Home and Water birth?

Question

What are your thoughts and experiences on this method of birthing.

I am considering a home and water birth that is aided by hypno-birthing methods for the birth of my 1st child.

Answer 1

I had a home birth and it was wonderful.  Being able to relax in your own home is fantastic.  I had water tub and planned on giving birth in water, but it did not work for me.  I ended up on my back, pushing.

I can't comment on hypno-birthing.  I took Bradley Method classes and highly recommend those.

Answer 2

It is said to be the best way.

Answer 3

I had a water birth (but in the hospital) for my first child nearly a year ago, I didn't use any pain relief other than homoeopathic, not even gas and air. I went into it open minded and ended up having a water birth which I found was fantastic, helps keep relaxed and they keep topping up the water to keep at constant temperature, which was nice. I was in the water for 8hours and I looked more like a prune than my son!! lol. I hope this helps

Answer 4

I've heard water births are very good, I don't think home births are maybe the greatest idea for your 1st, although I'm sure there are lots of people who have had them and had good experiences.

I gave birth in hospital and had a normal healthy pregnancy and the labour progressed well but then he got stuck because he was too big, I don't know how I would have felt if that had happened at home, in the end we were both fine but it was difficult for them to get him out as he'd moved too far down for me to have a section, but despite everything I felt calm because I knew I was in hospital and had all the staff/equipment there that may  (and was ) needed.

I'm not trying to put you off just saying make sure you consider everything, like how long does it take to get to your nearest hospital etc.

If you do decide to I hope its a wonderful experience for you.

Answer 5

I hate the bath and hate being confined during labour, and yet I ended up birthing my second in the tub more or less accidentally.  I couldn't find a way to support myself the way I wanted as I seemed to want to lean waaaay back.  So I thought I would try the tub and the baby might shift so I would be more comfortable and the baby would be in a better position.

Well the baby was a little closer than I thought.  

Homebirth is definitly the only way to go (I had a homebirth transfer with my first and while I don't think you need to hear the horror story, suffice it to say that I would have to be dead or close to it before I would step foot in a hospital again and expose my baby and myself to that level of risk).

Dry land, bath tub, birthing tub, or whatever.  That is a more personal decision.

http://www.gentlebirth.org/archives/nuch...

I owe the following observation to Dr. John Stevenson from Australia.  We were discussing cutting tight cords and the traditional medical teaching that a tight cord at birth will either tighten too much around the baby’s neck, or will prevent birth, or might pull the placenta off the uterine wall.

He said to watch the uterus as the baby descends and is born.  The fundus might be at the xiphoid at the beginning of labor, but it gets gradually lower as labor progresses due to the thickening upper uterus, and the descent of the baby.  The uterus follows the baby down!  By the time the head is out, the fundus is usually only a bit above the mom’s navel.  This is something we’ve all seen, but I never NOTICED in this way before he pointed it out.

The uterus “follows the baby” as it pushes the baby out – the same as your hand follows a pillow if you push it across the floor.  That’s the process which pushes the baby down through the birth canal.  He doesn’t wiggle out on his own and he isn’t squeezed out like toothpaste by the mom’s abdominal muscles.  He is PUSHED by the fundus.

When the baby is born the entire uterus is no more than about ten inches from the v***a!  Remember that the baby’s cord is at the center of his body.  A cord would have to be incredibly short to prevent the birth of the baby!  (You can model this by holding a baby or doll so its mid-abdomen is at the mom’s introitus.)  Even if the placenta were implanted in the fundus, there “should” be the few inches necessary to deliver the baby since the fundus follow the baby down, and the fundus will be near the mom’s navel as the baby emerges.

A cord that is too short, or relatively too short, to allow birth will probably be too short to allow descent and will cause a “hand up” in labor, fetal distress, or even malpresentation.  A cord that is long enough o allow birth of the head should definitely be long enough to allow the birth of the baby’s body.

