Naiive newbie here!

[Ozzy'sMama]

Another newbie here just trying to sort some things out. Hubby and I are planning on having another babe soon. I've been interested in home birthing since I gave birth to Oscar. He was a hospital born babe. I don't want to repeat the same birth. A homebirthing makes me feel at ease......except that I have a million questions!

One of the biggest worries I have is about transfers. I had an easy birth with Oscar, only 3 hours or so and he was out. If a midwife felt that you needed to have a transfer, does that mean for sure you'd need a c-section? To be honest, I don't even have a clue why women have to be transfered. What do midwives not have?

My second question will be probably be as naiive as the first. Even though I gave birth, I seem to have no idea what it is even about. Can you compare your first birth with those that follow? Oscar's birth was fairly quick. I stayed home during until I was 7cm or so. My mom realised they were getting a bit tough for me only because my feet curled. When I was assessed, they had to take 3 looks because they couldn't believe I was that far along. The only reason it took so long for Oscar to arrive was because I panicked. I didn't know it could be so easy and was floored when they said it was time. So.......am I looking at another quick birth like this???? Does it work like this often?

Forgive me for being so naiive. I want a homebirthing so bad. I don't want anyone to ever take my baby from me again. I want to wake up to my two little babes. I don't want to be marching through a hosptial searching for the child I just gave birth to. Not again.

Thanks in advance.
Sara & Oscar (04/11/26)

[cathicog]

Sounds like you would be an excellent candidate for homebirth or even Unassisted, since you labor so easily...However, read the resources sticky and educate yourself. Sometimes things can go south quickly, but that is not common. For someone who apparently births as fast as you do, you should prepare yourself for an unassisted birth, even if a midwife will be there. Babies do come quickly sometimes! So educate and prepare yourself, and enjoy a home birth, waterbirth, even! I would never set foot in a hospital again if I could help it. They just arent' where most pg women should be....

[PancakeGoddess]

If your first was that fast, it seems likely the next ones will be as well. That is often the case, although not 100% of the time. Sounds like you'll do fine with a homebirth

[Arwyn]

The most common reason women transport in labor is probably maternal exhaustion (especially true for first time moms, who have about a 10-20% transport rate). Overall the transfer rate is about 12% on average (I'd be a little leary of anything over 15%, unless the midwife gets a lot of first time moms), most of those are first timers, and almost all of them are non-emergency transports.

CPMs (Certified Professional Midwives, the ones who do most of the homebirths in the US) have an average c/sec rate of about 3-5%. So less than half of all transports wind up with a cesarean - more often, mom needs an epidural so she can rest, or pitocin (or just a change of scenery!) to move labor along, or even just EFM to monitor less than ideal fetal heart tones.

For more information on CPMs and their track record and transport reasons, see www.cfmidwifery.org - under the resources section, there's info on the large prospective CPM study.

I'd say you're an excellent homebirth candidate. Good luck!