• Biblical Families is not a dating website. It is a forum to discuss issues relating to marriage and the Bible, and to offer guidance and support, not to find a wife. Click here for more information.

Home Birth

WifeOfHisYouth

WifeOfHisYouth

Seasoned Member
Real Person
Female
Have any of you ladies had a home birth? Tips? Advice?
We are due to have a little one come next Spring and are planning a home birth. This is our second and I went natural last time, so I'm not worried- just excited!
 
Yip, had 5.
Tips: Keep praying if possible. Cast out any fear, my 4th home birth was my worst, and my 5th home birth was my best, the main difference between them was fear. Don't focus on the pain, focus on something else. I had two red rubber balls in my last birth that I hit together and concentrated on the sound and the colour. Keep active and upright as much as you can. Go with your body, do what you need to do.
Are you planning a land or water birth?
 
Awesome! I am really looking forward to labor and birth. I actually really enjoy the achievement of it and the precious gift at the end :)
Did you get ultrasounds to make sure everything was where it should be (mainly placenta)?
I am planning on a waterbirth unless my body tells me otherwise.
With my first, I labored standing most of the time. But it was a hospital birth and I didn't like the added pressure they gave to have things go in their timing.
 
My first was in a hospital too, and it was awful, which is why I then chose home births.
I have ultrasounds with all my babies, usually only the one at 20 weeks which checks the placenta and anatomy of the baby to make sure there's no heart defects etc. There are a ridiculous number of scans that I could get if I wanted, and I don't see any of them as being beneficial.
I have had 3 water births, all at home. I really love being in the water, but my last labour was too fast and we didn't have the pool set up in time. It was up, and nearly full, but I went into transition and when I'm in transition I can't move. Where I am is where I will stay and where that baby will come out, like it or not. It actually ended up being one of the least painful births I've had, even with no water.
One of the best things about home birth, is the uninterrupted time afterwards. I get this massive hormone surge when baby is born, and it's like being on a huge high. For about 2 hours we just kind of hang out together, me and bubs, and we both eat and drink and have cuddles and I can't get the smile off my face. Apparently I'm then supposed to sleep when baby goes to sleep after that, but I never manage to, because I have a baby! It is the most exciting thing in the world, and with every one it's like I've never had a child before, it's so funny. In the hospital here, once baby is 2 hours old you need to be out the door and off home or to another smaller hospital. All that nice cuddle time and getting breast feeding established is disturbed which is awful, and that's assuming all went well with the birth and you didn't end up with any intervention etc.

Make a birth mat. This is a mat made up of a tarpaulin (do you guys use that word? ...uh, like a waterproof sheet?) with old towels and newspapers etc on top, and then an old sheet on the top, all taped up together around the edge. It's really absorbent and it is easy to just grab and shift as you need to. You can use it for if your waters break before you get in the pool, if you decide you don't want to birth in the pool you can easily have baby on it, and it's great for when you get out of the pool afterwards because you can just lie down on it and feed bubs while you're waiting for the placenta to come, or while you're being stitched up etc. At the end of it all you can just throw it away.
 
Oh fantastic idea! I will be making one for sure!
I had a pretty good birth with my first but had to struggle with the nurse to let me labor how my body was telling me to, had to fight the doctor to not break my water and just interrupted time with baby after baby came. My husband and doula were fantastic in being my voice and they knew what I wanted.
 
Congratulations on your coming blessings ladies.
Our first was a homebirth with my hubby and mom. Most would call that unassisted, but I thought they were great help. I mean, how much can someone else really do?;)
A Dr told one of my cousins once "Your uterus is going to have a baby, you just happen to have to be there." Or something to that effect.
After the first we have had 7 more beautiful, normal home births, with just hubby and I there. Ironically, the only ultrasounds I have had, were for pregnancies that had a less happy outcome.
I only experienced anything like fear with number eight. I thought I was due Dec 21, and she didn't come until Jan 28 I dreaded going into labor with her for several weeks, but was completely over it by the time she came. Many nights hubby read me to sleep out of the Bible. I stayed very busy, kept affirming faith, and standing on the promises in His word. That was an easy labor, I worried about nothing (even though we were babysitting three cousins all day until after she was born) it was a super clean birth, third stage was over in less then 15 min (previous birth was over 2 hrs) and our perfect little girl weighed to the ounce what I had asked for in prayer. (After 4 boys in a row, 2 over 10 lb I prayed "Lord, you know we'd like another girl. If we have a girl this time could she be a little one, like 7 1/2 lb)
My best advice is to let Him take care of things, as in my experience the less of my will that I prayed into the situation, the better the birth.
Oh, and listen to your husband!

That's my two cents worth to add to the wonderful ideas and suggestions already written.
I hope you enjoy a very blessed, blessed event.:)
 
Get waterproof things on your bed. pref buy some desposable waterproof but absorbing "sheets" that you could use to have the baby on. These could be trown away after the baby is born. So you do not have to worry about washing. I live in a place where homebirth is the usual. Women only have babies in hospitals if there is a medical reason for it. Even in the hospital women usually do not take anything against the pain cause babies are more alert without painmedication. (It is an amazing moment when your baby has his or hers eyes wide open and looks at you!). You could ask someone (mother/sister/friend) to help a bit in the house for ex with cleaning and trowing away things after birth so you, baby and husband can be together.
Just in case: have a bag ready with things you need if you have to go to the hospital (and phone ready) oh and have the position of your baby checked (is its head down and where is placenta). Mothers here have a birth at home kit, it has for ex things for umbilical cord (do i spell this correct?). also make sure the room temparature is warm. when the baby is born put him or her on your naked skin, so take of your shirt or wathever and be rapped in blanket together. And make the room a comfortable place, some people like music for example.
 