So a tight or short cord should allow the birth of the baby.  But what about other problems?  Will a tight cord rip the placenta off the uterine wall?  Most of us have observed an overly enthusiastic practitioner doc with the cord wrapped around his hands, pulling on that placenta for all he’s worth trying to hurry third state – and that placenta just isn’t coming!  The cord will often detach before the placenta does! It’s not easy to pull of a normally implanted placenta before the uterus folds itself behind it and shears it off in the normal third stage process.  So, I’m sure it COULD happen, but rarely does.

Our major concern should be to avoid pulling on a taut cord.  We don’t want to increase the tension already there.  This is done one of two ways:  1) by cutting the cord from around the neck – the standard medical view; or (2) by keeping the baby close to the uterus as it is born, delivering through the loops or else using the “somersault maneuver.”  It’s a wise idea to keep the baby close anyway -  we want to avoid stretching or pulling the cord, especially if the mom is upright. ( None of us wants to see a baby do a bungee jump and dangle from his momma’s knees!  We do try to keep him close!)

As for the second part of the question, it shouldn’t make a difference how hard mom pushes, since the cord is not holding back the baby.

One other possible factor to consider: if a tight or short cord is slowing labor, then can the cord “stretch” to allow descent?  Theory says it could and that this is more likely than pulling the placenta off.  Tight cords can cause fetal distress, of course, and that’s what practitioners should be watching for.  If mild stress is present but the baby is coming quickly, then the baby will be better off if the midwife can keep the cord intact after birth.  He’s the kid who will really NEED an intact cord to help him recover.  But if we follow the advice of cutting the cord around the neck, we will be putting the baby through a good deal of additional stress!  It’s ironic to think that the baby who is most in need of an intact cord is the one whose cord we just cut!

I can’t say there won’t be the very rare case of a baby who really needs his cord cut after the birth of the head.  I will say I’ve seen more than a few who would have been cut following the old rule, but who were born through the loops or somersaulted out and were fine, vigorous babies.  But I can’t say I’ve seen any whose cords were cut at the neck who were vigorous high-Apgar babies!

Answer 6

You should find and watch "The Business of Being Born."  This movie discusses this issue and I think you will be amazed!  If you don't want to locate the DVD version, here's a link for it.  This link didn't work for me, but it might work for you because it worked for other people:

http://www.watch-movies.net/movies/the_b...

Answer 7

That was my idea. Did the hypno birthing course (completely useless. You can practice all you like beforehand, but when those big heavy contractions start, it's all gone), started at home, my boyfriend and midwife were there. I totally underestimated what giving birth involved. I dialated very slowly and when it was time to push nothing happened. The baby would not come out. I said several times that I wanted to go to the hospital, but my midwife kept saying we should try more at home. I listened to her, because it was my 1st baby and had no idea what was going on.

At some point I demanded to go to the hospital and in the end my baby wasborn via emergency c-section. He was tangled up in his cord and could not decent down the birth canal. All I can say is that I was lucky the cord was on top of his head and around his arm. Things could've ended a lot worse.

I don't mean to make you scared, but take it from someone who knows: have your first in the hospital. See if you can find a hospital with a natural birthing clinic and water birth option (that's my plan for the next one).

If you need medical attention doctors are right there, if you don't (and I hope to god for you that you don't) you don't have to see a doctor.

Last thing: I thought I'd be really happy to be giving birth at home, but when it came down to it (in the middle of all the contraction madness) I was wishing I had been in hospital with lots of professionals around me.

Any way you choose to give birth, I wish you lots of good luck. Giving birth will be the hardest, most amazing, craziest and most beautiful thing you'll ever do!

Answer 8

My 1st birth was your typical over-managed hospital fiasco.

My 2nd was totally different.  I used Hypnobabies (home study course) and highly recommend it!  I spent some of my labor in water, and that was very nice.  I had to get out for the end of it though.  Deep scar tissue from my first birth prevented me from stretching enough, so my midwife had to help with that.  Otherwise I would have stayed in the water.  We had planned a home birth, but my waters ruptured at 36 weeks.  Since she was early and therefore a bit more risky, we compromised and went to a free-standing homey birthing center that was closer to the hospital than our home.  We had the whole place to ourselves and it was lovely!  

