A home birth would terify me ive had all three of my children by c section and that was the best way for me even the thought of giving birth the natural way terify,s me lol im  a wimp

I really wanted a homebirth with all of my pregnancies mainly because i find hospitals very impersonal..its like a big factory or production line.Do the nurses and doctors really remember anything that happened during Mrs browns birth .Ive since read up on homebirth ive foundit can be a very loving a wonderful experience tailored to your liking.Having elder siblings watch on,grandma and other relatives be there.In a brithing room or labour room its a minimum of 3 people.I would love a home birth now but my baby does have kidney problems so i cant.But i think its uop to each individual to make up there mind obviously the risks are high with any birth what so ever.

I recently read a book called "MISCONCEPTIONS". it was a wonderful and enlightening book on births and pregnancy practices all over america and the world also.And one paragraph on labour at home indicated (this is not quote for quote) that having a baby at home with a midwife they tend to take more time to help birth your baby with the least amount of harm to your baby and perineal as they can ease the baby out slowly and as i have found personally that i will be cut before the hospital would take time to do this.I have watched home birth videosand they are amazingly beautiful with sweet music playing and family awaiting the situation but also watching on with love a special wishes nd encouragement.I am not knocking hospital births as ive had all my healthy lovely kids in hospital but im really praising homebirth too.

HI! I had a home birth with my second, and wish I'd had it with my first!

I did a lot of research, and wouldnt have been allowed to have it if I'd been any kind of high risk. Here (UK) there's always an ambulance nearby who is informed of what you're up to, plus you have two midwives to yourself (when I was in hospital the first time, I hardly saw them as I had to share them with so many other women). Also, there are few genuine emergencies, ie the midwives see them coming and call the ambulance to take you in, or if you're already in hospital they just take you into surgery, it takes about the same amount of time, believe it or not! Statistically in the UK, homebirths result in half the number of Caesarians and other interventions as hospital labours, which speaks for itself in terms of success and safety IMO.

I don't like hospitals - cant relax in them - so I'm sure my labour was far shorter as a result of being in my own home. I didnt get worn out and need "assistance", and I didnt have to worry about when to leave my DD1 and make the drive in to the city. And I could relax in my own bed straight afterwards. There was no mess, as far as I can remember - the midwives loaded the washing machine and set it off before they went. I felt in control, which helped me stay in charge of the pain IMO. And my poor hubbie, who was off work sick at the time, could sleep in his own bed while waiting for labour to really get going, rather than risk crashing on the journey to or from hospital (believe me, he would have, he didnt even notice half of my contractions, even though I was bouncing up & down like a demented Tigger on my exercise ball in front of the telly for them)!

In case anyone wants to do their research, I'd recommend this site as the best place to start. There's also a good Yahoo group for homebirth - great for asking questions. For homebirth in Oz, this is the site.

With all the MRSA etc in hospitals these days, who says hospital is so safe for birth anyway? The hospital where I was born lost a baby to that last year.

Anyway, I believe we should all have the choice. If you're high risk, then hospital is unavoidably the place for you. For the rest of us, it should be where ever you feel happiest, as that is where you will labour best. For me, that was at home.

I don't believe in home births either, but now the people who have their babies at home do alot of research, and there's always some one there with them if something goes wrong.

If something does go wrong like a blood clot like you had, they're rushed straight to the hospital.

Everyone's different in what they do, and the home births would make the person more comfortable, and wouldn't stress so much.