Labour
and Birth
Some benefits of
having a home birth
• Giving birth in familiar surroundings and being uninhibited
by hospital atmosphere (which can slow labour down).
• Being able to invite whoever you choose to be present,
including your children.
• Neither you nor your midwife being disturbed by the needs
of other labouring women.
• No rigid time limits on birth progress.
• Neither you nor your labour is managed.
• Your medical attendants being guests in your home (which
is likely to influence how you are treated).
• No inhibitions - freedom to move around, to adopt a variety
of positions (squatting, standing, on all fours etc.), to make
noises during labour and birth.
• Freedom to explore a variety of ways of handling pain;
eg. water birth pools or the bath; walking in the garden; massage;
music; aromatherapy oils; reflexology; homoeopathy; acupuncture;
etc.
• Fewer routine medical interventions, ie; "prepping"
procedures such as;
• Shaves
and enemas;
• Amniotomy
(breaking the waters) ;
• Electronic
fetal monitoring during labour;
• Syntometrine (routinely given in hospital
to speed delivery of placenta and contract
uterus)
• Episiotomies
(cuts made in the birth canal to speed
delivery) etc. |
• No routine procedures on the newborn such as suctioning,
silver nitrate or erythromycin drops in eyes - weighing, measuring
and other checks all done later in your presence.
All
of the above tend to lead to fewer complications in childbirth
for both mother and baby ie; less fetal distress diagnosed;
fewer babies needing resuscitation; fewer low Apgar scores at
1 minute (a check on the baby's wellbeing); less incidence of
post-partum haemmhorage in the mother.
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