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491928 tn?1266177733

Homebirth, Your insight please!

Okay well me and hubby have decided the way we're most comfortable giving birth is at home. I want a home-water birth. I LOVE baths they're so relaxing and I always take a nice warm bath when I feel stressed/ tired/ in pain/ and ESPECIALLY on my period it completely cures my cramps! A water birth would be so ideal for me! So I'm just wondering if any of you have done home births/ water births or know of someone who did and how they liked it and their experience. I am just so curious.

We are going to be moving to a different town shortly and once we are there I will start interviewing midwives and hopefully find the perfect one for us! I was also wondering how many people have heard of homebirthing with a first born. I know some doctors don't allow that but I am dropping my doctor and am determined to find a midwife/doula who doesn't mind me not having children...I am just wanting to know if anyone here has given birth to their first at home?

I feel really good about this decision and i am hoping nothing happens that changes our plan because for the first time in my life I am actually excited about giving birth and it's an experience I am looking forward to!

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491928 tn?1266177733
I dont think I want a birthing pool, as weird as it may sound I want to give birth in my bathtub. My hubby's aunt did it with all her children, and I like the idea of that more than a birthing pool because I could drain part of the water and refill it with more warm water if it gets too cold for me. And the warm water totally help stretch the perineum so it will most likely minimize tearing. hopefully i dont get any tears at all! But yea doesnt the warm water thing make sense to you? cause so many women have the birthing pools set up and labor in the pool for hours, that water couldnt be warm still...

and yea I assumed she wasnt completely alone during labor and delivery I meant without her midwife or anyone that wasnt family. thats so amazing.

Oh and ill look up that youtube video right now =)
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
Have you seen the YouTube video of the woman SINGING, at home, while in labor? It's so beautiful it gives me chills! Google "woman singing in labor" or something like that.

Well her labor/delivery wasn't completely unassisted. Her mom and husband were there. She wanted a water birth but her hubby couldn't put the pool together in time!
Helpful - 0
491928 tn?1266177733
Well I have NO insurance at all and don't qualify for medi-cal and I couldnt seem to find a decent insurance company since there were all these problems with my coverage and I ended up insured because of family issues and whatnot. So long story short I will be paying out of pocket which is fine by me considering my home birth will be SO SO much cheaper than any hospital would be. And regardless of cost, I would be so much happier at home. I'm like allergic to hospitals even visiting people in them makes me nervous I CANNOT stand them for the life of me!

Joy- Wow unassisted birth is so bold to me! I mean I plan to give birth at home 100% natural but wow to do it without help what a brave woman! I have seen videos of unassisted home births, it was just the husband and the wife and they set the camera on like a table or something and she gave birth squatting on the floor and hubby caught the baby and I was just blown away by how brave she was. My younger sister freaked out when I told her I'm doing it all natural and at home, she said she will have infinite respect for me after the birth! Haha, I take that as a compliment when people say stuff like that. Just planning this birth is already making me feel so empowered and strong I can't imagine how great I'll feel once I have Emma in my arms. It's the perfect option for me =)
when I told my bestfriend about my birth plan she was like, wow that is so you, thats awesome! It feels so great to have this support. now I really can't wait for my little girl to get here!
Helpful - 0
598319 tn?1282102140
I would LOVE to do a home-birth, especially a waterbirth.  But:


1. My mom is a physician and not only will she flat-out not allow it, she has also told me enough stories that I've decided that I personally don't want to take the risk of being more than a few seconds away from the operating room and/or the NICU in case of emergency, especially with a first-birth.  I am HOPING to have an natural vaginal delivery with no meds, but I just feel like I need to be in a hospital in case a emergency arises.  Every second counts!  Plus my sister (who wanted the all-natural route) was able to have her doula with her for hypno-pain techniques... and she had her au-naturale birthplan followed to a T in the hospital, from dimmed lights, to minimum noise and baby man-handling at birth, to her favorite CDs playing throughout labor.  It was really relaxing, for a hospital room!
2. Like Joy - I like being pampered and waited on! =D  
3. My AWESOME (har har) insurance won't cover medical costs that arise due to complications of home births.  Only hospital births, and I have to be admitted for a minimum of 48 hours, 96 hours for a C-section.  You might want to check that stuff out too.  

