Home birth vs. hospital

rnmi2004 · May 14, 2003

Thank you so much, everyone, for your replies.

I completely understand why a woman would want to choose home birth.

However, I have visited many "natural birthing sites" and it seems to me that a common thread in them seems to be the "natural birth" part and the baby seems to get left out. The anecdotes focus so much on the method of birth (Bradley, Lamaze, Leboyer, even unassisted :eek: ). I even read one site (I think it pushed Lotus births, do you know what that is?) that said "Yes, some babies die but that is nature's way." It makes me think that there is no way to accurately compare home births and hospital births--if some homebirthers have such a flippant attitude toward neonatal deaths, are they all being reported to the authorities? Please, don't think that I am against home birth. I am just saying that I don't believe that we can look at home birth stats vs. hospital birth stats and get an accurate picture.

I think that the medical profession has only itself to blame for the fact that so many women don't want to give birth in a hospital. However, from what I've read and heard and seen, although there are many women who give birth at home because they truly believe it is best for the baby, there are also many women who give birth at home because of what they are interested in.

I would love to see more truly informed consent in the US. I wish we had more freestanding birth centers available. I loved my CNM and hated the OB/GYN I saw with my first child. I have seen three deliveries besides giving birth to three of my own (one since becoming a student) and it was amazing. I could do L&D for a living. But the one thing that would hold me back is the fact that I strongly disagree with the standard interventions that are in place at so many hospitals.

ktwlpn, LPN · May 14, 2003

Originally posted by Dayray
I won't get to far into it but it always surprises me that most the ugliness is started by people who don't even work in L&D. Yes I know you have had a baby but that doesn't make you an expert or entitle you come here and tell people who work the area on a daily basis that they are fools. My aunt is currently living in a LTC facility but I don't go to that forum and call you names ktwlpn.
>>>>>>>>Dayray-I pm'd you due to what I perceive to be a personal attack...You presume too much about my nursing experiences and my life....Let's keep this factual and civil-not emotional>>>>> I am so sorry that many of you have had bad experiences with your children..My experiences were not-I had great OB-GYN's-I felt that I was well supported through every aspect of my pregnancies.I felt safe and comfortable there also-if visitors are walking into pt care areas ad lib in such a way as to be a major problem then something needs to be done in the facility for the safety of all involved-I have NOT seen a mother-baby unit so freely accessible in this day and age....It is not un-realistic to hope for a calm and natural birth experience-but it is sad when things do not go completely according to plan and the new mother can not relax and enjoy her health baby but instead focuses on "her failure" That's my point and we moms are more then willing to take on guilt for feeling that we have failed when we have not met someone's ideals through every phase of our children's lives....That's what I'm talking about-Enjoy the thread-I seem to be triggering emotional responses and that is taking away from the debate...and it really does not matter to me any longer as I am no longer capable of child bearing...it's a moot point now....

Dayray, RN · May 15, 2003

I have responded to your PM ktwlpn.

Im sorry you got offended but I really dident do anything other then voice my opinion as you claim you have. I dident call you any names I simply posted some info to back my opionin (which you asked us to do).

I could go on talking about homebirth and L&D all I day (thought that was what this site was for) but I won't being that I don't want to attack anyone.

GL in LTC I wish you well.

kimtab · May 15, 2003

I looked for data comparing home birth and hospital birth outcomes and couldn't find any...which I thought was odd, someone must have studied it? Anyway, I want to point out that while it may seem selfish if a Mother chooses home birth for her own reasons/interests you are either overlooking or discounting the fact that many women have feelings of inadequacy/disappointment and yes even depression about the actual birth experience. A very shameful way to feel when you should just be happy that you have a healthy baby, right? So now not only do you have disappointment, but shame and guilt too! I'll bet those kinds of feelings can be pretty powerful motivators to dictate how future births are planned.

I have no opinion on whether or not it is responsible to use such criteria. Personally, I'd never give birth at home. But, having been through one hospital birth, I can also say that things will be different if I do that again!

NurseyNursey · May 15, 2003

It is almost impossible to compare statisitics. Homebirths should and usually are only considered in low risk situations. Granted, we all know how quickly things can go bad.

There is nothing wrong with trying to have a good birth experience. We all want to do what we think is best for ourselves and our children...and our patients.

