did you have unexpected problems with home birth? - Page 8

[charmander]

No problems. It was a wonderful experience.

[BathrobeGoddess]

nak...
i voted problems with baby...

i knew it was uncommon but i am still surprised no one else had this. She had a prolapsed cord and we had to transfer via ambulance for an emergency section.

it would have happened that way no matter where we were...i'm glad i got to labor at home though.

[witchbaby]

maternal exhaustion after over 24 hours of active labor, hospital transfer for epidural, vbac 13 hours later.

[Bridgett]

Wow, I'm glad I didn't read this thread before I had my homebirth.

I had a fabulous homebirth with no problems. My labor was fast, nearly pain-free and my daughter was born with a total of two pushes.

I had two previous "natural" hospital births, so I didn't have any childbrith related fear issues to deal with. I also didn't have any issues relating to previous complications. To be honest, I was much more afraid of the hospital than I was of a homebirth. I really hate hospitals!

I didn't read through all the pages on this thread, but I wanted to offer my congratulations to every woman here who attempted a homebirth, including those who ended up birthing elsewhere. It's great when life happens the way we plan it, but that's not always the nature of life, is it? I especially admire women who have the courage to attempt a HBAC.

[PinkPixie]

My two homebirth were fast and went well. No problems during labour, but ds did come out blue and took a while to breathe (cyanosis) but he recovred quickly thanks to my experienced midwife.

[joyberryjoy]

bumping for the FIVE year anniversary of this poll. this is a great sample size to show that homebirth is a safe choice. how wonderful!

thanks to everyone who has answered the last few years. :

[kijip]

Originally Posted by jordmoder

Second baby was planned to be at the hospital because of the first baby - I should have just stayed home, as he was born 10 minutes after we got there and he was just fine. He was almost born in the car, which I think is even less pleasant than a hospital birth!

I was born in the car in the parking lot of the hospital. Needless to say that after planning a HB and then being told to transfer by the midwife and then not making it to the hospital my parents were disappointed. Also they were more than a little amused when they recieved a bill from the hospital for a "delivery room charge"

[Munchkimo]

I voted that I had problems and transferred to the hospital. That said, I do NOT even slightly regret trying to homebirth.

My problems were:

3 long days of prodormal labor and no sleep.
A cervical lip that my midwife was unable to help me resolve.
A strong, irresistable urge to push at only 7.5 centimeters dialation.

I went to the hospital. They gave me Nubain which did nothing whatsoever, then they did a spinal block. I went completely numb from my waist down and the pushing urge stopped. I dialated shortly thereafter but no longer had an urge to push. The OB decided to "help" with the vacuum extractor. My son's shoulders were a bit stuck but he was born in good condition.

[AbbieB]

I was in labor for 51 hours. Way longer than I had thought. DD's head was not quite in the right position, but she moved and the birth was fine.

I had a retained placenta (and a PPH) that my midwife needed to help come out. Not pleasant but everything was OK. I was very weak for a week or so but I did fine. No infections.

I am home birthing again with the same midwife even though we are now out of state.

[finn'smama]

No problems...we had a great experience!

[Carolinamidwife]

My homebirth (water) was totally perfect. Fast, only painful at the very end, perfect baby, no tears, easy 3rd stage. I had what midwives call a "butter birth." I wish I could do it again, it was the best day of my life.

[joyberryjoy]

so wonderful to hear these stories.

[ashleep]

Originally Posted by finn'smama

No problems...we had a great experience!

:

[joyberryjoy]

let's add the experiences of mamas who've birthed since the last post!

[christyc]

Had a LOT of worrisome bleeding. One IV shot of pitocin, two intramuscular shots, and a few days worth of methergine (plus a whole lotta blood building natural supplements) took care of it though-- no transfer.

[2+twins]

Originally Posted by christyc

Had a LOT of worrisome bleeding. One IV shot of pitocin, two intramuscular shots, and a few days worth of methergine (plus a whole lotta blood building natural supplements) took care of it though-- no transfer.

: That pretty much sums up my last birth too only all my shots were IM.

[JesseMomme]

Wow, this thread is older than my own membership

oops hit reply too soon...anyways..
I did have a mild/moderate PPH after my last birth (I didn't lose conciousness, but it took me a week to recover from the blood loss), but handled it on my own without having to seek medical help.

[theresa_caine]

no problems...hbac. it was incredible!

[Mindyleigh]

My 5 births

My first was a planned hospital birth, 8 hours. Not a bad memory at all, although there were elements I would definitely go back and change if I could. I reached all my goals that I knew to have.

The second was a planned home birth with a CNM. My labor unexpectedly started at 35 weeks, very intensely, and, even though his heart rate was strong, we decided to have him at the hospital. The labor was straightforward and quick, but his apgars were 2 at birth for a very long time, no muscle tone, no breathing efforts. He ultimately was on ventilation for 2 days and stayed in the NICU for 11 days. He was diagnosed with an extremely rare bacterial infection that had crossed the placenta (we had it cultured). It was hemophilus influenza, an untyped variety with a 50% mortality rate in those whom it has infected across the placenta. The infection had caused pulmonary hypertension, which is the constriction of the blood vessels of the lungs. They basically were collapsed and didn't start up at birth. He is turning six this month and is normal as far as I can tell, although his first 18 months were more delayed in terms of physical milestones and he was very poorly coordinated. Now, he is very well-coordinated and is reading ahead of his years. Thank God! I did not include this in the poll because he was not a homebirth. We went to the hospital as soon as labor started because he was early.

Next came our twins, who were born at home with just ourselves in attendance (a friend came halfway through to help with the kids). There were no problems at all. My second twin was a footling breech.

In December, we had our fifth baby, little Bethany Jane. She was born at home with two direct-entry midwives. What a different birth than all my others. While my first came with pain, it was still doable...with my second and the twins, I wouldn't even describe it as painful, and I certainly didn't have a transition with any of them. THIS birth kicked my butt!! Ugh. I think she was asynclitic, because I had terrible back pain that I couldn't resolve intuitively and she was born with bruising all over one side of her face. In fact, the only way I could get through was by stretching out flat as a board (or even slightly curved backward) and that made it bearable. The stinging was also tremendous at crowning. OH LORD, I seriously could barely stand the thought of my birth until some distance had come between me and it. But there weren't any problems. I bled a lot more afterward than I ever had. I remember feeling it just pour out of me several times, and I had tearing. After an hour or so, I almost passed out in the bathroom. My baby never had any issues at all. In fact, she continues to be perfect in every way.

I do want to say that we should not downplay the possibility of true emergencies in childbirth, especially for those who have lost babies to them. My good friend just lost her baby and uterus to a uterine rupture during an attempted home VBAC. Another friend has a permanently disabled baby from a shoulder dystocia. Another mother I know almost died and needed 18 units of blood after her uterus inverted. These happen and we don't do mothers any favors when we act like they don't. And furthermore, this thread reminds us all that there are definitely incompetent care providers out there. Rather than asking questions like "How much do you trust birth," I recommend actually finding out if your midwife has any experience handling an emergency at all. During the aforementioned shoulder dystocia, the midwife freaked out when she couldn't resolve it and left the room.

[DoomaYula]

I transferred after the baby was born due to a third-stage hemorrhage and a retained placenta.

I remember having absolutely no urge to push out the placenta, no ctx, no cramps, nothing. Every time I tried to push it out, I could just feel the blood pouring out of me. Finally I asked the mw to do some traction while I pushed, and the cord snapped -- not her fault at all. At that point my dh called 911. I never passed out, and I didn't need a transfusion, but I felt weak for several weeks after that.