Anybody here planning a homebirth? - Page 6 « Back to Group Discussions

[nstewart]

Originally Posted by SplashingPuddle 

I am planning on a home birth.  My daughter was born in our bedroom.  Luckily, we only have a midwife in our community and 1/2 of births are home births. So everyone knows someone whose had one and its very normal. I don't think I've had one response that seemed unsupportive.  What I'm unsure of this time though is whether to include my daughter who will be 3.  When I think back to my last birth, there is no way I could imagine a child present.  Are others planning on have sijourblings present at your home birth?   

When I first started on this HB journey, I was sure that if I had a HB I didn't want DS there (he'll also be almost 3).  Now...I am not so sure.  Part of me would like him there.  I am thinking of talking to my sister about being there for DS and I like the idea of her experiencing a natural birth as well (she's 3 years younger than me and has no children yet).  I haven't decided yet, but have lots of time to change my mind a few times.  I'll do what feels right for me and for DS at the time.

aHikaru - I didn't have a HB last time.  I did tear, but internally only.  I had a cathetar placed (because I couldn't pee) and had to stay in the hospital 2 nights before they would remove the cathetar.  In making the deicsion to have a HB I was specifically concerned about tearing and if I did having, having to have a catheter and having to go to the hospital after the birth to get one, etc.  I spoke to my midwife about this, and she said that if I did need stitches she can do them.  If I do need a cathetar she can place it for me.  If I need an IV for some reason, she can do that too.  She said though, that at the hospital they are pretty quick to give you a cathetar.  She will usually give the patients a timeline and to call her if they don't pee within x hours after she leaves.  If they don't, she'll come back to place the cathetar.  But she said she's never had to go back and place a cathetar.  So, you'll want to speak to your MW specifically about what support they can offer if you do tear, etc., but I also would say that a key part to not tearing is having good birth support and that epistiotimies are very rarely necessary.

[Loogiejane]

I personally haven't had any births yet :P but from what I know, MWs generally don't do episiotomies? Cuz what if you're someone who doesnt tear? Then you wind up with an incision anyway. I know of many MWs who will help massage/stretch the (sp?) perinium with oils if needed, to help avoid tearing.

My sis tore at her first HB and wound up having to get a few stitches right after the delivery. The MW just did the stitches right then and there in the room she birthed in.
 

[Loogiejane]

nStewart- do you mind me asking what that means that you tore on the inside?
 

[nstewart]

Not at all.  Just that, my perineum didn't tear but I did have an interal vaginal tear (one of the disadvantages of a fast first labor and crazy intense pushing urges that I didn't control very well I guess).  I did need stitches but had no issue with recovery and in fact no pain at all. I didn't have any pelvic floor damage or anything like that.

[Lynann]

I had a tiny tear last time, but the midwife dealt with it and I never had any issues. Mine was caused by a nuchal arm.

[SplashingPuddle]

I tore during my home birth and the midwife stitched me up and then checked the stitches in the following days.  I also had a injection to stop bleeding immediately after birth as well.  I hardly noticed either one at the time.

[BeagleMommy]

Like Splashing Puddle, I tore with my first (first child and first homebirth) and hemorrhaged. I didn't tear badly enough to need stitches, although my MW can surely do them. I did receive a shot of pitocin to stop the bleeding. She also gave me an herbal tincture.

I am needle phobic, but I don't remember the shot, just the AWFUL tasting herbal.

I figure by baby number three, if people aren't supportive of our decision they at least know enough to keep their mouths shut.

[Loogiejane]

Originally Posted by BeagleMommy 

Like Splashing Puddle, I tore with my first (first child and first homebirth) and hemorrhaged. I didn't tear badly enough to need stitches, although my MW can surely do them. I did receive a shot of pitocin to stop the bleeding. She also gave me an herbal tincture.
I am needle phobic, but I don't remember the shot, just the AWFUL tasting herbal.
I figure by baby number three, if people aren't supportive of our decision they at least know enough to keep their mouths shut.

Hemorrhaging (and not to be morbid, but...dying from it) is a fear of mine. I don't know if that's me being dramatic. How was it determined you hemorrhaged?

[SplashingPuddle]

My midwife gave me pitocin as well to stop the bleeding. I am not sure how she made the assessment that I was bleeding a lot.  She didn't discuss the shot with me.  She just gave it to me and afterwards said that I'd needed it.  I was OK with that.  It's actually the one concern that I have with an unassisted birth. Although I feel quite interested in unassisted birth, I am concerned about bleeding and needing another injection (which I would give myself). I am not sure how I would assess if the amount of blood was normal or not, so I was grateful for her experience with it. 

[BeagleMommy]

I didn't know about it until afterwards either. I don't know how she knew specifically, but she knew it was too much.

I didn't have any problems with my second homebirth. My son was bigger (9 pounds) and I had no tearing or excessive bleeding. Same midwife.

