Home Birth

Never had a home birth but heard lots of positive stories in the book ‘practical ways to make your birth better’ it’s a hypnobirthing book definitely worth a read!

Thanks Roisin, yes, I have read this, it is SUCH a good book and is the one that convinced me that this is what I want for my birth ❤️

Love that! I considered it for a while! I felt so excited to give birth but then my wee one decided to be breech so we made the decision for a section I was absolutely gutted but felt it was the right thing to do then! Good luck stay positive about it all 🩷

It wasn't something I chose but I did discuss it with my Midwife. I was told it wasn't so much the concern around having Midwifery support but the availability of ambulances if something were to go wrong - she cited a couple of close calls. That being said, I know someone who has had 2 home births and has been delighted with them. Have you looked into private Midwife services if the NHS isn't able to offer it? X

Hi! I’m based in Fife and was with the home birth team for my pregnancy/ birth back in June this year. Ended up transferring into hospital after 12hrs of labour at home because my waters wouldn’t break on their own but still a really positive experience with the home birth team all throughout pregnancy and part of labour. On some occasions from 37 weeks we were told there were no midwifes on call for if I was to go into labour overnight. This happened on at least 4 occasions. Also if the team are with another birth then they possibly wouldn’t be able to come out. Even with the staffing concerns I would stay with the home birth team for a potential next pregnancy. The relaxed home appointments throughout pregnancy and getting to know the small team on a more personal level was really beneficial. Also had a positive experience in hospital too and all staff were amazing! Sorry don’t know if that long waffling story helped 😂

If you are in Ayrshire & Arran, they have a dedicated Homebirth team. I had a Homebirth and the team were amazing! The majority of my care was at home all the way through my pregnancy and I hired a birthing pool to use at home too. The whole team were very supportive and it was such a positive experience. I would recommend it to anyone who is able

I had a home birth in Edinburgh in June this year. I was referred to the home birth team at 37 weeks, but ideally I would have let them know earlier and been referred before then, and all my care could have been done from home. Due to staffing issues and annual leave, it was community midwives on call who ended up delivering my baby, and it was such a fantastic experience from start to finish. I hired a birthing pool but ended up giving birth to my son on the couch in my living room. It was a profoundly positive experience and I would recommend it to everyone!

I wanted a home birth too so was under the care of the lothian home birth team. They were really busy in July with home births however my midwife did say there is always enough people on call so that wasn't a worry. I hired a pool and tens machine, I was in labour for 24 hours at home where I used the pool, had my own music, lighting etc. It was amazing. The home birth team were amazing. Sadly I had a complication and wasn't progressing, so had to go to hospital. But I am so glad I got that 24 hours at home and in the pool. Maybe see if you can chat to one of the midwives from the home birth team if there is one in your area.

Thank you so much for your responses everyone, I really appreciate it! I am in Dundee so under NHS Tayside. I was told they don’t have a dedicated home birth team, so it would be the community midwives, if one is available. It sounds so nice the experiences some of you have had with getting to know the team and having a lot of your care at home. My midwife is the same stage of pregnancy as me (due in Feb) so I know won’t be around for the birth anyway!

There are some amazing home birth groups on Facebook. I suggest joining those as there are some incredible stories there and full of people who cheer you on when the NHS are being arseholes. The NHS like to railroad home births if they can, especially now.

Thank you, I will look into this!

Yes there was that , with the NHS yes .. they said they would support my homebirth but in reality didn’t seem set up for it so unsupportive of it if that makes sense I had a home birth but I had independant midwives. Xx

Also if you can do hypnobirthing it really helped me x

I have been reading a lot about Hypnobirthing and fully plan on doing this. I did look a little into independent midwives but what I found was way out of our budget unfortunately 😔 would you mind asking me which company/website you used?xx

I didn’t use a company website I went with the Yorkshire storks midwife team who were brilliant . I did look at a website which I think it was private midwives or something but I found the storks midwife . It has changed a lot . They were team of 3 But my main midwife who then worked for the storks was Sharyn lock , she’s moved upto Scotland and she has a website the online midwife now , I think she works individually now . - she was fantastic I would highly recommend her . X I called her the Mary Poppins of midwives xx I had my daughter in 2020 xx let me know if you want anymore info happy to help xx

Thanks so much, will message you xx

@Rachael were you in Scotland for that and when was that? I heard that independent midwives can no longer practice in Scotland but Im not 100%

The homebirth team in Glasgow are amazing! Both antenatal appointments & postnatal visits were fab. Community Midwife was really enthusiastic about me transferring over when I asked about homebirth at 24 weeks 😄 Seems different NHS trusts have different arrangements for how they offer homebirth, so best to enquire about options in your area. For example there might be a hospital with a Midwife Led Unit as a plan B. On Facebook there is group called Positive Birth Glasgow which I found helpful. There is always a chance that whoever is on call will be at another birth when you need them, but that’s impossible to predict and I found the wraparound care to be excellent regardless of how the actual birth pans out (I was admitted for a caesarean at 42 weeks as baby was undiagnosed breech)

@Carmen Hi I wasn’t in Scotland , not too sure the ins and outs . Sharyn will be able Stephanie has asked - I have sent details to Stephanie xx