Записи с меткой: Home Birth Tips

Getting a booking to have your baby at home can be hard enough for a woman of average height, expecting her second child after a perfectly straightforward first labor. If, as is likely, you fall outside this very specific category, then you can expect even greater objections based on your allegedly ‘high-risk’ status.

Many doctors will consider you to be at high risk of experiencing complications in pregnancy or labor if you are:

— Expecting your first baby.
— Expecting a fourth, fifth or subsequent baby.
— Are 30 or older if it’s your first baby, or older than 35 if you already have a child.
— You have had an operation on your uterus, including Caesarean section.
— You had a ventouse or forceps delivery last time.
— You are under 5 feet 1 inch tall.
— You have previously had a postpartum ...

This objection will depend very much on what happened before, but need not necessarily be discouraging, even if you have previously had a Caesarean section. You may, however, find it hard to get a booking, although it still remains your right. It is up to the health authority to make the best possible provision for your individual circumstances; this might include taking some blood for crossmatching in the event of your needing a blood transfusion, and making sure the midwife who attends you is experienced and has some back-up.

There are in fact a number of good reasons for having a baby at home after encountering difficulties with a previous birth, all of which contribute to reducing the chances of it happening again...

On rare occasions — statistically more rarely than in hospital — a baby delivered at home dies, either before it is born or shortly afterwards. This is always a tragedy and there really is no consolation. However there are aspects of stillbirth or neonatal death at home from which bereaved families draw some comfort. (If you feel that your baby would not have died if you had been in hospital then the following considerations will be of no help at all.)

If his or her death seems to be inevitable or unpreventable, you may prefer that your baby is born at home...