I\'m Summer, a mouthy, sarcastic bitch. I\'m passionate about natural birth, long term breastfeeding, and living naturally. I curse too much, love tattoos, and will some day be crushed to death by my book collection. I homeschool, dream of gardening, and swing to the left. 
The Benefits of Home Birth
On Twitter @benjamingeiger asked me what are the benefits of home birth over hospital birth. I’ll admit that it was a question that made me stop and stare for a few minutes. When you’re as obsessed about birth as I am asking if there are benefits of having a home birth is a bit like asking if there are benefits to breathing. I have to remind myself that not everyone can list the benefits off the top of their head like most in the birth community can.
Because Twitter has a 140 character limit I decided to put together a short list of the benefits of home birth over hospital birth. I know I have several readers who are birth junkies like me, so please jump in the comments and add your own benefits.
- You are away from the cascade of interventions and the people who push them. At home there’s no one pushing an epidural, Pitocin, or constant monitoring. Medical interventions tend to be like a snowball rolling downhill. You’re stuck on your back with monitors strapped on which makes labor even more painful, so you get the epidural which makes labor slow, so you get the Pitocin which can cause stress in the baby, so you end up with a C-section. At home you’re far away from the snowball and it’s results.
- You can labor and birth in the position that you need, not what makes it easier for the doctor. Everyone knows the typical birth position, flat on your back with your legs up. But what isn’t often told is that this is the worst position for a laboring woman. Being stuck down makes contractions even more painful, makes pushing even more difficult, and can cause the heart rate decelerations that many doctors use as a reason to get you into the operating room. So why do they keep doing that? It’s easier for the doctor to see what’s going on. He can just sit or stand there and watch the baby come out. It’s rarely taught in medical schools how to assist a labor in any other position. At home you can be on your hands and knees, squatting, standing, in the tub, or in any other position that you need to be in.
- Labor and birth happens on your body’s terms, not hospital policy or the doctor’s preferences. You are not a robot. Your body works in it’s own time frame, as it needs to. Toddlers don’t all start walking at the same time, we don’t all hit growth spurts on the same day, we don’t even have pregnancies all the exact same length. So why do hospitals and doctors expect labor to follow the exact same time frame for every single woman? You might follow the textbook pattern of labor, or you might stall at 6 cm for a few hours until your body is ready to go again. Unfortunately in a hospital most doctors aren’t willing to wait and see. If your labor takes a break you’ll be pushed into the snowball of interventions to make it work on the doctor’s time.
- No shift change half way through. Depending on your hospital you may have several doctors who shift through. You might labor half way through with your doctor and then have to finish with one you’ve never met before. Not to mention the rotation of nurses coming through. Just when you are feeling comfortable with one set of people coming in to check you every hour suddenly there is a complete stranger coming in. At home you are far more likely to have the same midwife through the entire labor, and generally the one that you saw throughout your pregnancy rather than which ever one is on duty.
- You’re in an environment that you feel more comfortable in. The physical aspects of labor and birth are often talked about, but what about the emotional aspects. The fact is like any other mammal when a woman feels threatened or insecure her labor can shut down. It’s a natural reflex to protect her and her baby from danger when she’s the most vulnerable. For many women the bright led light bulbs, the constant barrage of strangers, the ticking clock being held over her head to labor at a certain rate, and the hours without food can cause a laboring woman to feel stressed and insecure. That can easily lead to labor stopping or becoming even more painful. Being in a place where she feels safe and in control can help a woman labor more smoothly and calmly.
Of course these are only a few of the benefits that homebirth can have over hosptial birth, and very abbreviated down for quick reading. I know there are many more benefits so please pop into the comments and add them.
My DD was born after 44 hours of labor at 43 weeks. If that’s not a formula for intervention, I don’t know what is. Thankfully we had her at home (and unassisted) so she came on her own time. She was even born in the caul- which was nice since I had been in labor for so long, I knew that she had been protected from infection.
Another great benefit: you can eat! The hospitals here only let you have ice chips. You can eat and drink to your own whim. Also, you know everyone at your birth personally.
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IT’S SAFE IT’S INTIMATE IT’S COST EFFECTIVE IT’S “GREEN” IT’S EVIDENCE BASED HEALTH CARE IT’S LOVING
I also had my daughter unassisted at 42.5 weeks. Mine was a short, easy labor, though, at 2.5 hours.
Another benefit of home birth: no superbugs. All the germs in your house you are already accustomed to. Bringing a newborn into a building that houses dead people, infectious diseases, and thousands of strangers coming and going can’t be a good thing.
Emily Jones\´s last blog post..Car seat safety
Both of my sons were born at home, and any future children will be as well.
Another benefit is less intervention AFTER the birth. You get to snuggle with your little one immediately afterwards, baby isn’t whisked away to be given an unnecessary bath, no bright lights and loud noises to overwhelm baby, no risk of baby being given unwanted formula, medicine, shots, etc.
April ~ EnchantedDandelions\´s last blog post..Unearthing Spring (and a bit of past summer)
The people attending your birth trust that you are capable of doing the job and will only step in when necessary. They aren’t going to go OMG THE BABY’S CORD IS AROUND IT’S NECK, YOU NEED A C-SECTION! or OMG, THERE’S MECONIUM IN THE WATER, YOUR BABY IS POISONED! or OMG, YOUR PLACENTA DIDN’T DETACH IN 30 MINUTES, WE NEED TO YANK IT OUT OF YOU! or other such nonsense. What’s that saying, treating normal labors as if they wre emergencies is a self-fulfilling prophesy?? BIRTH WORKS. It works without IVs and monitors and drugs. It works just fine if you LET IT BE. Midwives don’t scaremonger. Let them deal with NORMAL BIRTHS and leave the TRUE emergencies to the OBs!
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Everyone has really made great arguments in favor of at-home birth. Are there any negatives?
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another staunch homebirther here. 42 weeks. spontaneous labor. 5 hours. on hands and knees. in water. fabulous.