Home Birth - I will try again (Natural Birth)

Member Name: charlhrdy

Product:	Natural Birth
Date:	17/09/05 (97 review reads)
Rating:

Advantages: Pleasant calm environment

Disadvantages: It never happened for me

I always wanted a home birth, I couldn't imagine going into hospital to give birth, it wasn't natural.

I had a fantastic midwife, who supported my decision to have a home birth all the way through, I then changed midwives near the end and got another good midwife. They both gave me all the info and help I needed.

When it came to it, I started having contractions on the Saturday morning, by 16.30 they were four minutes apart and I thought this was it. I had been drinking raspberry leaf tea, and used a tens machine, I wanted an all natural birth. They were also quite painful, so I thought by the end of the day I would have had it. I called my mum, and baby's dad and over they came.

I called the midwife and over she came, gave me all this advice and said I wasn't really in established labour, but not far away. So I paced up & down through the night with contractions that were painful, got through the Sunday till the evening with nothing really happening but these contractions.

It was lovely I still thought I was having a home birth, I was in agony with back pains every time I had a contraction but it was still going to happen for me.

On the Sunday evening the midwife suggested I had gas & air, well that was a giggle. I started seeing horse racing & hedges, but was still in pain. This went on through Sunday night, and here is where it starts to go downhill. I had had a change of midwife, and about midnight she has said she was going to call her husband and off she went after going on and on about it. At 5:30 she suggested I went into hospital. This dirty old ambulance turned up, when I got to the hospital they offered me a dirty chair to take me to the labour ward(I walked). They took me into this room and the baby cot which I was to put the most precious thing in my life had either baby sick or milk on the inside.

The midwife told the hospital midwife I was the one she phoned about earlier, when she phoned her husband she had really phoned the hospital. She hadn't had any faith in me having a home birth at all, and then she was gone, I was told that my homebirth midwife would stay with me part of the time in hospital, but not this one.

They put me into a room and off they went, didn't explain how to use the gas & air and didn't return for 10mins, I was having contractions every 2! I ended up having pethidine, an epidural followed by an emergency c-section. I was heart broken. They say having your baby safely was worth it, I know he was at risk, but it doesn't change how horrific my birth turned out to be, it doesn't change the fact my midwife I had on the Sunday night hadn't supported me.

It was a team of community midwives and this one wasn't all for home birth. I felt all she wanted to do was to get me into hospital from midnight on the Sunday she had suggested I went frequently. I know I would have probably gone into hospital anyway and probably had a c-section, but had she supported the decision to have a home birth it would have made all the rest easier.

I plan to have a home birth for the next, I know it will be more difficult to get, but not impossible. The next time I will want to know the whole team of midwives supports my decision or I will pay for my own midwife.

Summary: Ensure you have maximum support.