IttyBittyBabyRN · May 15, 2003

I would bet that no one who works in a NICU would ever recommend at home birth!! It is somewhat of a blessing and a curse that the average mother has no idea of all the things that could go wrong during a pregnancy and delivery. I was pregnant with my first when I started working here, and may I just say I would recommend having all of your kids BEFORE becoming a NICU nurse!!! It was very scary. And still is each day that I come in and have full term babies that ended up horribly sick. Have one tonight that was 42 wkr, PPHN, on NO. Very very sick. People think we just take care of preemies and don't really know what can happen even if you do make it to term, regardless of how well you take care of yourself!! When I read this post I thought how sad it would have been if this baby had been born at home.

SmilingBluEyes · May 15, 2003

Yes it is true, Ittybitty, OUR perspective as nurses definately puts a burden upon us. That is why so many "medical types" are so against homebirth. We see ALL THE WORST CASE SCENARIOS. But as pointed out above, the BEST CASE ONES are NOT THE ONES that stick out in our minds and we are NOT aware of HOMEBIRTH STATS...I know of no reliable place to find them. Could be a good master's thesis subject perhaps? I will store that away for future pursuit. Take care all, we all want what is best for mom and baby, homebirth advocates and nurses alike.

PowerPuffGirl · May 15, 2003

If homebirths tend to be low-risk pregnancies, can we really make a fair comparison of homebirth outcomes vs. hospital outcomes?

SmilingBluEyes · May 15, 2003

yes we can make comparisons, in similarly LOW RISK pregnancy situations whereby someone is delivering in a hospital via midwife or dr. I see LOW risk clients all the time where I work. It is not all the dangerous stuff we deal with; that really is the exception. SO, Sure we can gather stats, though it would take work.

TinyNurse, RN · May 17, 2003

I gave birth to my son at home a year before I started nursing school. It just felt right, from the moment I got pregnant.

There wasn't much of a mess. In fact the midwife cleaned it up while I bonded with my son.

During labor I played kickball with my brother and sister, we ordered pizza, we went for a ride in the car, I took hot showers, walked around a lot, laughed, smiled and we all told stories about fun times my family has had together.

My midwife showed up about 1/2 hour before Hunter was born. I remember asking her to "check me" to see if i was allowed to push. She said, "well, i don't really need to check you, your own body knows when to push, but if you want me to I'll check." She checked and sure enough it was time to push.

My OB quarter in nursing school was the worst ever for me. I am able to understand the information, since I studied birth extensively while I was pregnant. I just couldn't get it out of my mind, the unnecessary interventions. I watched an anestheologist attempt an epidural 3 times on the same woman. I witnessed nurses give breastfeeding babies "sugarwater" while they gave the after birth immunizations. It sickened me, and reminded me just why I chose to give birth at home.

We are all mothers, whether we choose to go the medical route, or birth at home. I just liked the peace of knowing everyone who was in attendance at my son's birth. Knowing that I could breastfeed right away, and knowing that I could walk downstairs after pushing my baby and placenta out and share my beautiful boy with my family.

I'm graduating nursing school on June 13th, and I'm a pro-home/natural birther.

xo

Jen

regular yaya · May 17, 2003

I assist a licensed midwife in So. CA . We attend home births and births at her Birth Center. We are certified in neonatal resuscitation, bring O2 with bag and masks,(adult and newborn). Our clients are well educated in their birth options and take responsibility for their pregnancy and birth. They are healthy, eat well and all prenatal care is done with midwife. We have a back-up Dr. We discuss reasons to transport with our clients. We obviously only accept women with normal pregancies. We monitor heart tones throughout labor, taking appropriate action according to what presents,including transport if necessary. We never leave a mess with the mother to clean up. Our families do so well and our women feel empowered to retain control over their experience. The midwife is available 24/7. She makes a home visit 1st day pp. When I do labor support at the hospital my heart aches for what the women have to tolerate as "care". I know there is a place for all the interventions but they should not be the first course of action. I also think women must take control of their own experience and educate themselves about pregnancy and birth and the options available to them, Home birth isn't for everyone, and if a woman prefers the hospital she should be there, but she should still be educated so that all decisions are made by her and she has given true informed consent for everything. As nurses we should be one of the avenues for education and honor women's right to have birth options. We should also educate ourselves about these options. yaya1

emhanojoli · Aug 29, 2004

Aren't most of the interventions done in a hospital by parents' choice.
No, absolutely not. Epidural is one intervention of dozens. Yes, women choose epidurals. However, they do not choose AROM or continuous monitoring, or internal monitoring, or IV's (unless they are choosing pain meds), or restricted movement, or hourly vag exams.... or any number of other things. And these are all things tha can lead to negative outcomes.
Stacey, who has done it all.... hospital inductions x3, c-section for twins, and an unassisted homebirth. Guess which was my favorite.