Hi hun,
After 2 hospital births my last was a home birth and it was fantastic ... so good this one will be a home birth to.

The MW was fantastic (the 2nd MW didn't get there on time tho because i was quick so OH had to help)

I had a Tenn's machine and gass and air ...

...The MW cleaned up all traces of any mess before id even seen it, she packed all the placenta etc up in her bags to take away, half a hour after giving birth i was in my living room having a brew and some of my neighbours popped in to see me lol

The room i used was my dinning room with a sofa bed (in case it happened at night when the kids were asleep, i used cheep shower curtains to cover the bed with a old quilt cover ect on top of it ..

..this is the room ready for the birth



Good luck with what you decide but i deffo recommend them xxxxx

PS have a read of this thread in 3rd Tri ... a few of us are going for Homebirths xxx The 'Hypno Home Birth' Girls

thanks Cariad_bach for that reply, its good to hear from someone whos had a susecfuul (& what sounds like) a pleasant home birth

I was thinkin lounge, but not sure as we have pets as to whether hygiene would be any good?

One thing I have heard is with h/b you are guarentted a m/w with you at all times, were as hosptial you can be left on your own?
even if thats not the case Id rather be left on my own at home so I can settle were I want or wander without feelin Im gettin under anyones feet esp if someone else is in labour!

***wonders off to nosey what 3rd tri are up to

have you the proper link to this site pleasE? thanks xx

Im not sure about the pet things TBH but just ask your MW, with me they did a 'assessment' of the room i wanted to give birth.

As for being left .. in hospital with my 1st 2 the MW's would wander in and out all the time ... forever having to rush off and deal with other people or change shift ...

...at home when you call them to say your in labour they will come and check you, if they think your a while away they may go and do other stuff and come back ever hour or so to check on you ... if your nearly there they will stay with you but they will often just make everyone a brew and go and watch TV or somthing.
Whilst your in Active labour you have their undivided attention which is great ... i think (if i remember correctly) that after my LO was born she (the other MW didnt get there on time) hung about for a hour or so whilst cleaning up and making sure i was ok, then she went and left me to it.

It was a really really positive experience, i loved t xxxx

well, i'm not too sure, but my mw and I talked about hospital birth, and we talked about the bathtubs they have there. She said u can sit in the bathtub during labour, but have to get out when u need to push. I'm assuming at home it would be the same??

I'd really love to have a home birth, but I just can't do it to my hubby!! His son was born at 32 or 33 weeks, so the whole labour thing is really traumatic for him. My labours were straightforward and lovely really, but I wont be able to relax at home if he is uncomfortable or worried about stuff. As this is going to be our one and only child together, I've decided that I will go to hospital to spare him the worry!!

But, if I was to do it at home, I would want to do it in my lounge, as its my fave room in the house, and I'd probably just put loads of tarpulin down, and then cover it in cheap duvets out of asda or somewhere for comfort. I dont think there are any restrictions on how long you can stay in the bath, or else they wouldnt let you have a water birth.

I hope it all goes well for you when we eventually get there!

I think the main thing with using water for pain relief is that you don't use it too early on as it can slow labour down quite a bit, but once you're in established labour you can stay in there as long as you like. You'll have to get out every so often if your m/w doesn't have a waterproof doppler or wants to check your cervix.

As for mess you can buy those absorbent squares that they use in hospital/ midwives will bring some as an extra measure, they're like big squares of nappy material that you just roll up and chuck away - they're called Inco pads I think - designed for incontinence - I found some on the internet for £7 for 30. So I guess I'll have some of those, a cheap shower curtain, an old duvet cover and a big plastic sheet for underneath the pool.

Also forgot, my aunt who is a midwife said to make sure we have a few buckets handy as there can be lots of sick!

Hiya hun,

I have had 2 home births, with Dylan i stayed in the bath right up until i was 10cm dilated and could feel him starting to move down ready to crown then i got out of the bath,squatted over it and had him on the bathroom floor! Within an hour i had a bath and was tucked up in bed with a cuppa and the midwives had left.
With Harry we had a birth pool and i was in and out of it but i didnt give birth in it.
I was worried about how much mess there would be before i had Dylan but it was all gone before i even noticed it, the midwives cleared up the mess, ran me a bath, made us all tea and toast, tucked us up in bed and left.
With #4 i am going to give birth in the pool providing everything goes ok. I got my pool from La Bassine online and its great.
Things did go a little bit complicated with my birth with Harry but it was all fine in the end and in fact it was a truly beautiful experience, we had both the other children there and Anais even cut the cord. It was amazing. This is my birth story if you fancy a read!

Feel free to PM me if you have any questions about home birth, im quite an expert in it now!!!

http://www.babyandbump.com/birth-ann...ics-added.html

http://www.homebirth.org.uk/

I'm planning on setting my living room up as a birthing room...i wanna deck it out with fairy lights, candles and the water pool. we've got some plastic dust sheets from b&q to go over everything (and old sheets/duvets/towles over the top so i don't stick to the plastic) they were really cheap and they're huge and afterwards everything can go straight in a bin bag- easy peasy :-)