most comfortable in), so I started to reconsider… My mother and my sister were at home/birthing center first, then ended up going to the hospital due to complications. I guess I’m just a bit scared of the whole thing. I don’t know what I want to do yet.
Thanks to everyone for sharing your experiences and thoughts!!!
I really wanted to have a home/water birth, but my husband was afraid of complications, so we compromised on a birthing center at the hospital. I was quite happy with the care, and with our daughter we plan on a water birth at home.