Disclaimer: This is not a medical blog nor is it written by someone with medical expertise. This is simply the pros and cons of home birth from my experience having had a home birth with my second child. Please consider all the risks/benefits of a home birth with your own situation in mind before deciding to birth at home.
Is a Home Birth Right for You?
How do you know if you should have a home birth? It is the trendy thing to do these days but is what is best for you and your baby?
I’m here to answer this question as a mom who peacefully birthed my second baby at home. I have had both experiences in a short amount of time (fourteen months between births) so I feel that I can offer a wide range perspective. Here is my take on the topic…
1. Consider the health of mother and baby during pregnancy.
A healthy pregnancy does not guarantee a perfect labor/delivery but it may help you decide if a home birth is right for you. If things are off with your health or baby’s health as your pregnancy progresses you definitely need to weigh the risks and benefits of a home birth more closely. There are certain health issues that would have seriously affected my decision to birth at home.
- Birth defects of baby involving organs or limbs.
- History of major complications during natural birth or postpartum on mother’s side of the family or a previous birth of my own.
- History of serious illness/defects at birth or infant death during birth on either side of our families.
- Severe preeclampsia during pregnancy.
- History of premature labor with other pregnancies. (You cannot legally give birth at home until 36 weeks gestation in most states.)
- Previous severely underweight or severely overweight babies.
- Other issues specific to each pregnancy.
2. A safe distance from hospital.
In most cases, if you have a great midwife who monitors carefully and doesn’t take risks, the probability of needing an emergency transfer is very low. However, birth is wild! Anything can happen. This means you should be prepared for anything and everything.
A part of preparation is knowing the fastest route to the nearest hospital. Peace of mind comes with knowing you and your baby are close to emergency care if necessary. I do not know what is considered a “safe” distance. Most of us probably have different views on this. I can say, we are 20 minutes from the nearest hospital and that felt safe to me.
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3. Previous natural labor and delivery.
Some states allow midwives to administer medication during labor. However, it is wise to know for sure that you can deal with the mental and physical pressure of having a baby naturally. This is not to say that if you are home birthing your first baby you reconsider! You can definitely do this!!
Personally, I think it would be very embarrassing to plan a home birth, then have to bail on labor day because I could not manage the pain of childbirth.
If this is your first birth and you desire to do it naturally at home or the hospital the key is preparation! Spend time preparing your mind and body. Learn the techniques of managing your thoughts and the discomfort of birth before hand.
4. You have a strong support system.
A strong support system is great for any birth situation! Home birth especially requires a network of people you live and trust. Most hospital stays for a healthy mother and baby last 24-36 hours. This means someone is a push of a button away at all times to get you water, help you to the bathroom, hold the baby, or whatever else you might need.
Home birth does not come with this package, unless you can convince your midwife or a doula to come live with you for a few days! You will want to have help that you can trust with things like meals, babysitting other children, cleaning, and more for the first few days after birth. I highly recommend the entire week after (for home or hospital birth) if you can manage that.
This might feel odd if you are not used to asking for help. (I for sure haven’t mastered it!). But the truth is in many cases, people want to help you. Let them be there for you!
Pros of Home Birth
1. 24/7 Access to Your Midwife.
Midwife or best friend? She’s honestly all the things! The person you can ask anything to. World class problem solver. Emotional support. Wealth of wisdom and knowledge on all things pregnancy, baby, and postpartum! One of the biggest pros of having a home birth is having a midwife on call 24/7.
Our midwife came to the rescue so many times during my pregnancy with quick answers to medical questions. She actually came to my house one day to check my vitals- just simply for my peace of mind! My midwife also only did home visits for prenatal appointments and I cannot tell you what that meant to me as a mother of a fresh one year old who could barely walk!
2. Comfort.
There is nowhere more comfortable to have a baby than in your own home. I would never recommend choosing your own comfort over the health and safety of your baby. However, if you are a healthy woman and there is no reason to suspect any complications with birth or baby- you will never be more comfortable or at peace than when you are laboring and birthing at home.
- The ability to move freely without monitors or IVs.
- The comfort of your own bed.
- No interruptions from nurses, doctors, or staff during labor or postpartum.
- No time apart from baby.
- Let’s not even talk about them random noises of a hospital room- the beeps, talking, and humming sounds are enough to make you go insane!
3. Cost
Maybe a weird reason to have a baby at home but in many cases it is cheaper to have a baby at home than the cost of having your baby in the hospital with insurance! Total cost for our home birth was $4,500. This included all my prenatal visits, the delivery, a midwife, a student midwife, several postpartum visits, and lactation support. My delivery at the hospital with insurance coverage was more than the cost of the home birth. This is not including all my prenatal visits, ultrasounds, etc.
The cost combined with the benefits of being more comfortable, safer, and the other benefits was enough to sell us on home birth!
4. Safer.
This one is controversial so let me clarify.
- Based on several studies home births are less likely to require interventions such as pain medication, forceps, vacuums, and emergency c-sections making a home birth safer for a healthy or “normal” birth.
- Based on several studies home births are safer and pose less risks for infection of mother and baby than a hospital birth.
- Based on several studies the likelihood of a safe natural, unmedicated delivery of a healthy baby at home is higher than the chances of having an unmedicated, birth with no interventions in the hospital.