... the above are just some things i could think of..
Is "natural with the first" a home birth? edit: i just read it was in a hospital. Can i ask you what " natural birth" means?
 
Thanks for the added encouragement! Lots of great tips. I have a midwife that will be there with us to assist in the labor, delivery as well as the clean up :)
@woman- natural with my first just meant that I did not use any pain medication and it was a vaginal birth. @windblown- congrats to you also! When is your estimated due date? @Joleneakamama- so inspiring! Love your natural mindedness and your trust in your body! I didn't do an ultrasound with our first, but my Midwife is recommending one for her peace of mind of where the placenta is. I'm torn.
 
My aunt had 8 unassisted homebirths , with no ultrasounds, and no problems. With the ninth they could tell something was different. They prayed and decided they should go to the hospital. 1/3 placenta previa meant a c section, but God answered their prayers, and met every need.
How does your husband feel about the ultrasound? There is no need for you to feel torn. Just let him decide, and go with it.
My sis in law had a c section with her first, and at that time AZ midwives were not allowed to deliver vbacs. So their choices were hospital, or unassisted home birth. They chose home. After several more unassisted home births, AZ law changed to allow midwives to deliver vbacs, and breach births.
The doctors really tried to put a lot of fear into them, but the healthy, beautiful children are there, and it's hard to argue with success. The important thing is not to have division between you and your husband. Just my humble opinion.
 
My last labour was so fast it was almost unassisted too, the midwife made it as I started pushing, the back up arrived well after the baby was born. We had decided we would be doing it on our own already and were quite calm about the whole thing. I honestly didn't think the midwife was going to make it.
Thinking of a bag, I have a labour bag that I pack. It has just about everything I need in it, with a note on top for anything extra we made need to grab quickly that wouldn't fit in the bag. That way if I need to go to hospital then we can just grab the bag. But also it means that when I'm in labour and need something I can tell Samuel to get it and it's in the bag, he doesn't have to search over the whole house for hair ties or a drink bottle or socks etc. The less words I can use in labour the better, as I need to concentrate and not be trying to explain to him where in the house he might find something I need.
 
This is one of the reasons I'm such an advocate for home birth. This is just a few minutes after Ruth (#3) was born. I am on such a hormone high here! There is nothing frightening or impossible or dangerous about this photo. It is pure happiness and love. This is what home birth is about. No interference, just plain old birthing, the way my body was meant to.
Ruth_birth.jpg
 
What a beautiful picture!
I am the same way. Much too happy and excited to sleep! I usually spend some time with the new one, (holding nursing etc.) then let others meet and hold baby, while I get the fun of calling family. Even after a three and a half day labor, with two and a half hours of pushing at the end, there was no sleeping for me until hours after. Birth is probably the most amazing experience I can think of.
Here is a little humor relating to another, rather related, amazing experience.
MOM flipped over is WOW! ;)
 
Good to know the midwive cleans up. She may have some practical advise too. The ultrasound is a personal choice i think, you can discuss this with her and your husband and then you and your husband can decide? I have no idea if an ultrasound can be bad...

Thanks for explaining natural to me. Natural is the best way if possible, i am all for avoiding the drugs (pain meds) and c sections.
It is wonderful you could have this experience with your first!
 
Please forgive me for an off topic post. My sis just had a not so little girl this morning. It was a natural birth, in a hospital, with a midwife.
My sis just under me is laughing, because now three of us girls have had our fourth baby weigh in over ten lbs. My Mom's fifth weighed 10.5

10.4 on the not so little darlin' born this morning.

To relate this to the topic, all but the one born today were homebirths, with no tearing or complications.
Our bodies are very wonderfully designed!
 
I really have enjoyed reading this thread. It was very interesting reading about home births, and I also want to say congratulations to wifeofhisyouth and windblown. I'm currently 35 weeks right now and due December 20th. :) Both of our other kids were born naturally in the hospital here, so I have no experience with home births- and I didn't know very much about them either. So it was interesting to hear what you all experienced. :)
 
Last edited:
Congrats to you @RainyLondonFog and @windblown! Lots of new babies on the way. :)

Stepping away from home births, and moving into previous pregnancies, how long was each of your labors, when were they born (weeks) and how big?

My first was born at 40w5d and weighed in at 9lbs 2oz. Labor from start to finish was 10h 14 minutes (including 30 minutes of pushing).

I just love love love pregnancy, labor, delivery and BABIES :)
 
#1: 39w 6d, 7lb 1oz, 3 1/2 days (yeah, that was a tonne of fun!).
#2: 41w 3d, 7lb 12oz, 5 1/2 hours
#3: 40w 1d, 6lb 15oz (first girl!), 2 1/2 hours
#4: 40w 6d, 8lb 11oz, 2 hours
#5: 41w 5d, 9lb 7oz, 3 hours
#6: 40w 3d, 9lb 1oz, 50 mins (next girl :) )
 
You must log in or register to reply here.
Back
Top