Home or hospital? You decide! (Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth)

Member Name: Claribella

Product:	Home Birth Versus Hospital Birth
Date:	19/11/08 (93 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pluses for both

Disadvantages: minus's for both

My first child was a planned hospital birth. I was naive and didn't know much about home births at this time and I also didn't know that I could have turned down an induction if I wanted. Everything was all very new as is a first pregnancy and it all went by in such a whirlwind. By the time I was 8 days overdue I was booked in for an induction on the 12th day and nothing else was said. I wasn't given an option, it was just done.
On the 12th day I went into hospital at the appointed time and I had Noah, Malachi on the 15th day of being overdue. I spent quite a long period of that time being lied flat on a bed either attached to a monitor or having a pessary popped inside me. The actual labour was very long and painful due to the induction and I ended up having all the pain relief provided.

At the time it wasn't a really traumatic and bad experience but by the time I got around to being pregnant with my second child I knew I wanted something different.

Elijah, Rayne was born in the comfort of my living room on my sofa with no pain relief. It was a very calm and natural birth and I enjoyed every minute of it. I did what I wanted and went where I wanted. I wasn't pushed into anything and I wasn't offered pain relief at every whipstitch.

I think there are pluses and minus's to both a hospital and a home birth and at the end of the day it does come down to personal preference.

There are many misconceptions when it comes to a home birth. When I told people that I was planning to have one they would always say, 'Oh you're brave'. This just shows how little people know about the subject (I include myself in this on my first time around). If you are relaxed enough to have a home birth then your baby will feel this and be more relaxed too which obviously results in a more calm labour with no/less intervention because your baby is not stressed. To be honest I would say I would have been braver to set foot inside our local hospital after it had just been in the paper for not being clean enough. There is also about 1% chance that there will be complications.

Home birth pluses
The whole thing is a lot calmer. The atmosphere was chilled and my midwife was in no rush to leave after I had had my son. She ate with us and we chatted. It was as if I had a friend in the room rather than any old midwife. By the time she did leave I knew tonnes of stuff about her and likewise.

I was able to do what I wanted. I walked the floor, used my own birthing ball and did some dishes. When the birth was over I used my own shower and went to sleep in my own bed with my new baby.

Not once was I offered pain relief. It was only when I was in the 'transition' stage that I asked for gas and air but decided not to use it in the end. I found at hospital they were quite pushy about giving me pain relief. The midwifes left my body to do it's thing and when I needed them they were there to help.

Home birth minus's
If there are complications then the midwifes can only do so much. It would take a littlewhile to get to the hospital which could be fatal.

If you have other children and want a break then you're not really going to get it at home.

It can make your partner a little uneasy. My husband admitted after that he felt a little terrified at times. I was so in the zone dealing with the contractions that I didn't really notice.

Hospital Pluses
The main plus of being in a hospital is if something goes wrong then you have the experienced staff along with the advanced technology to help the situation.

I think it's also nice to chat to other mums. You are all in the same boat and if you are anything like me then you love to hear a good birth story full of all the details. You can really go through it with the other mums on the ward and get advice from them if you don't fancy listening to a midwife who has never had any children herself.

My local hospitals have separate room as well as wards and when I went into be induced I was placed in one of these rooms. This was great because I could choose whether I wanted to chat to other people or not and it meant I had a bit of privacy. Also you can book one of the rooms for a small fee if you want.

Hospital minus's
It is a common fact that the hospitals are understaffed and I really felt that when I was there. I would be told someone would give me my next pessary at a certain and have to go and find someone when I hadn't received it. The midwifes looked tired and were constantly busy.

Visiting times can be a pain. I had son and as soon as I got up to the ward my husband was sent home because it was out of visiting hours. I found that pretty traumatic, I was sole responsible for a tiny dot of a baby and didn't have the love of my life there to help me care for it. It was very daunting!

I found the whole experience very impersonal. I wasn't really talked through anything and it just lacked the personal touch. I'm sure this is linked to them not having the time because they are so under staffed.

Like I have already said it is a personal decision and I hope this review has been helpful in helping you make that decision.

Summary: I personally prefered a home birth but hopefully this review will you decide.