Having a baby at home - seminar/ sharing experience?

[CocoC]

Hello

I am due to have my first baby in December and really want to have him/her at home. I wondered if any of you had attended any homebirthing seminars/ talks in the local area - did you find them useful and would you recommend them? Any/all experience also welcome - good and not so good!

x

[ana maria]

Hi Coco, the community midwives at King's have a home birth seminar once a month near the hospital on Caldecot road. I'm almost sure it's the first Saturday of the month but it's better to give them a call to confirm.

I had a wonderful home birth with the Lanes and the only thing I would say is to keep an open mind about going to the hospital as you might get too tired if the labour is too long especially if it's your first. On the other hand I had a 4 hour labour with contractions every 2 minutes from the beginning so I didn't have time to think of hospital but would have gone if it was any longer, I was so exhausted could barely keep my eyes open by the time my daughter was born.

Enjoy! It's a wonderful experience xx

[londonhypnobirthing]

Hi Coco, congratulations on your pregnancy!

The home birth talk that Ana Maria mentions is definitely worth going to - I think they normally have a couple who've recently had a home birth come in and talk about their experience which is really nice.

I teach hypnobirthing classes in East Dulwich and am a big advocate for home births, so if you'd like to talk about it please feel free to PM me and I'd be happy to have a chat. Some great resources which I always give to my mums considering home births are: http://homebirthersandhopefuls.com/; http://www.homebirth.org.uk/; and http://www.thegoodbirth.co.uk/home_birth

Further to all of that, if you're interested in a hypnobirthing course I have a few spots left on my October courses http://londonhypnobirthing.co.uk/coursedetails.html - would love to welcome you along.

With all the best for a lovely birth,

Hollie x

[CocoC]

Thank you Ana Maria- really helpful! I am also under the care of the Lanes so fantastic to hear you had a good experience (although am making a mental note to ask my husband to sound panicked even if I don't!. I called the Kings Midwives earlier and will go to the seminar on 3 Aug- thanks for the tip off!

Hi Hollie- I'm actually booked on to your August course :) :)

[HollieES]

Hoorah! Look forward to meeting you soon then :)

[ana maria]

The Lanes are fantastic, you don't need to worry they are truly the best! In a couple of months they will invite you to a lovely session where you have the chance to meet all the midwives and other mums, they also invite 2 mums with their newborns to tell their birth stories. I went when pregnant and later to tell my story and honestly this was the best seminar I went to, better then the antenatal classes and the breastfeeding seminar (nhs).

I didn't do hypnobirthing classes but I read a couple of books and listened to the cd's and it definitely helped, the classes are much better of course.

You are doing everything you can to have the best, most relaxed birth possible, just listen to your body and the midwife and everything will be fine :)

Best of luck x

[Emski]

Hi there, Congrats and good luck! I was with the Brierley - also fantastic. I wanted home births with both my babies. The first I ended up being transferred to Kings after 3 days of contractions and failure to progress. The second I had a 3hr waterbirth at home, which I was so pleased about - it was almost an enjoyable experience!

I'd be happy to try and answer any questions that you have if you want to PM me. I also found hypnotherapy for birth v helpful.

Best of luck!

[ludoscotts]

hi congratulations, I was with the lanes midwives and had a home birth for my second child and it was a brilliant experience, highly recommend it. if you have any questions please send a pm, leanne

[cmacnew]

Brierley team are amazing if you can get them! I had both my boys at home, although had to transfer in with the first as I was haemorrhaging :( the midwife stayed with me the whole time and was just fabulous. The second was all absolutely fabulous and delivery in the water in less than 3 hours.

I had amazing experiences both times (for the actual labour and birth) and being in my own home was great, although one silver lining of being in hospital is that you can get a lot of Breastfeeding help on tap and I understand that dads can now stay over on kings post natal ward.

[pandrns]

Hi - i'm pregnant with my first baby and am planning a home birth with the Brierly midwives. It'd be great to have a chat with someone about any hints or tips you can offer that as new parents we may overlook - either about the labour or afterwards.

[londonhypnobirthing]

Hi pandrns - see my post above, there are a few great home birth resources online which you might want to look at. I'm also a massive advocate for home births, something that hypnobirthing really compliments, so do get in touch if you'd like to come on one of my courses which will help you to prepare for a lovely birth and beyond.

Warm wishes,

Hollie

[ana maria]

Hi pandrns, there's a bumps and babies group tomorrow afternoon if you're free, it would be great to see you there!

[sarahf]

Hello CocoC! How are you? We met a few months ago re maternity clothes. I hope that you are feeling well and not too exhausted in this heat.

I used hypnobirthing (fabulous course with Kristin Hayward) and had a natural hospital birth with my son and a planned home birth for my daughter. We were under the care of Brierly who were amazing but I also hear wonderful things about the Lanes. The most significant difference for me was the level of ante and post natal support from the midwives. I would have loved that level of care with my first child; especially with breastfeeding. I know that individual midwives have sat through with mothers for hours in he middle of the night giving them support on this. It's not that hospital midwives are any less committed or caring but they're more overwhelmed by the demands of busy labour wards.

I have a book on water births if you would like it. My actual delivery was fairly fast and I didn't get to use my birth pool (husband didn't have time to fill it up). However, it was great not having to drive over every speed bump in South London whilst in active labour (Dulwich to Tommy's) and I did appreciate having a fridge stocked full of food - well, mostly maltesers and lucozade. We bought in lots of sticky plastic sheeting online (builders' merchants stock them to protect carpets) and our sitting room looked like a scene from 'Dexter'.

[Bumpkin]

Slight negative to throw into the mix - I planned a home birth but ended up with an emergency c-section at Kings and was very much discouraged from going to any discussion groups (not that I was keen to go, but responded to a couple of requests and was dismissed as had not had positive home birth). I know that everyone wants to feel positive about birth, but if you're a first time mum over 30 and have any family history of pre-eclampsia, other pregnancy / birth complications I would think seriously about being directly in the hands of medical experts. There's a reason that we have significantly lower baby & mother mortality rates with vastly increased medical intervention compared to relatively recent history / countries overseas with less medical facilities.