Home birth: pro and con. Is it worth to give birth at home?

Making a decision about home birth should be a conscious and measured step. All the pros and cons of childbirth at home you can compare by reading the article.

Waiting for the birth of a baby is the most beautiful period in a woman's life. But, together with the miracle of the development of a new life, many future mothers face problems associated with pregnancy, possible complications and fear of childbirth.

The large amount of information that encourages women to give birth in the natural environment without the participation of doctors raises many questions and doubts, because for every woman, the health and safety of the child remains the most important priority.

Why do women give birth at home?

Each birth is unique, and it is clear the desire of parents to give the baby the opportunity to be born in the best possible way. Women who prefer to give birth at home to a maternity home do so quite consciously, guided by certain principles:

1. Normal birth is not a medical procedure, but a natural process. This statement is based on the woman's confidence in the forces of her own organism. Until the time of delivery, the expectant mother will have enough time to assess the course of pregnancy, calm her fears and psychologically tune to having a baby at home with the help of a midwife or family members, without the participation of
2. physicians. Hemorrhages and sudden malfunctions during healthy childbirth are very rare. Even if something goes wrong, there will always be time to get to the hospital. In this case, the entire responsibility rests with the person who must be at that moment. A woman should be fully confident and ready for the fact that the midwife( mother, husband) will be able to assess the seriousness of the situation and timely make the right decision
3. . During childbirth there is also a risk of complications in the maternity hospital, as well as a high probability of being left without attention and help at a critical moment. This statement follows from a large number of similar stories about the horrors occurring in medical institutions - about the negligence and indifference of doctors and staff to the women in labor
4. Often, a woman has her own negative experience of previous births, and because of her psychological state she believes that the actions of the doctors were incompetent,and home births will be completely different. The birth of the house can only be found on the web with positive feedback, which certainly shapes the appropriate thinking.
5. . The child should be born in a calm environment, in kindness and care - this will capture the first glimpse of the world in his mind, and this view should be directedto my mother and father. It is difficult to argue with the importance of contact with the mother for the baby, and this first experience of communication with the child also allows the woman to feel the same magic and the great happiness of motherhood

Pros of home birth. Why should you give birth at home?

During the home birth, the future mother is in the usual situation among the usual things, does not experience stress from staying in a medical institution, can relax, take a bath, perform any hygienic procedures without experiencing disgust. It is believed that in the absence of fear and nervous tension, the process of delivery is as natural as possible

1. The presence of only the closest people, which will not feel uncomfortable from the possibly not very tactful behavior of the medical staff. Freedom of one's own state and behavior in the event of pain or other physiological manifestations, since labor is a long and painful process. The choice of a comfortable posture during labor and immediately at the time of delivery
2. Absence of drugs for stimulation of the uterus and painkillers during childbirth, as well as other medical interventions - dissections, the use of forceps and other actions, sometimes capable of harming the mother and child
3. Eliminating the risk of infectious andother diseases. Still, a medical facility is visited by hundreds of different patients, and even the slightest violation of the rules of sanitary treatment can result in acquired infection
4. Joint long stay with the baby and the father of the child immediately after birth without any intervention and any kind of procedures.

Disadvantages of home births. Why should you choose a maternity hospital?

In any case, the final decision belongs only to a woman, regardless of the advice and arguments of others. A future mother needs to fully understand the extent of her responsibility to the baby and really assess all possible consequences. Since this is about the life and health of the child, with a large number of benefits of home births, one should not forget about the serious disadvantages of this choice:

• Risk of complications that may lead to the need for emergency medical or surgical intervention. It is simply impossible to envisage all variants of the development of the birth situation. Choosing home births, you need to understand that the "first aid" may not be so, and the consequences will be irreparable.
• Error in choosing a midwife. Whichever recommendations and reviews your midwife liked, you can never rely on one person and exclude the human factor. First, no certification of private obstetric practices is provided for in legislation. When negotiating privately with the maternity hospital staff, you should understand that you trust the person without any form of
• obligation. In case of dangerous moments, she may not be able to provide you with the necessary assistance and simply leave. Secondly, the chosen midwife can fall ill elementary, late due to transport or be on other births. Then you run the risk of remaining at all without assistance at delivery.

• Prerequisites. Childbirth is a process more physiological than romantic, so you can not treat it lightly. Home comfort and a beloved husband will help only in the case of absolutely normal delivery, but no one can guarantee this.
• Natural delivery is also welcome in the maternity hospital, without the need to use medicines or other means, medical staff will not, but everything necessary in a hospital is available
• Postpartum period. Thinking about a comfortable birth, many forget about the postpartum recovery period. A few days that mom and baby spend in the maternity hospital are allotted for monitoring the general condition, handling the umbilical wound, the necessary tests and inoculations of
• . If you are at home, you will have to negotiate the daily visits of a gynecologist and pediatric neonatalist, or go to the hospital yourself. This can be very problematic, especially given the cold season

What kinds of home births exist?

Home delivery can be of two types, depending on the preparation during pregnancy:

• Conventional delivery, when a woman goes through all stages at home in a comfortable position for herself. During labor, she can lie, walk, squat, stand on all fours to reduce pain. The final stage can look traditional when a woman gives birth, lying on her back.

