I mean after all, I'm assuming that's why you've chosen to
give birth at home in the first place — to have a safe, peaceful space.
I - obviously, given that my own recent delivery almost happened in a vehicle speeding away from home - did
n't give birth at home.
And considering that the world is six billion strong, it seems that
giving birth at home doesn't necessarily put you at a disadvantage.
And when we challenge the status quo and do something radical
like give birth at home or consider co-sleeping, the advice (and criticism) gets even louder.
Many people in my mother's generation
gave birth at home under the supervision of the family doctor — so my answer is yes.
As a result only healthy mothers with healthy
babies give birth at home but the hospital has to take all patients regardless of risk.
And, since only about only 1 % of
people give birth at home, for the overwhelming majority of us, the hospital seems like our only option.
If you are planning to
give birth at home with a midwife, you should talk to her and discuss what things does she bring and what do you need to have.
Perhaps the biggest advantage
of giving birth at home is that you will be able to sleep in your own bed that very first night, and nothing is like your own bed.
Women
who gave birth at home attended by a midwife had fewer procedures during labour compared with women who gave birth in hospital attended by a physician.
I wish everyone with low risk pregnancies could
give birth at home because it was such an awesome experience that I will do it for every subsequent pregnancy that i can.
This study was able to utilize data of those who were able to
give birth at home as well as those who were transferred to a hospital.
One of the biggest reasons I would
never give birth at home is because if anything happened to me or the baby, my husband would be devastated.
I plan to do some writing about questions to ask midwives, but I'll throw out a couple of ideas: Ask her
if giving birth at home is just as safe as giving birth in the hospital.