This is a great thread. I tried a hba2c with my last, I finally had a c/s because I was in labor forever and was still at 2-3cm.

Another issue is it is really hard to find a practitioner who will take a vbac and try finding someone who will take someone with multiple c/s. There is very little rupture risk increase with subsequent c/s.

If I wanted to try for a vbac again I would have to do a homebirth.

Hospitals have become such hot beds off antibiotic resistant bacteria.

It sounds like both home or hospital has their risks. Certainly if you had known complications you'd probably want to be in a hospital. I guess it's just an individual's choice, not some heavy moral obligation.

In my mother's day, people couldn't afford hospitals for giving birth. She only had two of 6 in a hospital. And in HER mother's day, going to a hospital was a great way to get puerperal fever and die because the doctors were spreading it.


Ok, maybe my great grandmother.

this is a great thread!

I'm an advocate for hospital births and wouldn't do it any other way.

First off, I had a fabulous doctor and loved her to bits. She only did hospital deliveries.

Second, I had complications that they were unaware of until I was in labour... had I been at home, I could have died. (of course, 50 years ago, I probably would have died from hemmorhaging) And I never once felt the nurses or docs trying to push me into drugs or a c-section.

Third - episiotomy or tearing - I've tried both and would take the episiotomy hands down any day. I know they aren't common, but it was the split second decision not to do an episitomy with my first that caused 4th degree tearing. Not fun. (once the head was out, all was well, but then the shoulders and the rest of him came without warning, both shoulders at once!)
With the second, the delivering doc was proactive and knew it would be best. Healing was significantly faster.

I know this isn't the case for all deliveries and you need to do what is right for you. I have nothing against home births so long as you're aware of the risks and time it could potentially take to get medical attention should it be needed, and there is a midwife! I know people did this for thousands of years, but the maternal and infant mortality rate was also much higher... coincidence? no.

JMO!

This is clearly a hot topic (& an old one - I'm not even sure if you'll read this!) but cords wrapped around necks is extremely common. You experience sounds like it was very scary for you, and for that I'm sorry. There's nothing worse than the fear of losing a child.

The baby is NOT BREATHING in utero or as it's being born. The baby doesn't start to breath until birthed - thus a cord wrapped around a baby's neck typically doesn't cause any complications.

http://pregnancy.about.com/od/labor.../f/cordneck.htm

I feel the same way.

For general information, in Washington State midwives carry with them all the emergency tools necessary to transfer a mother and a baby to a hospital.

e.g. I had a homebirth & my daughter was born with her cord wrapped tightly around her neck. My midwife unwrapped the cord underwater prior to passing her through to us.

My daughter had trouble taking her first breaths, my midwife had suction & oxygen on hand & got her through.

I had issues delivering my placenta, my midwife had pitocin & (*mind escapes me*) something else that helped me deliver my placenta and stop the hemmoraghing.

Thankfully I (was lucky &) didn't have any further complications. I had a wonderful homebirth & I'm thankful for the experience.

I'm a pretty rare case! I was 1 out of 10 in my birth class (with Penny Simkin) who gave birth at home. We had 2 cesareans & the rest transfered.

My father's mother had all of hers at home and my great grandmothers mother had all of hers at home. There weren't any choices! All babies birthed on either side survived except 1.

Personally, I've come to the conclusion that the safest birth is the birth where the mom feels the safest and if that is the hospital or home or UC, they are all the right choice. I did feel very strongly after my first birth that there was a huge element of luck involved. I had a fantastic birth, no tearing at all, healthy baby, personal satisfaction, etc. But it seemed to me had one element been out of whack - had I been a little uncomfortable or scared, had the baby descended slightly differently because I chose this position instead of the one I did - that everything could have worked out badly. I was a direct transfer that time due to low fluid and there was no question my subsequent babies would be with homebirth midwives as well, but I felt less certain that my choices were the driving force in the birth outcome than I thought I would. My subsequent deliveries were equally peaceful and perfect, but I still think I was just lucky and it could have gone any way.

I think that a lot of the people commenting here on the danger of home births really haven't done the research. I have spent years reading about the safety of homebirth versus hospital birth, both in the US and in other countries. Without writing a novel, here is a little bit of what I've found:

- Homebirth is just as safe or safer for healthy women with normal pregnancies.
- CNM's that attend homebirth are perfectly prepared to deal with cords wrapped around baby's neck. As OP mentioned, it's a pretty normal occurance.
- In some European countries homebirth accounts for up to 30% of babies born.
- The US is the 33rd safest country to give birth in - other countries that are ahead of us have a much higher rate of homebirth, please see list of countries by infant mortality: http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/List_o..._mortality_rate
- Did you look at this list?? Please click on the link to see how we rate
- A rate of under 10% C-section is optimal (some organizations would say that under 4% is best. Anything over 10% is considered more harmful than beneficial
- USA has a C-section rate of over 30%
- Medications used in the hospital have potentially dangerous effect on baby and mother. (don't believe me? Read the long list of side effects on any drug given.. why would we go 9 months without a drink and avoiding most medications only to pump our baby full of them right before it's about to come into the world)


There are a million more reasons to have a homebirth, but I won't bore everyone here. I think that it all boils down to 1) the mother's health and 2) Mother's personal choice.