Since my water was broken, it was a concern that my labor had not started yet.  I took herbs and vitamins to prevent infections, and my midwife kept a close eye on my temp, blood pressure, baby's heartbeat, etc., to watch for signs of infection.  It was 49 hours before baby was actually born, and we were just fine!  A hospital would have c-sectioned me after 24 hours for sure.  Anyway... things weren't progressing.  Finally, my midwife used her hands to dilate my cervix, pull it forward and turn the baby into a better position.  Yes, she literally had her hand inside me doing all this!  I'm guessing it would have been painful under normal circumstances, but my Hypnobabies training made all the difference in the world.  I was at total peace and felt nothing.  Hours felt like just a few moments.  There was no pain.  I was on my knees leaning over a birthing ball while my midwife was doing those things to me, and I was able to support myself in that same position for 6 hours!!!  It was a miracle!

The whole birthing experience was amazing, peaceful, and life-changing!  I would recommend these methods to anyone.

Having experienced both a medicated and a natural birth, I far preferred the natural experience.  I would do it again right now!

Best of luck and blessings to you and your family.  Feel free to contact me if you want to chat about any of these things.  This subject is a passion of mine!

[e-mail]

myspace.com/rachelemonique

Answer 9

its a bit of a fad.  belive me when push comes to shove this idea will go out the window.

Answer 10

I had a water birth at home with my third child. It was one of the best decisions that I have ever made. I have also had hospital births as well a birth center delivery, but nothing compares to doing it at home. Obviously, it isn't for everyone, but if you want a low-intervention, med-free birth, then it is a wonderful option.

And recent research has shown that for low-risk women, home birth is just as safe as hospital birth. Your exposure to various routine interventions, which all carry certain amount of risk, is pretty limited in a home birth.

Also, we did use hypnobirthing with that baby. I definitely did not experience a pain-free birth, but it helped me relax a lot. And the classes were a nice bonding experience with my husband!

Good luck!!

Answer 11

Wow, my hat goes off to you! With my first, I had to be put on a drip and induced and I was screaming for an epidural at 2cm dilated! However my cousin had her first baby in water and she highly recommended it her labout lasted 6 hours she hardly tore and just needed just some gas and air towards the end, my labour lasted 23 hours and at the end I needed the assistance of forceps and needed to have alot of stitches, then I needed a blood tranfusion I was glad to be in a hospital giving birth is a great experience but it can be scary and there is always the chance you may need an emergency C-section! Goodluck :)

Answer 12

I am due in January and planning a home water birth. I am low risk, and do not want unnecessary interventions pushed on me. I trust my body and God(or nature, if you prefer) did not make the body flawed. In most cases, childbirth is a natural event, not a medical emergency. Also, research does show that, in low risk pregnancies, a home birth is just as safe, if not safer, that a hospital birth. Statistics show that home births have the same rate of maternal and infant death, and have lover rates of maternal and infant injury.

I am, for the first time, actually excited about birth. No longer do I have the fear of childbirth that came along with the thought of going to the hospital. As long as I remain low risk, I could not even imagine giving birth in a hospital again!

Answer 13

I wanted this first time round but found labour so painful that i ended up having an epidural. But saying that, we are ttc our forth and i want to be at home this time with family around me. Midwifes encourage home births now and are very supportive.

Go for it and good luck.

Answer 14

Well, remember that it's your first child, which means a longer labor usually. The important thing is to make sure that if the baby becomes distressed and the heartrate drops, that you have a capable team of medical people available to help you. Sometimes first time mothers want to do natural/home/water births without knowing what to expect. My friend did... 30 hours into labor the baby wasn't progressing, the heartrate dropped and she was rushed to the hospital for an emergency c-section. make sure you explore all your options.