[pastormama]

Originally Posted by Loogiejane 

I personally haven't had any births yet :P but from what I know, MWs generally don't do episiotomies? Cuz what if you're someone who doesnt tear? Then you wind up with an incision anyway. I know of many MWs who will help massage/stretch the (sp?) perinium with oils if needed, to help avoid tearing.

My sis tore at her first HB and wound up having to get a few stitches right after the delivery. The MW just did the stitches right then and there in the room she birthed in.
 

Many women don't tear at all, and don't need an incision (my sister, for instance - in the hospital!)!  My midwives will only repair first-degree tears.  They transport to their OB for anything more serious, because they want it repaired right by someone who does lots of stitches.  But they also said that these are not life-threatening transports.  These are "wait a little bit after birth and then head to hospital."  They will give pitocin to stop bleeding if that is a problem.  Tearing doesn't automatically mean hemorrhage.  I, too, had second-degree tearing in my first birth because of a nuchal hand (she kept that hand by her face in every ultrasound picture, and for months after birth!).  The stitches weren't bad, and the bleeding wasn't an issue.  The recovery, though . . . that hurt.  Hard to sit on anything or to sit up for breastfeeding in the first few weeks.  Not much that could have been done about the hand, though!

[pastormama]

Originally Posted by SplashingPuddle 

I am planning on a home birth.  My daughter was born in our bedroom.  Luckily, we only have a midwife in our community and 1/2 of births are home births. So everyone knows someone whose had one and its very normal. I don't think I've had one response that seemed unsupportive.  What I'm unsure of this time though is whether to include my daughter who will be 3.  When I think back to my last birth, there is no way I could imagine a child present.  Are others planning on have siblings present at your home birth?   

I have decided that my daughter (who will be about 25 months at that time) will not be present for birth.  She stays at her grandma's every Saturday night, and is very comfortable there.  She is a needy child and demands my total and full attention when we are together.  This is normally not a problem for me, but when I need to focus on labor, I can see it stalling out my body as I worry about her.  

I really only want my midwives and husband there.  I just found out he invited a close friend of ours who is studying to be an OB/Family Doctor to observe - I was livid!  He was all "it's no big deal, she is a medical professional, etc."  I'm like - when people are in my house I get nervous, worry if they're comfortable, worry if they need a drink or if there is enough toilet paper.  I just worry.  I don't want any extraneous energy in the house to distract me.  Know what I mean?

[Lynann]

My midwife told me that too much blood at birth is anything over 500cc. I was just over that at about 600cc for my HBAC (with the nuchal arm), so I'm in the process of learning about herbs to reduce the bleeding. I'm not overly concerned though as I appear to make a lot of extra blood while pregnant so can afford to loose a little more than the standard amount. I didn't feel any ill effects from blood loss, nor the tear that got stitched.

[nstewart]

That's good information Lynann.  That's just over the amount that Canadian Blood Services would take for blood donation (450cc).  I've never felt woozy or bad or anything after donating blood.

[moriahmoonstar]

The midwife I work with has all her clients get plantain in case of excessive bleeding extra birth, they take it in tincture form. I plan on having some handy in case I need it.

[FarmerMomma]

I'm very excited about a homebirth, after a fast, natural hospital birth. Since I don't live in same town as my boyfriend it was awesome to hear that the midwives I interviewed were willing to assist in either town. I labored in the tub lots for first birth, so excited about water birth. I want to put a kiddy pool inside and out in case it's a warm day or not. In my head I mostly imagine it in my boyfriends house. Maybe cause he has less clutter and already has enough open space for it.

I got to go with a friend to The Farm for a midwife birth. It was awesome, but I want to be home, starting a family/home with my boyfriend.

[Loogiejane]

That's awesome you got to visit the farm! I met Ina May last week at a screening of Freedom For Birth and got to hear her speak! Yay!

[aHikaru]

met with the first midwife today and left feeling more like I could do it on my own. this labor could go faster than my first, so i'm already preparing for the possibility of an unplanned home birth. I have one more midwife interview tomorrow, hope it goes a little better. 

[Loogiejane]

Soooooo........I am starting to have anxiety/crying episodes/dreams about my insurance already giving us a hard time about coverage for our HB. And my midwife is *expensive*. I knew we'd have some kind of out of pocket balance but there's this threat of them not covering it at ALL and I'm freaking. I do not see myself in any other situation for birth in my area.

Anyone else going through this?

[MarieWalter]

Loogie, that's really stressful stuff. Sorry to hear that it's starting to affect you that way. There are some great resources on requesting that your insurance cover your HB even if they say the won't. I don't have any personal experience, but spent a while looking into this a few months ago. Here's a start - http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/preApproval.html - that site has a lot of relevant pages (many linked in the page above), including stuff (if memory serves) about having your midwife bill them directly. Not sure if that's a service yours offers or if her practice can help you out or at least offer suggestions specific to your insurer - worth asking about.

Hope you can find some tools to cope with the psychological side of things as well. I am personally super stressed out today (family stuff, not birth related) and am about to go take an olive oil bath and think up some mantras for myself to use while the storm blows over.