To say that either hospital births or a homebirths are always the safest choice is ignorant and not based on the best available evidence. It is very sad in my opinion that we aren't given all the facts here in the US and allowed to make an informed decision based on our personal situations. Many of the doctors talking about the dangers of homebirth have not done the research and also stand to gain financially from hospital births with maximum medical interventions. Many of these interventions that pad the doctor's pockets create more risk for mama and baby.

**I won't comment on unassisted childbirth as I haven't been able to find much research on it. All of my homebirth research has been done births attended by professionals. If I were planning UC, I would at least have a midwife at my house... even perhaps in another room just in case of emergency, but that is my opinion and not based on any studies.

That's a plainly false statement. I do agree that SOME births are high-risk and require medical aid. In the U.K. MANY births are midwife-assisted, not physician-assisted, and about 1 in 50 babies are born at home.

Women with low-risk pregnancies are to be offered more choice and control over giving birth, as a result of new guidelines published today. The Keeping Childbirth Natural and Dynamic (KCND) guidance for doctors and midwives will ensure midwives are the lead carers for women who have safe, low-risk pregnancies and births - the majority of women giving birth in Scotland.

http://www.scotland.gov.uk/News/Rel...009/05/12094102

AND

This policy statement has been reviewed and approved by the
Executive and Council of the Society of Obstetricians and
Gynaecologists of Canada (SOGC), the Association of Women’s
Health, Obstetric and Neonatal Nurses of Canada (AWHONN
Canada*), the Canadian Association of Midwives (CAM), the
College of Family Physicians of Canada (CFPC), and the Society
of Rural Physicians of Canada (SRPC)....

In the past quarter century, maternity care has undergone
significant changes; today the use of technology in birth
has become the norm, which is noticeable in the rise in
medical interventions in low-risk births. In 2005–2006,
Canadian estimates for the total and primary Caesarean section
rates were 26.3% and 18.6%, respectively.1
Professional associations are concerned about the increase
of intervention during childbirth, as it introduces unnecessary
risks for mother and baby. ... (more at link)

http://www.sogc.org/guidelines/docu...ui221PS0812.pdf

there is no "no-risk" place to give birth ! there is always a risk, just like when you cross the street...now we look around and do "everything possible" to minimize the risk, don't we ?
same for childbirth, let's minimize the risk by going to the safest place, which would be variable for each woman.

personnally, i had a planned unassisted homebirth for my second child, and i wouldn't change a thing for a third one, except having LC diet (evolving slowly to moderate carb during the pregnancy).

I just wanted to comment again on what a good thread this is.

One of the biggest issues in childbirth is the lack of education of mothers. They simply don't know their options. There is a tremendous amount of misinformation out there. It is frightening how much of it is propagated for monetary interests. ( vbac is unsafe, home birth is unsafe, etc...)

It's refreshing to see people expressing their opinion, no matter what is is. I'm just glad you have one! And if you're planning on having a baby, please do some research, don't just 'trust' anyone's word for it, find out for yourself.

Yeah, I think elhill's initial point was that you never know whether or not you will get problems (even if you are classed as low risk) so on the off chance that you do, then it is better to be at the hospital than at home for the baby's sake. That is the most important consideration - the baby's health- not your philosophy or ego or whatever. A lot of people seem to really demonize hospitals and the doctors but it shouldn't be so, practises change over time and from place to place but that doesn't mean there is malice involved. Also, I've just had my 4th baby and she was the first one delivered without an episiotomy - what a difference my recovery was afterward! So nice! But I don't harbour any recriminations about the first three - they helped at the time.

I totally agree and wanted to say Congratulations!!!!

I know I'm new in this particular area of the forum, and maybe it's hormonal, but I find it upsetting that chachajoe's birth announcement and story was turned into criticism for her birth choices and subsequently a debate on one's intelligence for deciding where we, as women, decide to deliver.

Personally, I respect everyone's decision on their births. I know some people who are too scared to hb and that's fine for them- they feel more comfortable at the hosptial so their births are naturally easier. I've always delivered at the hospital b/c I'm high risk, BUT I've always wanted a homebirth. No chaos or room full of 20 or so people staring at my privates. I alwasy felt like an exhibitionist in pain. I was forced to lie almost flat on my back to deliver, and my first son was literally poisoned by the stupid doctor who gave me too much magnesium. My kids always had their cords around their necks- usually twice! Only my first had to be recussitated and that was due to the magnesium poisoning (according to the regional NICU he was sent to after birth, not according to me!). Doctors are human and they do make mistakes, so sometimes, mommas and babies do get hurt.

Chachajoe, Congratulations on a beautiful, happy, healthy birth.

I agree with you! We should be congratulating her on having a wonderful perfect-outcome birth that made her happy - not slamming her. Start a new thread if you want to debate Home vs. Hospital and follow your mom's advice - if you don't have anything nice to say, don't say anything at all.