Those are my two cents, take what you like and toss the rest!  Ultimately you know what you want and are most comfortable with (and what your insurance covers, haha!) Best of luck to you!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I've watched a lot of them too! It kind of makes me want a homebirth but I love hospitals and I love being pampered when there so I probably won't ever do it. But I LOVE that other women do it. I follow a blog of a woman who just gave birth to a baby boy at home. They were throwing a birthday party for her daughter when she went home to lay down (they continued the party without her) and she ended up having the baby!

It was planned, too. They had a birth kit and everything. But the baby came before the midwife arrived. Everything went beautifully!
Helpful - 0
491928 tn?1266177733
Yea wow that's amazing you did it naturally go you! I hope I can have the same type of experience, but I'd of course like to actually give birth in the water as well. I think it's really inspirational to hear stories like yours because it just proves to me it really is possible and so rewarding!

I am desperately searching online for a midwife in our new town. I've emailed a few but it's so difficult even finding them listed online with their emails. I would also like to interview some lay-midwives because they are even cheaper and in most cases just as reliable and educated as certified midwives.

Any ideas on how to find more? I think I've done as much as I can online, but once we move and I have a phonebook would they be listed in there? How did you find your midwife?

joy- I have already done that and it is very inspirational to see so many women doing it. I actually smile all the way through most of the videos it's just so exciting!
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Avatar universal
Go on YouTube and watch home birth videos! They'll be very inspirational and help boost your confidence. Good luck and congrats on your pregnancy!
Helpful - 0
280369 tn?1316702041
Well I didn't give birth at home, but rather at a birthing center. It was a WONDERFUL experience! And Jeremiah is my first (he is 5 months now) and I did it all natural and to this day I can't believe I mananged! It was painful toward the end, but well worth it when he was handed to me! I wanted to have a waterbirth, but unfortunately was not able to. I did labor in the tub for some time though and the warm water was so relaxing. I couldn't have a waterbirth because his head was coming down really crooked and the midwife wanted to keep a closer eye on things. Being in the water didn't let her have much control of what was going on, but I hope to have a waterbirth with my next child in the future. I loved the fact that I could pretty much do whatever I wanted to and was not restricted in what I ate or did at any time.
I'm glad you are so excited about it! I honestly am more afraid of hospitals than anything else. My midwife told me that had I been in a hospital while in labor, I most likely would have had a c-section because I was 9cm for just about 6 hours and in a hospital that wouldn't fly! But his heart rate was always perfect so there was no need for any intervention. (Had his head been coming down right, I would have gone a lot faster!) But she was more than ready to take me to the hospital if need be.
I was told by a lot of women that the pain would be too much handle...but I stuck it out and was very happy with the situation. I didn't really know I was in labor until I was 6cm and wasn't in much pain until I hit 9cm. I was VERY thankful for that since I know a lot of women do experience a lot more pain early on in labor. My mom had easy labors, so maybe pretty easy labors runs in my family? But I do know anything can happen!!
Good luck with everything. I hope you find a good midwife and have a wonderful, uneventful labor and delivery.
Helpful - 0
491928 tn?1266177733
Well thanks for the well wishes. I am actually usually sort of a wuss but this is something I really want and when you stop to really think about it it's happening naturally all over the world every day and think back a hundred years and it was all still so much more natural then it is now.

I think it's reasonable to be afraid of pain, but I've been doing so much research and reading books and I think a lot of the pain comes from the fact that you are told from so young how terribly excruciating it will be, it's so expected and so many women are too terrified to try it naturally because of everything they've heard! Well I'm trying to be brave, I know I will be a little anxious but most of it is for the baby's well being not my own.

I am so excited about this though! Yipeee I can't wait!
Helpful - 0
Avatar universal
I can't help you out... but I wish you luck!  You are one brave woman... my husband and I are too worried about what would happen in an emergency situation at home or at a birthing center, that we couldn't do it!  

But, I have a friend who did a water birth at the birthing center and she seemed to like it.  It was her first baby... she did have problems with the crowning portion of labor, but she seemed to fair well otherwise.  
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