Sometimes when you tell people your decision to have a homebirth it may just occasionally be met with a raised eyebrow, questions about your sanity or even hostility by some!! This reaction is often based on someone’s assumptions about the safety of hospital births and the ‘riskiness’ of home births, rather than fact.
So what is it like when things don’t go exactly to plan on a home birth and the ‘what if?’ actually happens!!!...
I’ve spoken to Jen Bradshaw who is a full time mum of two, nanny and trainee counsellor. Jen had a planned home birth and was faced with one of the very ‘what if’s?’ many people worry about and she had to transfer into hospital…
Why did you decide to have your baby at home rather than in hospital?
Before I had my son, my husband and I talked about it a lot. One of the first issues was that he really doesn't like hospitals and I knew I needed him to be on form to support me through the labour. I then started looking further into it, my sister in law had had both of her babies at home so it wasn't completely alien to me. I fell in love with the idea that I could be in control, that it wasn't a medical procedure, that women had done this for thousands of years so why couldn't I? I knew I wanted a water birth and that I couldn't guarantee this in hospital.
Your homebirth ended in a transfer into hospital – does this mean you had a negative experience?
Absolutely not! With Camille I had a post partum haemorrhage which admittedly isn't ideal at home. However, I knew exactly what was happening the whole time and had total trust in the team I chose to have with me. The actual birth was absolutely perfect and exactly what I wanted, what happened after would have happened whether I was in hospital or at home and I was perfectly safe either way. I remember Camille birth with absolute pride and extremely fondly.
Jen breast feeding Camille in hospital after her home birth
You used an independent midwife, alongside your NHS care, what made you decide to use an independent?
I had some NHS care throughout, after my 12 week scan at the fetal medicine centre I had my 20 week scan with the NHS. I also am blood group B Negative so have to have Anti D injections during pregnancy and after if the baby is positive blood group. My independent midwife was able to do all my other care which was fantastic. I chose to have this for two reasons; firstly, she came to my house and the appointments were to suit me and secondly and more importantly, it gave me consistency of care throughout my pregnancy and labour, she saw me from day 1 until 6 weeks after the baby was born and knew everything there was to know about me. I could call or text her if I felt anxious or if something had changed and she would be able to advise me. Obviously after I had Camille I went into a hospital where the NHS care was fantastic.
You were suffering from SPD in your pregnancy, can you briefly explain what this is ,and what it meant for you?
When you are pregnant, your body produces a hormone called relaxin which helps your pelvis to spread to allow you to give birth. When you have SPD - symphysis pubis dysfunction (sometimes referred to as PGP -pelvic girdle pain) your pelvis spreads to the point it becomes unstable which can be incredibly painful. People get it to varying degrees from mild discomfort to an inability to walk. I was closer to not being able to walk at the end of my pregnancy, one of the risks with overdoing it is that while your ligaments are stretchy you can do yourself permanent damage. I spent the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy in bed mostly as moving was incredibly difficult. I had regular osteopathy which did help but ultimately the only thing that makes it go away is having the baby! Some of the hardest things to do are spreading your legs in any way (even walking) which can make giving birth a little tricky. This is another reason I felt most comfortable being at home, a water birth allowed the weight to be taken off my bump which meant the pain was greatly reduced and it allowed me to be in control of how my legs were split (as opposed to lying on a bed where your legs might accidentally be spread too far). I ended up giving birth squatting in the water which is what felt most comfortable for me at the time.
Please tell us your birth story..
With my second child, there was no doubt in my mind that I wanted a home birth. I had attempted a home birth for my first but as the little monkey was back to back, we ended up transitioning to hospital to have him. At the time, independent midwives were able to work in the UK and I was fortunate enough to have a wonderful one who had been with me through both pregnancies. I had suffered badly with SPD(PGP) with my second pregnancy and this resulted in being bed bound for the last 4 weeks of my pregnancy. This only strengthened my desire to have a home birth as I wanted minimal intervention, to give birth in water if possible as I had loved the water experience with my first and had read that it offered great pain relief for the SPD also.
I realised on my third trip to the loo in the middle of the night that I was probably in labour, I lay back in bed and listen to a hypnotherapy session. Only after that and a hot shower on my back did I wake my husband and ask him to contact the midwife! She arrived between six and seven in the morning and sat with my through a few contractions. They were a bit all over the place and not very strong. When my son woke up, we packed him off to my husbands aunt for the day and Jamie set about putting the pool up. My first labour was very long and I was desperately trying to stay active to keep the contractions going, however this time I just wanted to lie down and my midwife reminded me that I needed to listen to my body. We snuggled up in bed while the pool filled up in the lounge and watched some friends. I felt very calm and safe, I used hypnotherapy to work through the contractions and they very quickly ramped up.
My midwife returned and after seeing one contraction suggested I got into the pool! My husband was my absolute rock throughout; he held me through some contractions and rubbed my back. We had the music on the whole time and the room was calm and quiet. I am unusual in that I prefer to have a number of people around to support me through labour, it is long and tiring for everyone and it is important that everyone is supported. My mother, mother in law and sister in law were with me, taking turns to pour water, offering water to drink, cool flannels, just being there. The stories I had read about water helping with SPD were not wrong, the SPD meant I was in constant pain and the water took the weight off my bump in a magical way. My husband actually thought contractions had stopped when I got in the pool as I was so still.
Jen in her birth pool with husband Jamie supporting her
The labour was quick and I had Camille in the pool unaided at 14.49. The birth was exactly what I had wanted and I was over the moon, I had a healthy baby girl who was completely covered in vernix! I had opted for a physiological third stage, this means no immediate injection of oxytocin to encourage the uterus to contract. I also had wanted delayed cord clamping but as the cord was fairly short and we were in water, after 10 minutes I asked for it to be cut as I was finding it hard to not drop Camille back under the water! After ten minutes I felt the urge to push again, having had an epidural the first time this was new to me. My midwife was a little surprised it was so quick but told me again to listen to my body. The placenta came easily but was unfortunately followed by a postpartum haemorrhage.
Jen and Jamie in the pool after Camille was born at home
My team were wonderful, the doting grannies took Camille and wrapped her up warm. I was lifted out of the pool and laid on the plastic sheeting on the floor. Someone wrapped me in lots of towels. I knew exactly what was happening and everyone communicated well. My midwife stopped the bleeding with oxytocin but an ambulance was called nonetheless. Though this was clearly not what I wanted to happen, I didn’t panic at any point, I in fact asked if there was anything I could do to help was told quite firmly just to lie still! When the paramedics arrived they administered another drug to prevent further bleeding and I was transferred into hospital. I had to have some blood clots removed, was given more oxytocin to ensure my uterus closed and fluids for good measure. Naturally, I was disappointed to not be at home, but I gave birth in exactly the way I had wanted to and at the point that I needed intervention, my midwife was amazing, my family were amazing and the paramedics were amazing.
My mother in law brought Camille into hospital were we had some skin to skin and she had her first feed. If I were to have more children, I would give birth at home again without doubt. My midwife has said that given my history she would recommend no physiological third stage, which is understandable!
