Homebirth safer then hospital birth????

eden · Sep 13, 2012

They are a safe option if you are low risk, that being said I was low risk and would never consider a home birth, too many what ifs for my liking. I loved being around the colleagues I knew and trusted but then again I work at a low intervention facility when a section rate less then 20% so I would rather take my 20% chance of section ( never had one) with an nicu down the hall should there have been an emergency ( and there was both times for me). I may have more thoroughly considered home borth if there was a higher intervention rate but even then I doubt it because even if I had a stillbirth or NND in the hospital, at least I wouldn't have to question myself for the rest of my life if I could have saved my baby had I been closer to help.

Do I think it's a safe option, yes. Should women have access to homebirth with qualified personel, yes if they are low risk but it's just not for me.

klone, MSN, RN · Sep 13, 2012

All I know is that if I would have had my first daughter at home (after a low-risk pregnancy) she would have been stillborn. Her umbilical cord was wrapped around twice and she inhaled meconium.

How scary that must have been. Did your water break beforehand and you knew there was meconium? As someone else said, if there's meconium in the fluid, a responsible midwife would transport you to the hospital as soon as the meconium is apparent.

Bobbkat · Sep 13, 2012

I'm back and forth about homebirth. On one hand, with a well trained, well prepared midwife an appropriate candidate should be fine at home. On the other hand, I was an 'appropriate candidate' but the you-know-what hit the fan so quick with my first childs birth that there wouldn't have been time for a transfer to a hospital, she would have been dead. She spent as week in the NICU as it was. I went from through the door to triage to crash c/s to baby in NICU in under an hour.

Besides my own personal birth experience, I'm a NICU nurse and we have had some seriously neurologically devastated babies in the unit because they were homebirth gone very, very wrong. I will say, in each case that I can recall the midwife recommended transfer for hospital care and a probably c/section, but the mothers refused for HOURS before coming into the hospital, and the babies will pay the price forever. It makes me very, very sad. We've had some babies from hospital birthing Moms that have had come in this way too, because of refusal of a c/section.

I don't know.....I've seen the research about mortality rates in other countries, and I know that the 'bad' outcomes are few and far between if treated appropriately.....but I just can't imagine life without my oldest daughter......and the babies we've had in the unit...I just don't know if it's all worth it or not.

Can you tell I'm conflicted about this?? I personally like the happy medium of a low intervention, midwife attended birth center attached to a hospital.

fromtheseaRN, BSN, RN · Sep 13, 2012

Probably the same way we handled it at my last job (rural OBs with no NICU, RT and peds on call only). We suctioned mouth and nose and then oxygenated as necessary. Vigorous babes with mec were stimulated to encourage clearance and left skin to skin. The OB could intubate in a pinch, as could a midwife at home if competent and certified. Not an ideal situation for sure--but I don't see a huge difference between the two provided your practitioners are regulated and well trained (and work in teams).

I agree. A close friend of mine is a midwife, and she requires her assistants to be NRP certified just as she is. If she saw stained fluid she would have an assistant call 911, and intervene as necessary until their arrival.

honeyortar · Sep 21, 2012

I suggest watching the documentary, The Business of Being Born. It's a life changer. For me it was, anyway.