Home Birth or Hospital Birth?
My wife comes from a family history of natural births at home. She is one of six siblings in her family, all of which were born successfully at home. Her mother assisted in multiple successful home births as a doula. My wife’s grandmother was a midwife to 200+ successful home births in California, Idaho, Utah, and Wyoming. The licensed direct-entry midwife that helped my wife and I has helped with hundreds of successful home births. Our pregnancy, sadly, ended with a successful emergency C-section due to placenta abruptia, a complication that occurs 1 in every 150 deliveries (MedLine Plus, “Placenta abruptio). What are the risks and benefits of having a home birth compared to the risks and benefits of having a hospital birth? Can someone who wants a “home birth” setting experience that in the walls of the hospital where complications can be dealt with quickly?
I think the idea of having a home birth is very attractive to many women because it allows them a sense of control over their surroundings. Referring to our Olds’ textbook, in a large, qualitative study, women who had given birth at home reported feeling more relaxed during the prenatal period and more engaged with planning their care. The same study revealed there was no difference in neonatal or maternal morbidity with home births. However, there is still the statistic that 12% of planned home births end up in the hospital to deliver. Nulliparas are more likely to have difficulty giving birth at home, compared with multiparas. This is usually because of a failure to progress. There are also very scary incidences, like your experience, that are cause to pause and make sure that a home birth is right for you, and you are willing to take on the risks associated with not giving birth in the hospital. As for your question regarding a “home-birth setting” in a hospital, I think you are on to something great. This is something that nurses can try and do for the woman. At St. Marks, the nurses do a great job at identifying key aspects of the birthing process that are really important to the mom, and making sure that they do everything in their power to meet these expectations. Looking forward, I think that there should be progress towards a less institutional birthing process, while still having the comfort and security of a hospital. Because this is one of the most special moments in their life, women and their families deserve to feel like they have control over the birthing process and their surroundings, while still knowing they are in good hands in case of an emergency. Thanks for sharing your story!
Davidson, M., London, M., & Ladewig, P. (2012). Olds’ maternal-newborn nursing & women’s health across the lifespan. (9th ed., p. 5). San Francisco: Pearson.
I drove past a place on Highland Drive the other day that caught my attention. It was called BetterBirth. This was a lovely home that someone had turned into a birthing center. I decided to look up the name online, and I was pleasantly surprised at what information I found out on their website. Some of the information that I found out on the website was really interesting. I found out that the cost is actually pretty expensive. You are looking at around $4000. They do not take insurance. So if you are uninsured than this may be the best way to go. However, if you have ‘decent’ insurance, I think that hospital birth might actually end up costing less. The one thing that I did take away that I liked the most was that they allow you to be in any position that you prefer. You can do the jetted tub, the birthing ball, or the birthing stool. They have a section on their website just for information about hospital vs. non-hospital. Some of their points are pretty interesting. Things like, hospitals encourage epidurals so they simply do not have to deal with the patient as much. I have not had the chance to work in labor and delivery yet so I am not sure if this is true or not. Has anyone felt this way at all? Also, they talk about having one on one care through the entire birth. I have not had any children, but this sounds like a nice thing. I learned a lot from their website and it got me thinking about what I might want to do when I decide to start a family. Check out the website: http://www.betterbirth.com
The more “natural” approach of a home birth can also be experienced in a birthing center. These facilities are like miniature labor and delivery units and have all of the equipment to deal with emergency situations and unlike most hospitals take a more natural approach. They are equipped with jetted tubs, birthing balls, encourage walking/light activity during labor, and encourage the mother do dilate on her own time, rather than inducing her with Pitocin. There are several birthing centers like this in the area, such as The Birth Center in Murray (http://www.utahbirthcenter.com/?page_id=56) and BetterBirth, mentioned above. Not only do these facilities offer a more natural approach, but they are often less expensive than traditional hospital birth. I think birthing centers are a great middle ground for people who want to have a more natural home birth, but are nervous about complications.
There are benefits to both home birthing and hospital birthing. The benefit of home birthing is that the mother can be in her own safe environment surrounded by her comforts. When birthing in the hospital, you may not be surrounded by the comforts of home, but you are surrounded by health care professionals that will provide assistance if there is a birthing complication. This is a decision that the mother and father of the new baby must make for themselves, while weighing the possible costs and benefits of birthing in either location. My mother-in-law’s sister was a home delivery baby. Because of unforeseen complications she was born with a severe handicap, and died at the age of 16.
Now this is not to say that all home births have complications, but i would rather my wife deliver in the hospital to have the health professionals present if needed.
I do agree with the post above about the utah birth center. This would be the best option for someone wanting the comforts of a home birth without the risk of not having medical professionals present.