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THANK YOU!!!!

I don't have anything to add at the moment (tired mommy brain), but I'm so glad that you posted this.

I like this.
I didn't have a homebirth because I had a high risk pregnancy but this is good info!

@Arden: thank you! I'm amazed by some of the comments I read on the other thread. Midwife lead care here is the norm so I suppose I'm more aware of what they do / homebirth. Thanks for posting!

Thank you! I had a home birth, my husbands family HATED the idea. Now that everything is done and went wonderfully they never mention it! I hate the stigma around it. I had an amazing birth and assuming I stay low risk I will continue having home births!

Good thread! My SIL and brother wanted do a home birth, and we were all upper nervous about it because (a) it's not done in our area much yet, so it's more unfamiliar, and (b) the risk of unexpected complications. They do live minutes from a hospital in case anything went badly wrong, which made everyone a bit more comfortable with the idea. But, their home birth was perfect, and they were very happy with their midwives. The midwife and her assistant were medically trained, cleaned everything up, and did follow up appointments since my niece was only 5 lbs.

I couldn't do a home birth anyway since we're a high-risk pregnancy, and honestly, I think I'm too chicken anyway. But, I firmly believe home births are a great option as long as everything is low-risk and the mom & dad are confident and comfortable with it!

I have nothing against home births or mid-wives, the thing is no matter what equipment the mid wife has, they dont have a sterile operating room ready in case an emergency c-section is needed. And they usually only work as individuals, unlike a hospital that has an entire team ready.

Home births are great in theory, but for maybe a hundred safe births at home, there's one death or severely injured baby (or maybe more, the statistics aren't clear) that could have been prevented had it been in a hospital, when an emergency c-section needed to be performed within minutes . My mom had to have one with me. I certainly would've died at home. As it was, I still almost died at birth, even with an emergency c-section because there's only so long before brain damage occurs due to lack of oxygen.

I do think it's great that more hospitals are adding natural birth wings that are right down the hall from the rest of the hospital, though. It's win-win.

I *DO* think the US maternity system needs to be looked at carefully, though. Why are we behind SO many other countries? That just boggles my mind.

And I've actually seen some studies that show death rates as being higher in home births. All the studies are kinda sketch right now, IMO. It's hard to do an exact study of them.

Oh-- and I always DID wonder about the mess. So that's good to know!

@Arden: I'm also SO glad you posted this! I think another big misconception is that you don't receive the same prenatal care. My midwife has offered every exam, blood work, and ultrasound that any OBGYN's office could provide. I think the care we are receiving from her is even better because my appointments aren't rushed, she's available to answer any concern/question via text/email/phone within minutes, she is a big believer in the importance of nutrition and I keep a detailed diet log, and she's really big on education--so we have a numerous amount of videos/books/CDs that we borrow to educate ourselves on both sides of EVERYTHING. I think a lot of people also think midwives are against doctors or hospitals, but I don't believe that's the case. Our midwife works closely with a doctor/hospital and has told us repeatedly that if there is any concern during my care or labor she doesn't hesitate to transfer.

At the same time, I totally understand people who are also against it or have reservations about it. Everyone is different and I think at the end of the day what is important is that everyone makes their own educated choice.

Exactly! All of these myths are dead-on!

The most persistent myth I've encountered in the US is that home birth is extremely risky/hospital birth is fail-safe. Birth has inherent risks. All drugs and interventions come with a set of serious risks/side effects, and our maternity system isn't exactly geared toward reducing those risks. If you fit the criteria for a home birth, it's a matter of which risks you'd rather take on. Interventions vs. complications. (NOT life vs. death, because those are always possibilities)

Another issue seems to be personal responsibility. "If something goes wrong at home, it's my fault...if it happens in the hospital, there was nothing I could do and it was unavoidable." The insurance myth. We're always responsible for our choices and have to deal with them, no matter what happens. If something goes wrong, that does NOT mean our choice was always bad!

If anyone's interested in getting an overview of the home birth research, this is a great annotated guide that summarizes the results of all of the current studies: http://www.bcmidwives.com/files/Home%20Birth%20Annotated%20guide%20to%20the%20literature%20May%202011.pdf

These are some other great researchy sites: http://evidencebasedbirth.com/
http://www.scienceandsensibility.org/

There's another one, but I can't track down the URL. It's pink and they have printable pamphlets. Gah. Now it's going to bug me all day, haha!

There are so many myths. I'm having a midwife and hospital birth, and my dad was panicked about me having a midwife! WTF!

@mrs. wagon: "I guess the more valid reasoning behind that is that I would want to be near the equipment that might be necessary in the event of an emergency, rather than be near the people who would perform procedures."
Yes-- this exactly! I fully expect a midwife to be more involved in the birth than most OBs, but I want the surgical suite available. And hopefully unused.
@kml636: My dad think midwives are for hippies. My sister was going to deliver with them (in a birth center) and he wasn't panicked about it, just rolling his eyes over his yogi/hippie daughter.

I really enjoyed watching "The Business of Being Born". It makes me very nervous for a hospital birth and wishing that I'd chosen a home birth/birthing center.
I am probably going to go the route of birthing center/midwife for #2.

