did you have unexpected problems with home birth? - Page 6

[nfpmom]

Lisieux,
I am so sorry for your loss. I have an online acquaintance who lost her baby after a SD at home. Birth is as safe as life gets... at home or in the hospital, complications arise... if you are at home, it might have helped if you were in the hospital. If you are in the hospital, it might have helped if you were at home. The secret is accepting the responsibilty for your decision and the potential complications that may happen, as rare as it might be. This was my thinking going into my homebirth VBAC attempt. (We did transfer after a prolonged 2 nd stage- posterior baby- repeat CS)
take care

[liseux]

Thank you Elaine & Miriam.

Elaine, when you say "birth is as safe as life gets" , that quote usually just irritates me, but the way you put it it makes sense. I had the help of a wonderful therapist for the first year after my son died. She was a pro homebirth childbirth educator, she helped me go over my experience a million times until I got over the guilt and now I know that a true disaster is a disaster anywhere. I still believe hb is safe, but its not for me, but I do believe that for a low risk mama, it is the best, especially when it comes to keeping the baby close and quickly assimilated into his/her new family. That`s a challenge in the hospital.

[lacysmommy]

I had problems after birth, but it was no big deal and handled at home. My blood pressure got really low and I passed out a couple times, which required oxygen and bedrest. No biggie, but it was definately out of the ordinary. My MW and I are talking about ways to avoid that in the future.

[staceyshoe]

No problems at all! There was meconium when my water broke at the start of labor, but my mw said it was "avg" not thick so wasn't a problem. If we were in the hosp, my baby would have been whisked away and had a tube shoved down his throat. So glad we avoided all that drama!

[joyberryjoy]

i'd love to add to these responses with a whole new group of mamas...

[Slingin'Momto4]

My 2 home water births went AWESOME, no problems at all! I am planning my 3rd one in May!

[kerikadi]

:

What she said - 2 perfect waterbirths at home but our next one is coming in March

Keri

[Shonahsmom]

I had thick, dark meconium when my water broke and it kept getting thicker and darker every time there was a gush of fluid. My MW said she could not attend me at home and recommended we transfer. We did. She had priveledges at the hospital we went to and still attended my dd's unmedicated, non-intervention (due to my fierce self-advocacy) vaginal birth. DD aspirated deeply (there's some scale they have that marks the severity and hers was as bad as could be; they showed me her x-ray). She did not take a breathe on her own after they worked on her for twenty minutes so she did have to be intubated and remained intubated for three days.

I believe it was the right choice for the circumstance, but if I ever have another child I will go for a homebirth again and am still a strong homebirth advocate.

[fruitfulmomma]

Second Homebirth

Wow. I posted on this way back in 2002 after my second child's birth. She was born after a transport to the hospital. I decided to transport after we discovered she had her head tilted sideways and I had been pushing and tired out. Once we arrived to the hospital I was given fentynol (???) to relax a bit and she was born vaginally within an hour, without further interventions.

Our third child was also born in the hospital. She was 4 weeks "overdue" and we went in for a second ultrasound to check fluid levels and determine what to do next. They said I was already dialated to 4 and having contractions while they monitored me. The ultrasound showed possible birth defects in her heart. We called our midwife to come over and while waiting for her the contractions stopped, so once she came and we talked things over, my care was handed over to the OB on call and we chose to induce labor with AROM. The OB was really great and said my midwife could deliver the baby if she wanted, but my dh wanted to catch, so the midwife acted as a doula for me. It was a really short labor - 5 hours. When she was born, she had to be taken to the NICU because she was bluish and having a hard time breathing. My husband stayed with her there. They ran some tests and determined her heart was okay. So, we got to come home the next day.

Our fourth child was born last week (26th) at home. She was our second home birth. I was feeling really nervous before her birth, but every thing went really smoothly. We helped labor along with red raspberry leaf and some other natural things, because I was starting to retain water and was 41 weeks along. Labor lasted about 8 hours. She was sitting up high until the last few minutes, then she came fast. She was 9lbs. and 12oz. My largest baby so far, and only a minor tear, which I couldn't even feel. The midwife's assistant had been massaging and guarding the perinium, and I could really tell the difference. Didn't even feel the head come out - I started feeling the ring of fire and then nothing and they said the head was out... thought they meant that they could see the head and then I reached down and felt that she was already out. I am really happy that I was able to birth at home again.

