First a little humor....
It's an overall funny about his large family, he starts the home birth part at about 1:30
We've been heading in the direction of home birthing for a while now, but this will be our first. Our last baby (#8) was born in a detached Birth Center staffed by Midwives. While many will choose this option feeling it is "safer" than a home birth; the reality is that these facilities are rarely equipped with anything that would not already be at a home birth. Sometimes they are located closer to a hospital making emergency transport faster, that's about it though. The nearest birth center to us is over an hour away ruling it out as a reasonable option anyways.
Some reasons we were leaning towards home birth.....
1)Unnecessary interventions that had nothing to do with my labor/birth process or medical history. Just hospital policy.
2)Uncertain environment. So much depends on the nurse you get or the on call doctors.
3)Doctors not listening to my medical/pregnancy history and "freaking out" when the situation then comes up. Jumping to suggestions of interventions and c-sections despite my assurances that the situation would right itself; because it always had in the past and did again shortly after it came up. Specifically...my babies turn. They spin all the way through the last month of pregnancy and even overdue. Every single one has gone back to vertex for birth on their own, but none of my doctors listen to that. My midwives do and have a much more relaxed attitude about this knowing there is nothing we can do until "birthday."
4)Our family dynamics. Hospitals do not lend themselves well to a bunch of kids being around before, during or after a birth. The birth center was so much better, but still not what we (or our children) were wanting.
5)My own pregnancy/labor/delivery and medical history makes me an excellent candidate for a home birth. *If this was not the case it would have overruled all of the other reasons to home birth and we would go to a hospital.
6)This one really didn't come into play, but is a perk....given the time of year; planning to be home just feels good. Snow storms, influenza outbreaks and such are not a concern knowing I'll be staying home.
Some reasons we were leaning towards home birth.....
1)Unnecessary interventions that had nothing to do with my labor/birth process or medical history. Just hospital policy.
2)Uncertain environment. So much depends on the nurse you get or the on call doctors.
3)Doctors not listening to my medical/pregnancy history and "freaking out" when the situation then comes up. Jumping to suggestions of interventions and c-sections despite my assurances that the situation would right itself; because it always had in the past and did again shortly after it came up. Specifically...my babies turn. They spin all the way through the last month of pregnancy and even overdue. Every single one has gone back to vertex for birth on their own, but none of my doctors listen to that. My midwives do and have a much more relaxed attitude about this knowing there is nothing we can do until "birthday."
4)Our family dynamics. Hospitals do not lend themselves well to a bunch of kids being around before, during or after a birth. The birth center was so much better, but still not what we (or our children) were wanting.
5)My own pregnancy/labor/delivery and medical history makes me an excellent candidate for a home birth. *If this was not the case it would have overruled all of the other reasons to home birth and we would go to a hospital.
6)This one really didn't come into play, but is a perk....given the time of year; planning to be home just feels good. Snow storms, influenza outbreaks and such are not a concern knowing I'll be staying home.
This time the choice (in some ways) was made for us. Once we looked at our options realistically in terms of what we needed and what our insurance would cover it was clear what our choice would be. My husband is in the military. We're thankful for the medical coverage we have, but in this instance it would not work for us. For oh so many reasons the Army Hospital* in our area was not an option for us (distance, reputation, and policies are some of the reasons). Civilian doctors and hospitals were not really an option unless we found ourselves in an emergency situation during labor; in that case they would be covered and would be able to provide much better (in our opinion) and faster care than the military facility. *Last time we were stationed in this area we also did not see this hospital as a good option. At that time we had other options that we were able to use, and ended up with a civilian doctor at a civilian hospital.
This left Home Birth which we'd been leaning towards anyways. We paid out of pocket for it since it is not covered by our insurance. Only my lab work was covered for this pregnancy. While having to pay for it on our own is an added strain it greatly relieves other strains and concerns. I know we're not alone in making this choice and many others go through much more financial hardship in order to make this happen.
I love that my midwife takes her time at my appointments; each one has been about an hour long. She is much more detailed in her questions about my pregnancy and over-all health. She does more testing too. Nothing big, but she is certainly much more aware of my over-all health than most of my doctors ever have been. With the longer appointments we're able to get to know each other better. I trust her more than I've trusted most of my doctors, and I'll feel much more comfortable with her at the birth. This is much more of a partnership. We're in this together to get the best outcome for both me and the baby. An added bonus? Her husband is retired military in a similar career field as my husband. We share some similar experiences in that aspect as well. She understands our life in a way that many midwives could not. Finding the right midwife can make a huge difference. :)
My oldest daughter delivering her baby sister with the help of our midwife.
