Five Reasons to Have a Homebirth
Having Your Baby at Home Might Be Right For You
Here are some of the benefits of choosing a homebirth if you are healthy and have a low-risk pregnancy.
Homebirth or Hospital Birth?
If you are a healthy, low-risk mom-to-be on the fence about whether to give birth at home or in the hospital, there are a few things you should know about the benefits of having your baby at home. Since hospital birth and homebirth are about equal in terms of safety when attended by a skilled practitioner as documented in a 2005 study by Kenneth C Johnson and Betty-Anne Daviss, the question comes down to one of availability and comfort. If you have a midwife prepared to help you birth your baby at home, here are five reasons why you might choose to go that route.
You Avoid the Side Effects of Pain Medication and Interventions
From the risks of inductions, epidurals and narcotics to the discomfort of catheters, routine IVs and continuous fetal monitoring, homebirthers have a get-out-of-jail free card. While certain interventions can be done at home by midwives, including breaking water and providing IV antibiotics, for the most part a homebirth can proceed intervention-free. For a mother who prefers to experience birth as a life event and not a medical event, being treated as a birthing woman rather than a patient is an important distinction.
Your Labor and Birth Tend To Be Quicker
Women birth more quickly when they feel safe and comfortable, and when they are able to do the things their bodies prompt them to. At home, a woman is free to labor in the fashion most comfortable to her, bathe when she wishes, make noise when she needs to, eat and drink when her body requires it. There are no beeping machines to distract her, strangers to intimidate her, or policies to restrict her. As a result, her body is able to do its work as efficiently and effectively as possible. Even a small amount of stress can affect the rhythm of labor.
You Recover More Quickly From the Birth
Because fewer interventions happen at home, the recovery rate after a homebirth is often much quicker. The difference between an episiotomy birth and one where the perineum is not cut is enormous in terms of pain and comfort on recovery. A woman who has given birth at home often feels energized and elated as soon as her baby is born. While it is possible to give birth in a hospital without undue interventions, at home your biggest obstacle is a perineal tear, and your midwife can take measures to minimize that.
Breastfeeding Gets Off to a Good Start
When your birth attendant (or you for that matter), lifts your newborn baby onto your bare chest in a bath of warm water, it’s a very natural next step for the baby to begin to nuzzle at your breast and initiate breastfeeding for the first time. Early and frequent breastfeeding are key to establishing an adequate milk supply, and having a homebirth facilitates both of these. There are no nurses taking your baby away for examinations, or to “help you get some rest”. There are also fewer instances of mixed messages and poor breastfeeding advice from staff which can lead to a lack of confidence in yourself, your technique and your milk supply. With a homebirth, your midwife will monitor you and your baby as you get to know each other through breastfeeding, and will gently assist you when needed.
You Never Have to Leave Home
Though it may sound a little selfish, it is a wonderful feeling to never have to leave home. You don’t have to book a babysitter for your older children, and your husband doesn’t have to pay for parking at the hospital. You don’t have to eat hospital food and toss and turn at night when other mother’s babies awaken and cry. After gently (or passionately!) bringing your baby into the world, you get to put on your bathrobe and snuggle down with her in your own bed, warm, comfortable, sleepy, content. Maybe your husband has a special meal or treat coming into you on a tray that you were looking forward to enjoying after the birth (like that glass of wine). Your midwife will make sure you are both healthy and comfortable, quietly pack up her things and leave you and your family to enjoy the fresh, wrinkled little creation you have just welcomed into your home. That just might be the best reason of all.