This option is considered not suitable from the physiological point of view, but very convenient for the help of a midwife. More preferable are vertical births - directly at the time of the appearance of the head, the woman in labor can take any position - sitting or standing. Usually a woman intuitively feels which posture will be most favorable for the birth of a child

• Childbirth in the water. Such births differ from traditional ones in that the expectant mother during the period of labor can periodically immerse herself in a bath or pool with warm water. At the time of full disclosure of the cervix, the woman should be in the water - the child, appearing on the light, falls into the air, and habitual water environment. Thanks to this, the baby does not experience discomfort and smoothly passes to new conditions of life.

Childbirth with professional help: birth with a midwife

• Birth in the presence of a midwife is the most common kind of home birth. Usually a woman during the second and third trimester of pregnancy attends special classes in preparation for home birth.
• There she receives all the necessary information about the physiology of the process, performs special exercises aimed at training breathing skills and training muscles
• An experienced midwife should already in the preparation for delivery to identify all the features of the pregnancy, the general health of the future mother and provide for all risks

Votime of home birth, the midwife is there to help and assess possible complications.

Childbirth with traditional care: in the family circle

Homework in the family circle assumes the presence at the time of the birth of the child of a husband, mother or other loved one. In this case, the woman receives the necessary psychological support, especially if she attended classes in preparation for childbirth with a partner. If close people do not have special training and knowledge of the birth process, then from the help of the midwife in any case can not be refused.

Are home births legal?

• This question is of interest to future parents who are anxious to provide the mother and child with everything they need during the birth of the home, wondering whether they are violating the law. The situation with the legislative base looks twofold
• . On the one hand, under the law, private obstetric care is not legalized, in fact, medical workers do not have the right to carry out assistance outside the walls of a medical institution on a commercial basis. All forms of accommodation exist only in private between the midwife and the childbirth family. Accordingly, there is no legal responsibility in the negative development of the situation, it is not assumed
• . On the other hand, the parents determine the choice of the birthplace of the child themselves. To force a woman in childbirth without fail to apply to any medical institution is not allowed. There is also a law on the doctor's duty to provide medical care to a person in an emergency situation, for example, when the birth began on an airplane, train or other public place. Then the refusal of assistance outside the medical institution is prosecuted under the
• law. From all this it follows that home births with the definition of the necessary qualified care are the choice and responsibility of the parents themselves.
• The most famous obstetricians are supporters of

home births. In Western Europe and the USA,births in special obstetric centers are more common than in the Russian Federation, and cause approval by doctors.

• According to Mark Baker, head of clinical practice at NICE( UK), most women of childbearing age have no health problems, pregnancy and labor activity occur without complications
• Therefore, according to the collected statistics, home birth offers a safe alternative to childbirth in the hospital. Moreover, he believes that in general, home deliveries are safer than hospital because they provide a comfortable environment and greater attention to mother and child
• . It should be noted that in Western countries in the event of complications of home birth, emergency mothers are provided emergency care, since in most cases, an ambulanceis located in the immediate vicinity of the place
• In our country, doctors adhere to a more traditional point of view. This is associated with a greater risk of a dangerous situation for the mother and child. Official medicine advocates for delivery in special institutions under the supervision of
• physicians. At the moment, the medical staff of maternity homes is instructed to provide maximum assistance to the woman in labor - in choosing the method and position of delivery, as well as the possibility of the presence of a partner, including in the case of caesarean section. After birth, the child is also permanently with the mother

Is it dangerous to give birth at home?

Decide for yourself, whether home births are dangerous, every expectant mother should herself. Even with the absolutely normal course of pregnancy and the perfect physical form of the parturient for the delivery process, many factors influence:

• Weak labor activity is a long period of cervical dilatation. As a result, the fetus may suffer from the development of hypoxia
• Bleeding. May occur in the course of childbirth due to abruption of the placenta - a great danger to the fetus, as there is a disruption of nutrition due to lack of oxygen. Also, bleeding can begin after the birth, which is dangerous for the woman herself - hypotonic bleeding can not be stopped without medication.

• Cervical rupture. Occurs because of insufficient opening of the cervix and requires urgent intervention( suturing)
• Rupture of the uterus. Occurs with intense labor( rapid delivery) or when the size of the fetus does not correspond to the width of the birth canal, if emergency care is not given, it can lead to death.
• On the fetal side, complications can also occur - the child at the time of delivery can turn over, assuming the wrong position, which will lead to impossibilitypassing through the birth canal. Then the intervention of a doctor or caesarean section is required.
• Cord cordonment presents a huge risk of hypoxia and strangulation of the fetus.

A professional doctor or midwife who has been asked for help in taking home births should inform the woman and family about all possible complications and, if possible, dissuade the expectant motherfrom the risk of giving birth at home.

Childbirth at home: advice and feedback

The network can find a huge number of positive reviews about home birth. Women proudly share their impressions and give advice. These stories please the warmth and happiness of the birth of a little man.

The main thing is not to forget that no one will share the negative consequences of their mistaken decisions, and along with happy stories there are many less joyful finals.

Video: My happy home birth