While a hospital birth is an option when you go into midwifery care, home births are usually not an option when you’re in the care of a physician.
There are many reasons why you should consider midwifery care when you’re expecting, and the ability to have a home birth (if you have a low risk pregnancy and no previous complications) is one of the top ones! Thrive Midwifery is available to you if you’re planning a home birth in Chilliwack, Abbotsford, or Mission. Fill your intake form out today!
There are some ideas surrounding home births to suggest that they’re not as safe or sanitary as a hospital birth. The short response to this is: they are! The Society of Obstrecians and Gynaecologists released a report on the safety of homebirth. You can read that report here.
If you and your midwife have decided that a home birth is a good option for your family, you will take certain steps to make sure that you are fully prepared.
Your midwife will visit you at home before your due date. She will familiarize herself with your house, your family, and get an understanding of what she can expect.
You will be given a list of a few things to have handy for your labour and delivery. You can tuck these things away in a bin in the closet until the big day comes:
-blankets
-old towels and sheets
-birthing pool, if so desired
-mattress protector/shower curtain to put over your mattress
-postpartum pads
-comfy undies
-baby outfit
-receiving blankets
-newborn diapers
– a crock pot for hot compresses and cloths
– hydrogen pyroxide
-Tylenol and Advil
Your midwife will likely provide for you some comfy underwear, absorbent pads to put over the bed, gauze, and squirt bottle.
When you go into labour you will call your midwife at the same time that you would have headed to the hospital. While you’re waiting for the midwife to come you can continue to focus on your pain relief strategies on your own or with your birth support team.
Your midwife will bring the necessary medical equipment with her when she comes to assist in your delivery. You can see everything that she’ll bring with her in this post: (insert Facebook link) .This equipment will allow her to be prepared for any situation that may arise, however, if an emergency does occur your midwife will call 911 for assistance.
You may find that the comforts of home relieve some of your discomfort. When you’re at home you’ll have access to your own bed, your own food, your own bathroom, and all of the things that bring you joy. You will be able to read a book on your couch, watch a show, go into your garden, or do whatever you feel will bring you relief.
Some families are concerned about a mess that may occur during a home birth. Midwives are VERY good about cleaning up. Mattress protector pads (the absorbent kind) are easily gathered and disposed of, often before the person giving birth even thinks about it.
While the family has skin-to-skin contact and are meeting their new addition the midwife will check on the person who gave birth and administer the necessary treatment (stitching the perineum, delivering the placenta, etc.).
Once all is well, the midwife will head home for a while before coming back the next morning for a checkup visit. She will come to your home for one week after you welcome your baby, so you don’t have to worry about heading out to the clinic.
If a home birth is something that you’d like to explore discuss it with your midwife and get her thoughts on if she agrees that it’s a good choice for you and your family!