In other words, for a healthy mother giving birth to a healthy baby with a qualified midwife a home birth is statistically safer than a hospital birth.
The research is yours to do but it’s all there! Risks/probability and benefits all must be considered for your specific situation.
5. No system to work through.
Aside from the matter of safety and less interventions in a home birth, the system of the hospital birth scene is atrocious. Government officials who know little or nothing medically speaking are making calls for the whole system. Politicians who make the rules are lining their pockets from pushing medications, procedures, and practices that are unnecessary for the birth of a baby.
When you birth your baby at home you are the sole decision maker without push-back and confrontations from the professionals. Whether you have confidence in the system or not is completely up to you. However, we all deserve the right to choose what we believe is best for our children without confrontation or guilt.
This was a big step in choosing home birth. I will not debate my stance on things like vaccinations, certain medications, and interventions in pregnancy and beyond. That is a whole other post! However, I did not appreciate having to even discuss my decisions with the professionals at every turn. No woman in labor should feel the need to argue or justify her decision with doctors. She should not feel untrusting that her wishes/desires would be granted or that someone would do something behind her back she feels is unsafe for her child.
6. Immediate connection of the family unit.
Many hospitals do well at trying to unit the family as soon as possible but there is nothing like a mother being immediately connected with her baby uninterrupted! Or siblings getting to meet their baby minutes after birth. Home birth even offers father’s the ability to deliver or catch their children with the assistance of a midwife if needed.
7. No unnecessary adjustments.
The adjustment of going from the hospital then back home is so much on a mother and baby. All the constant noise of the hospital, the lack of rest, and the assistance from others does not help a family adjust as well as a home birth.
Read all about my hospital birth in this post!
When baby is born at home they are able to snuggle right into their own bed, be constantly close to their own people, and more quickly adjust to breastfeeding. The mother is gets more rest without being interrupted, and has more time to connect with her baby. The family has more time to adjust to things without the prolonged process of the hospital stay.
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Cons of Home Birth
1. No immediate access to emergency care.
Having a home birth means no immediate access to emergency care beyond what a midwife is trained to perform. Most midwives are equipped with the same basic knowledge as an OB-GYN and nurses. They carry oxygen for mom and baby, are equipped to handle minor hemorrhaging, and can at least help get you to help quickly if there is a problem. However, they do not have all the access to life saving equipment that hospitals/NICUs have. If you are considering a hospital birth the same is true of a hospital without a NICU and pediatric staff.
There is risk involved in every birth. Knowing the risks/probability of an emergency arising is critical in a home birth. Having a midwife with a wide range of experience and knowledge is key!
2. Chance of an unassisted birth.
The chances of a medically unassisted birth is higher in the case of home birth due to a midwife being too late or hindered from being there by traffic, road blockages, etc. For instance my midwife arrived just 45 minutes before our baby was born and may have missed it altogether had our baby not been breech. This did not bother me, in fact, I preferred to be uninterrupted I until absolutely necessary. I thought her timing was perfect!
Preparing for what you might need to do in case of an unassisted birth is a great idea just in case the need for the knowledge arises. Be sure your husband is also aware of the possibility and prepared to assist you.
The good thing about a planned home birth is that you will have access to a midwife via phone even in the case of her being delayed. She can calmly walk dad or you through exactly what you need to do. If she is unavailable 911 can assist you.
3. Postpartum Care is on Dad.
One thing that can be a little tricky about having a home birth is that dad has a lot of weight on him. It can kind of make you feel like a burden asking for more this or that, especially when you have another child he is looking after as well. The biggest key to this is communication. Voice when you feel like a burden and make sure he is comfortable to voice when he needs a break. Prepping things like a snack basket, a postpartum care kit with all the things you will need after a baby, and a basket of baby items close by will keep dad from having to run around grabbing things for you all day. Make sure he is familiar with where things are before hand as well so that you do not have to explain where everything is at.
Another way to lesser the job for dad is to have a good stash of freezer dinners and easy meals. Lean on your support system for other things like child care, food, and cleaning. By the end of a long day of home birth dad will likely be just as exhausted as you are so make sure you both have a plan for getting rest after.
4. The temptation to overdo.
The temptation to overdo it right after you give birth is stronger in my experience. After a natural, relaxed home birth you honestly feel like you could conquer the world! The adrenaline is pumping and the urge to do all the things you did not get done before baby starts to creep up. Having a plan (and sticking to it) for postpartum recovery is essential! This looks different for everyone- you know your body best. Just remember to relax and recover. The dishes can wait and the baby snuggles are worth a messy house for a bit.
5. Traumatic birth.
This is one is rare, however it did cross my mind when deciding on a home birth. What if something went wrong. In the small chance that things became very traumatic or worse you have to come back at the end of the day and live in the house where it “all went wrong”. That thought is a bit overwhelming and you really do have to consider the possibility or something going wrong in any birth situation- home or hospital. The way I overcame this was realizing that the possibility was very small (based on all we knew about my health, baby’s health, and having a midwife who does not take risks) and that no matter what happened there would be grace to make it through whatever we faced in labor and beyond.
Have you had a home birth? Are you considering it? We hope this article helps you make the best decision for your family. Leave a comment below and share your experience or drop a question. We love hearing from you!
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