@Minnie_Girl: "Another issue seems to be personal responsibility. "If something goes wrong at home, it's my fault...if it happens in the hospital, there was nothing I could do and it was unavoidable." The insurance myth. We're always responsible for our choices and have to deal with them, no matter what happens. If something goes wrong, that does NOT mean our choice was always bad!""

THIS!!!! +1

@Coco Bee: Don't get me wrong - in no way do I wish misfortune on her at all. To be clear, she never even tried the home birth (in case my comment was being read as she tried, had complications and was moved to a hospital). I think as the time to have the baby drew nearer she realized that she was afraid - which is fine and 100% understandable! As I said, I was afraid of childbirth, too. I guess I just wish people would think about that possibility before going all militant and making others feel guilty about their choices. When they kept on me I would just politely be like, "Yes, I have considered my options and I think a hospital is best for me." At which point I think they should have let it go? I will respect your choice so long as you respect mine, basically.

@blackbird: Can you provide a study to support this? Because I've read an awful lot of studies about home birth safety, and I have NEVER read anything like this. I simply don't believe it.

@Coco Bee: Totally! I agree with you that a lot of people go with the hospital route because it's the only way they're aware of and that's not good at all.

I guess in my case, if they had just stated what they're doing or even suggested that I watch the documentary, I would be fine with that. It was the pressure to get me to think similarly. For what it's worth, I consider myself to be fairly educated, so it felt really condescending to me. And of course, birth choice is something very personal to most women, so having someone outright disagree with me when I'm not even arguing against their choice (aside from saying I'd prefer a hospital birth) wasn't okay with me.

As an aside, going back to regional differences (because that truly is SUCH a thing on Hellobee), I totally understand how for you, because of the region you live in, people might give you a hard time. My childhood friend in Indiana gets endless amounts of crap from people about her birth center, drug-free birth, extended breastfeeding etc. Whereas my SIL and I are both in New York, where unorthodox ways of giving birth are certainly not all that unusual.

this is great to share! i definitely think there is a lack of education and that's the biggest issue i have with the birthing process today.

everyone can make their own decision about what is best for them (because home birth is certainly not best for everyone, same with a hospital birth!) and with the (lack of) education women receive from their doctors sometimes, i've read a lot of stories of women being disappointed that they didn't have all the facts, and it's stuff that i wouldn't have known if i just went with what my doctors told me.

Things that I found much different in my homebirth that those who advocate hospital births were misinformed about:

1. I was watched MUCH closer in my homebirth than I was in the hospital for my first birth. Yes, you have fetal monitoring in the hospital but many studies have found them to be a fail safe & cause more unnecessary interventions than babies they've saved... ultimately more unnecessary "emergency" cesareans without a decrease in perinatal mortality. I sat in close proximity of my MW, many times in the same room, for each contraction & many times has they passed I was asked how they felt, if I was okay, what I thought, etc. My blood pressure increase was caught early AND combated early, something that would NOT have been done in a hospital.

2. A BIG one for those that are hospital advocates b/c of "unseen emergencies": Since I live near a non-vbac friendly hospital I was not any further from a surgical team than if I would've been IN the hospital to begin with. 30% of vbac bans are because the hospital does not staff a 24-hour anesthesiologist or surgical team SO if you birth in a hospital that is not ready for a vbac then they aren't ready for ANY emergency that may come up.

3. Like a few comments have already said, MW do not work alone. My MW brought another MW with her AND she phoned another fellow MW to get another perspective when I started presenting high bp. Some doctors do this (phone) as well with their colleagues, and some don't.

4. "You'll feel safer in the hosptial!": Many times our bodies will tell us otherwise by STALLED labors, something we read all the time. As soon as mom gets to the hospital she stalls and then "needs" intervention to help her labor. Ina May talks about this is her article on the "sphincter law". We unconsciously feel safe in the familiar and in the privacy of our own environments: our bathrooms, our showers, our bed, etc. Yes, we think we feel safer elsewhere but many times (not all the time) the body tells us different. I had a very long labor & honestly can't even imagine how I may have stalled if I had been out of my element. =/

5. "My baby would've died if I was at home because the cord was wrapped around it's neck".... Nuchal cords are considered a normal occurrence in birth happening some 30% of the time. The truth is less that .15% of the time is this a real problem causing issues with baby & it's delivery..... Sadly many moms are actually told that THIS is the reason they were lucky to be near intervention. Both DS ("emergency" cesarean) & DD (planned hbac that transferred) had the cords around their neck. My MW even showed me techniques she's gained over the years in vaginally delivering when the cord is "tightly" around the neck &/or short, pretty neat & something many mainstream professionals wouldn't be trained in.

Post partum hemorrhage also falls under this category as many times, a mom left on her own to labor will not have this. I recently read that 81% of moms polled had pitocin as part of their birth process. Considering a common increased risk of pitocin use is post partum hemorrhage it's more than likely that a good portion of pp hemorrhages that occur wouldn't happen in a setting where it wasn't used.

Now, with all that, I'm not anti-hospital & was thankful for the option to transfer when we felt it was the best option. These are just some of the arguments I got about me being "crazy" for choosing an hbac.

ALSO, for those interested Jennifer Kamel has a great "Why Homebirth?" write up on her site, definitely check it out!
http://vbacfacts.com/hbac/