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> Doing things by yourself is of course free. I did that with twins and with a 10-pound (4.5 kg) kid. Do not attempt this at home... Sure, 95% of the time you

> Doing things by yourself is of course free. I did that with twins and with a 10-pound (4.5 kg) kid. Do not attempt this at home... Sure, 95% of the time you'll be fine and have no complications (for mom or baby), but do you really want to risk it for that 5%? I suspect this will be one of those trends that seems very appealing until we get a few headlines of home births gone wrong. Especially dangerous if it is your first baby, or if you have other risk factors.

burfog 9y ago
For the first couple births, I really recommend a midwife at either a free-standing birth center (no financial incentive to do a bait-and-switch) or at home. With the experience of a midwife, you are less likely to panic or do something dumb, and you'll have somebody to tell you if there actually is a serious issue. By being away from pressure for intervention, you will avoid life-altering surgery. If it turns out that you like having kids, you might want more... but this can turn out badly if there are big nasty scars from surgery. To properly consider the hazards of surgery, it is important to consider not merely the present birth, but also all future births.
manmal 9y ago
The idea that at home birth is so much more dangerous is controversial. Look at this very lengthy review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399594/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399594/ (search for death and mortality to find the interesting sections).
- GordonS 9y ago
  Most home births involve a midwife though - I'd guess the figures were rather different for 'DIY' home births like the parent refers to (I don't have any evidence to back that up tho)
- zxcmx 9y ago
  My son had cord wrapped around neck and SO glad I was around people who knew what they were doing with medical support. It might be only a few % different but if its your few % you might come to feel differently in the end. I suspect homebirth statistics in the west suffer heavily from selection bias since sensible antenatal care will direct complicated births to hospitals. They do mention this in the intro to the study you linked - homebirths in western countries tend to be experienced mothers from advantaged backgrounds having second or further children.
  - manmal 9y ago
    Cord wrapped around the neck is quite common actually, the occurence is about 1 in 3 babies. It’s normally nothing to be concerned about, as blood flow is not hindered, even if it’s wrapped around twice. This would be no reason to not give birth at home. Misconceptions or fears like this make people totally dependent on hospitals, which is IMO a shame - it hinders making a well informed decision (weigh actual risks vs benefits).
  - burfog 9y ago
    Oh, mine too! The cord was wrapped around the neck. That was: 3rd kid, 10 pounds, unassisted homebirth She just reached down and undid it. To me, the whole thing looked pretty instinctive. I suspect the kid would've been fine anyway.
alkonaut 9y ago
My second child had a defect meaning she couldn’t breathe until after surgery. Nothing looked odd beforehand. She likely would have died in my arms after being delivered if we hadn’t been in a hospital. It’s just not worth the risk. The delivery, 10 hour surgery, 3w stay in hospital with 3 says in ICU etc was paid for by single payer thank god.

burfog 9y ago

For the first couple births, I really recommend a midwife at either a free-standing birth center (no financial incentive to do a bait-and-switch) or at home. With the experience of a midwife, you are less likely to panic or do something dumb, and you'll have somebody to tell you if there actually is a serious issue. By being away from pressure for intervention, you will avoid life-altering surgery. If it turns out that you like having kids, you might want more... but this can turn out badly if there are big nasty scars from surgery. To properly consider the hazards of surgery, it is important to consider not merely the present birth, but also all future births.

manmal 9y ago

The idea that at home birth is so much more dangerous is controversial. Look at this very lengthy review: https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399594/ https://www.ncbi.nlm.nih.gov/pmc/articles/PMC4399594/ (search for death and mortality to find the interesting sections).

GordonS 9y ago
Most home births involve a midwife though - I'd guess the figures were rather different for 'DIY' home births like the parent refers to (I don't have any evidence to back that up tho)
zxcmx 9y ago
My son had cord wrapped around neck and SO glad I was around people who knew what they were doing with medical support. It might be only a few % different but if its your few % you might come to feel differently in the end. I suspect homebirth statistics in the west suffer heavily from selection bias since sensible antenatal care will direct complicated births to hospitals. They do mention this in the intro to the study you linked - homebirths in western countries tend to be experienced mothers from advantaged backgrounds having second or further children.
- manmal 9y ago
  Cord wrapped around the neck is quite common actually, the occurence is about 1 in 3 babies. It’s normally nothing to be concerned about, as blood flow is not hindered, even if it’s wrapped around twice. This would be no reason to not give birth at home. Misconceptions or fears like this make people totally dependent on hospitals, which is IMO a shame - it hinders making a well informed decision (weigh actual risks vs benefits).
- burfog 9y ago
  Oh, mine too! The cord was wrapped around the neck. That was: 3rd kid, 10 pounds, unassisted homebirth She just reached down and undid it. To me, the whole thing looked pretty instinctive. I suspect the kid would've been fine anyway.

alkonaut 9y ago

My second child had a defect meaning she couldn’t breathe until after surgery. Nothing looked odd beforehand. She likely would have died in my arms after being delivered if we hadn’t been in a hospital. It’s just not worth the risk. The delivery, 10 hour surgery, 3w stay in hospital with 3 says in ICU etc was paid for by single payer thank god.