"Homebirth in the Hospital" - Page 2

[Belle]

My hospital birth was about as good as it could be. It was mostly positive but I had to fight for what I didn't want. I was extraordinarily lucky to have supportive nurses, an uncomplicated labor, and an on-call OB who didn't interfere too much.

If my home birth had been in the hospital. I'd have either been pitted or sectioned. No question whatsoever. I had PROM with no labor. We just simply waited for labor to begin. When labor began 36 hours after my water broke, I had an easy four hour labor in the comfort of my own home. They also probably would have freaked about the double nuchal cord. Not a big deal at home. Just unwrap it before the baby was brought to the surface.

[Gena 22]

We should have more choices, and there aren't enough FBCs out there. There are some hospital attached or affiliated BCs, but in the ones I know, it's not anywhere close to HB in a hospital.

Until our liability practices change in this country, there will never be "HB in a hospital."

That said, would I travel and birth in a facility dedicated to natural birth but with the medical equipment on hand should help be needed? Maybe. If for some reason I risked out of a homebirth and wanted to be safer, I might travel to the Farm in Tenn. A friend who'se a MW suggested it, and the idea's always interested me.

But generally no. My homebirth was just what I wanted. With a skilled midwife and close to a hospital, but in my own space and doing what I knew was right for my babies and I. Laboring at my own pace and not traveling through it. Recovering in situ. How can you beat that?

[mamabadger]

Originally Posted by Belle

My hospital birth was about as good as it could be. It was mostly positive but I had to fight for what I didn't want. I was extraordinarily lucky to have supportive nurses, an uncomplicated labor, and an on-call OB who didn't interfere too much.

If my home birth had been in the hospital. I'd have either been pitted or sectioned. No question whatsoever. I had PROM with no labor. We just simply waited for labor to begin. When labor began 36 hours after my water broke, I had an easy four hour labor in the comfort of my own home. They also probably would have freaked about the double nuchal cord. Not a big deal at home. Just unwrap it before the baby was brought to the surface.

I think it is the slightly more complicated births that need to be out of the hospital. Variations like the ones mentioned above, which can be managed safely with little or no interference, will often result in major interventions, or at least aggressive monitoring, if they happen in a hospital.

Our local hospital likes to talk about the nice birthing rooms they provide, with labour tubs and squatting bars, always with the provision, "As long as you are low risk." However, almost a third of the women who go into the hospital are designated high risk for one reason or another, and have to accept the conventional delivery table/stirrups/separation from baby routine.

I helped out and attended births for a couple of years at a freestanding birth centre, run by very experienced CPMs. It seemed like every other birth would involve a minor complication of some kind - not a dangerous one, but one that would cause L&D staff to freak. The midwives would often note (quietly to each other), "If she were in the hospital, this would risk her out of the birthing room," or "She'd be getting her Cesarean about now." And it was true - just being out of the hospital made the difference between a natural birth and needless intervention or surgery.

[Gena 22]

Yeah to that!

[Gena 22]

From above: "I think it is the slightly more complicated births that need to be out of the hospital. Variations like the ones mentioned above, which can be managed safely with little or no interference, will often result in major interventions, or at least aggressive monitoring, if they happen in a hospital."

Yup! That's why I had a HB in the first place. Twins! Since they were my first, and I had a family history of long labors, I knew a hospital birth meant an unnecessary c/s. So I found a way to birth at home and loved it.