OK, I don't think my birth story really got down to how awesome it was to give birth at home.
From my experience I gotta say, if you can have a home birth, OMG, have a home birth! Do it, try it, pay extra if you need to. Birth at home, it's amazing and relaxing, and people come to you! And it has something like a 6% C-section rate, an awesome way to avoid one of those.
My home birth midwives were able to do everything my hospital midwives were able to do during my pregnancy. We have to get over this idea that a home birth equals an unassisted birth, or a birth with non-professionals who don't know how to do anything.
When I had some alarming symptoms in my late pregnancy, they were able to do tests for pre-eclampsia, they even made special house calls to draw blood and drop off other things I needed. I got tested for GBS by them and they would have done other tests had I thought they were necessary. I felt very well cared for during my pregnancy. They were also fine with me having my PCP work with me for help with my migraines and anxiety during pregnancy. And in those last few weeks when water retention got bad and I felt awful they said they would accompany me to the hospital for an induction if it was what I wanted. I told them I wasn't to that point yet. They were extremely professional and knowledgeable.
They also bring like three huge bags of medical equipment and other things with them to the birth. I remember hearing them testing the oxygen tanks when they first arrived. I think some home birth midwives can even do IVs (not sure if mine could, but I doubted it would be needed for me). When my bleeding wouldn't stop they had pitocin injections available, when the pitocin didn't do the trick, they had Cytotec to give me and another med available as well. Ultimately what they gave me stopped the bleeding, it just took a bit longer than expected. One midwife I interviewed told me they bring all the equipment that a rural hospital would have on hand. They are trained in neonatal resuscitation. I was never afraid of giving birth at home as far as medical things go.
Because I must repeat, I chose a home birth because I thought it was the safest place for me to give birth given my history and health and how my pregnancy was progressing. I in no way chose it as a gamble on my life or my baby's life in order to have some romanticized version of a birth.
And birth kind of sucks. I'm not going to lie. If you want a natural birth, you really have to commit to it and stay committed. And if you stay home, it has to be natural. For this birth I was able to use the birthing tub and be submerged in nice warm water... and it still hurt, a lot. I told my midwives that I know why people choose to have planned c-sections. I know why people want epidurals, I know why, but I just couldn't, not with the knowledge I had about the risks of them. And I don't have quick births, my second child came out after 10.5 hours of labor, not super slow, but not fast. My first was 24.5 hours.
During the labor, I hated it; but looking back, it is amazing. I do not feel the same way about pregnancy, during it, it sucked; and looking back I'm certain I never want to be pregnant ever again. If I could just give birth one day and never be pregnant, I might have a third kid.
Compared to my hospital birth, my home birth was way more relaxed. Nothing was demanded of me, I was asked, and although I almost always said yes, if I said no, it was respected. No hospital tags were put on, no mandatory hook up to a monitor for twenty minutes to *make sure* I was really in labor. No cervical checks until I told them I wanted to be checked. No crazy restrictions about when I was allowed in the tub. No one tried to convince me to get the vitamin K shot when I declined it. They believed me when I said I didn't have chlamydia. No one freaked out about me delaying the Hep B vaccine.
And when my water broke before labor began, it was no big deal, I was told to stay home, stay clean and that we could wait a couple days if needed. Luckily we only had to wait about five hours. When I got stuck in transitional labor for about 3 1/2 hours, no one claimed I was failing to progress, I progressed and pushed my baby out in 30 mins.
And the midwives did the newborn exam right there at home, and they visited me a day later and at day 3 and at day 7 and at day 14, all in my home, they were able to do all the same screenings I would have gotten in the hospital. They did the hearing exam, the pulse-oximeter, and pricked my baby's heel to check for genetic disorders. They weighed the baby and it showed she was gaining weight well. I felt I was in better hands than when in the hospital, and there were no random offers to take my baby to the nursery even though it was clearly stated on my birth plan that we'd be rooming in.
I really do think the care I got and that my daughter got was better than with my hospital birth. Plus no risk of picking up an infection, no where to drive for weeks, and no hospital policy to put up with. I got to have a say, my point of view was respected, I was assumed to be smart and acting in my best interests. This is probably the biggest thing that helped me have an awesome birth. The midwives knew me and I knew them, no strangers were at my birth, we were all there with mutual respect and trust in one an other, which is what you really want in a birth team.
So I know at least one person who is reading this is thinking about having a home birth, I was once like you and I didn't have the support and I ended up choosing a hospital birth and still regret it. I went with my gut and had a home birth with my second and it was amazing, and your home birth, if you find a good midwife, will probably be amazing too. Do it, screw the critics and just do it, plan a home birth! Your births are carried around with you for the rest of your life, something you don't really get until after you give birth. Make it awesome!