[kalisis]

We had an absolute textbook labor and delivery for our planned homebirth. I haven't read the whole thread b/c I am superstitous about reading all the things that can go wrong, but wanted to respond.

We're planning a second homebirth and I'm hoping it will be UC this go round, even tho we have a m/w.

[lovemysunshine]

I voted yes, problem with baby, but birthed at home. It wasn't a major issue and would have happened in the hospital anyway.

I pushed out DS' head in the water, but his shoulders were stuck. Not a true dystocia according to the mw, but stuck nonetheless. So I had to get out of the tub and she helped a bit to get his shoulders out. It had been about 5 minutes since the head was out when she decided to intervene due to possible breathing issues. He ended up not needing oxygen, but had to be rubbed up a bit to start his breathing.

I think the outcome would have been much worse in the hospital. He was big (10 lbs 1 oz and 22 inches) for me (5'4" and average weight) and I'm sure the OB's would have tried to force me into a c/s or an induction at the very least. Thank goodness for homebirth!

[StacyL]

I voted "problem with baby" but it was a very minor shoulder dystocia.

I spent the last hour of labor trying to HOLD HIM IN until the MW got there. He got stuck a bit at the shoulders (he was 10 lbs. 2 oz. with a 15 1/4" head : ) and we did three pushes in three different postitions to get him out, after his head was out. He was a bit slow to breathe, but otherwise just fine. if I'd been in a hospital, they probably would have given me a c-section.

[StacyL]

OMGosh - I just read the previous post - that was just like me! I am small too - 5'5".

[Sijae]

I had 3 totally normal homebirths.

Laura

[huggerwocky]

uneventful home waterbirth, I just lost a little more blood than would have been ideal with anemia.

[marieandchris]

My 2nd baby was a breech, just like her older brother. My midwives would not attempt a homebirth VBAC, so at 41 weeks when my AFI turned out to be under 1%, I had my 2nd (and final) section.

I so wanted by HBAC...

Marie

[WAmommy]

Not a single problem for baby or me. All went as smooth as could be.

[Full Heart]

#1 - No problems

#2 - Transfer for FTP after 24 hours of labor 12 of which were at 7 cm (had pph in the hospital and passed out)

#3 - no problems

#4 - Dehydrated due to castor oil and passed out twice after the birth, refused to transfer. Baby was fine.

#5 - No problems

#6 - Placenta seperated during pushing but no problems at all with the baby or pp.

Nothing overly alarming.

[mama_at_home]

We didn't have problems but there were a few surprises, that probably would have been a problem in hospital. After baby A was born, baby B turned transverse. Many OBs will automatically do a c-section for that but my midwives were able to turn him head down and all was fine. Also they were both born in the water, but both had short cords so I could not lift them to my belly right away. We wanted the cord to pulse awhile for each baby so I was just holding them (not at the same time obviously) between my legs trying to keep their heads above water. Baby A was also born with her hand above her head and I got a 2nd degree tear that could not be stitched. Anyway, those were a few of the unexpected things but no serious problems. I don't even want to think about how my birth would have been at a hospital. :

[teachermom]

I've had two births at private birth centers, more like homebirthing at someone else's house and one birth at my own home (one hospital one but that doesn't apply here). all of my births had a little something...
first birth he got stuck and his heart tones dropped way down... midwife cut me (with my permission) to get him out quick...I ended up with a fourth degree tear that later got infected. all after 36 hours of labor. I figure that I would have been sectioned at a hospital so it all worked out ok.
second birth... 18 hrs labor. bad, bad back labor. baby was postier. we later realized that she also had her hand on her head...midwife had to reach in and move it...ouch. she was born ok...all ten lbs of her. I hemorrhaged two hours later, passed out, ended up with pitocin shot and iv through out the night. We knew from an earlier ultrasound that I had a really low laying placenta.
birth three was in hospital due to me being on insulin
birth four was in my home. 12 hrs. baby got stuck during delivery. I got him out without being cut but pulled every muscle in my bottom (I rolled around my house on an office chair for several days because I could not walk). he was blue and needed oxygen. I didn't even realize how bad it was at the time. It was only after looking at the birth pictures that I realized that his feet and hands were dark blue. his face looked bruised for days.

all of our issues were easily dealt with by midwives who knew what they were doing. I would choose to have a homebirth every time.