Would you consider a home birth?

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As a NICU nurse? I personally would not (on purpose that is) given my experiences in the NICU. The homebirths we see are the ones with severe MAS who end up on ECMO or on cooling blankets. I know our view is skewed. Wondering what others thought.

it's a personal choice. we can review the same literature and reach different conclusions.

based on my experience, my education, and my research, i feel safer being at home. like i said, we have equipment so help is right there. if a transfer is needed, we transfer. it is a choice that i and other women make. it does not make us bad moms, or mean that you then have the right to judge us, not at all. but you've already said you judge anyway. that is your right, i just choose not to judge others, especially as a nurse. i guess i just have different values.

I am not trying to take away what midwives do, I think their support for their patients is what makes them different and a true asset to nursing as well as labor and delivery. I just think it best in a hospital setting. I think we can agree to disagree. I have enjoyed reading your views and all of the others, as well as engaging in a good discussion.

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Specializes in Obgyn.

I do not see my view as uneducated, I see it as conservative/not willing to risk a problem outside of a hospital.

and i am not willing to risk the problems that the hospitals have. having a homebirth with a midwife dramatically reduces the risk of cesareans, episiotomies, instrumental delivery, and YET does NOT have an increased risk of morbidity or mortality.

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Specializes in Obgyn.

we posted at the same time. i think we can agree to disagree too.

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Pretty much the same - a NICU nurse's exposure to home births is usually not great, so we're pretty biased.

No way in heck would I ever deliver a baby outside of a hospital.

In my mind, the delivery is for the BABY, not for me. It's the baby's safe arrival that matters most. My "birth experience" is not nearly as important as that baby's health.

Just my humble, biased opinion.

I can never agree more than the fact I passed through a delivery and I had some complication during the delivery process.. so imagine if I would have had my baby home and unsafe?? Just few minutes in a newborn's life make a difference!!!! Life is so precious - so NEVER DELIVER A BABY HOME! (not for the "sake" of a "silent birth"

:)) cheers to all a humble student first year RN - Canada

Aydry:balloons:

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.

I have delivered many babies in their own home safely and have had to transfer some labouring mothers into the hospital because of unforseen problems, which are reacted on very quickly when you are in the home environment. Like everything there are pro's and cons to home births. I do not believe that women who have ante natel problems of any kind should have a home birth but if it is a normal straight forward pregnancy then there should be no problem. In the Uk midwives are practioners in their own right and do 18 months of further intense training post RN before they can work as a registered midwife. They are highly skilled professionals who can make informed desicions regarding the safety of a home birth. Also before a woman can have a home birth great discussion is made between professional for aggreement to undertake her home birth. The reason for this is that her personnal midwife may not be the person who actually attends the home birth and all midwives in a team need to feel comfortable with this arrangement because they may be the midwife who attends on the birth day. All births in the Uk are supposed to have two midwives in attendance, near the time of birth-I say supposed to because nobody can fore see the quick births. Remember in the UK it costs nothing to have a baby, as all health care is free.

A woman in Uk has the right to choose to have her baby where ever she wishes, even if it is against medical advice!! This makes for another interesting thread.

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Specializes in Obgyn.
I can never agree more than the fact I passed through a delivery and I had some complication during the delivery process.. so imagine if I would have had my baby home and unsafe?? Just few minutes in a newborn's life make a difference!!!! Life is so precious - so NEVER DELIVER A BABY HOME! (not for the "sake" of a "silent birth"

:)) cheers to all a humble student first year RN - Canada

Aydry:balloons:

like i said earlier i think there tends to be a misunderstanding about homebirth.

as a mom i felt it so important to educate myself about all options and really research. i too had a complication as i mentioned earlier (though i was at HOME) and my baby lived. this was because my midwives were very well trained and prepared for emergencies. i also mentioned my coworker who had the same complication in the hospital and her baby died.

i feel safe at home. like i said earlier, educating oneself and researching is so important, especially with having children. i feel everyone should educate themsevles and make the choice that is best for them.

i wonder if you read any of my posts earlier?

with homebirths, like i have already said, we are well prepared for emergencies due to our equipment and training. we also will transfer to the hospital if things are not going right. we monitor mom and baby closely.

saying that homebirths are unsafe is not a true statement. once again, research has not shown that to be true. there is not a higher incidence of mortality/morbidity with homebirths.

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Specializes in RN, BSN, CHDN.
and i am not willing to risk the problems that the hospitals have. having a homebirth with a midwife dramatically reduces the risk of cesareans, episiotomies, instrumental delivery, and YET does NOT have an increased risk of morbidity or mortality.

Well said

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Specializes in 5 yrs OR, ASU Pre-Op 2 yr. ER.

It's a personal, private decision, all judgments (and reaching statistics, where's the proof for those that insist that one option or the other is asking for a disaster????) aside.

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I have delivered many babies in their own home safely and have had to transfer some labouring mothers into the hospital because of unforseen problems, which are reacted on very quickly when you are in the home environment. Like everything there are pro's and cons to home births. I do not believe that women who have ante natel problems of any kind should have a home birth but if it is a normal straight forward pregnancy then there should be no problem. In the Uk midwives are practioners in their own right and do 18 months of further intense training post RN before they can work as a registered midwife. They are highly skilled professionals who can make informed desicions regarding the safety of a home birth. Also before a woman can have a home birth great discussion is made between professional for aggreement to undertake her home birth. The reason for this is that her personnal midwife may not be the person who actually attends the home birth and all midwives in a team need to feel comfortable with this arrangement because they may be the midwife who attends on the birth day. All births in the Uk are supposed to have two midwives in attendance, near the time of birth-I say supposed to because nobody can fore see the quick births. Remember in the UK it costs nothing to have a baby, as all health care is free.

A woman in Uk has the right to choose to have her baby where ever she wishes, even if it is against medical advice!! This makes for another interesting thread.

Women in the US and Canada can also have their babies anywhere they want. The real problem is finding providers who will do it as well. I think you hit the key conditions for homebirths being acceptable: low risk women and well trained health providers. The really poor outcomes I've seen have usually related to one of those conditions not being met.

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Yes, I agree with this. Problem is that the people bashing homebirths don't make any distinction between mothers who are uneducated and have no prenatal care giving birth at home, versus mothers who have done their research and and are well-prepared and made an educated decision to give birth at home with a professional caregiver.

I agree.

Has anybody out there read Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth?" It's very illuminating. Homebirth really isn't such a bad thing.

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I agree.

Has anybody out there read Ina May Gaskin's "Guide to Childbirth?" It's very illuminating. Homebirth really isn't such a bad thing.

Great book! I have read this book, along with many other midwife/doula/homebirth books. And yes, I am a NICU nurse, and yes, I've had a midwife birth with a free standing birthing center, and yes, I totally support homebirth with low risk mothers and well trained professionals. Not all NICU nurses are opposed to homebirth (although in my experience the majority are).:uhoh3:

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Specializes in Pediatric Pulmonology and Allergy.

Well in my experience the majority of people in general are opposed to homebirth, medical professional or not. So NICU nurses may just be a fairly typical subset of the population at large.... Although the overwhelming majority of midwives I've met support homebirth! :roll

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