35 Reasons Why We Choose Homebirth
Why do I think a homebirth is so much better than a hospital birth?
I’ve experienced a planned hospital birth, a planned homebirth that ended with an induced hospital birth (and a month-early preemie) because of pre-eclampsia, and two homebirths. I am a big proponent of giving birth at home because of these experiences. The hospital births did not end up being horrible, and the nurses and doctors were (mostly) good people, yet after the homebirth, I can’t imagine doing it any other way.
One major reason is that while a male OB/GYN may be technically proficient in his field, the fact that he hasn’t given birth, and can’t ever give birth, gives the midwife and doula a huge advantage in terms of actually relating to and understanding birth from a woman’s perspective.
35 Reasons to Give Birth at Home:
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In no particular order-
- Homebirth is safer - Your house is a lot less likely to be a source of antibiotic-resistant bacteria, and it’s not full of sick people.
- Your chances are getting a C-section are reduced with a homebirth.
- It’s cheaper - A midwife’s fee is much less costly than a hospital stay.
- You don’t have to go anywhere.
- The food is way better at home. Organic food? Vegan? No problem.
- You don’t have to have strangers at your birth (unless you want to).
- Your home is always more comfortable than any hospital room.
- Everything you need is there.
- You can be as green as you want. Hospitals aren’t known for natural soaps, cleaners, or recycled-content anything.
- You control the environment at home. If you want to dim all the lights or open a window, you just do it.
- Birth is a sacred experience. What better setting could there be?
- It’s so much quieter at home. There are no cabinets full of blinky lights, fans, and humming devices. Well, maybe some of you have that… But probably not in your bedroom. And you can power them down if you want.
- Homebirth is just more fun!
- Your older kids can be a part of the birth.
- Your pets can attend. Seriously. Pets are family, too.
- Giving birth at home is an exceptionally empowering experience. We can take back birth from The Man.
- No silly hospital gown is necessary at home. Wear whatever you want, or wear nothing.
- You don’t need an ID bracelet for the mother or the baby when you birth at home.
- You can choose the room for your birth, or change rooms in the middle. Not an option at the hospital.
- Giving birth outside is an option with a homebirth. Our first homebirth was in our front yard, in a birthing tub, and our second in a tipi in our yard. It’s probably not an possibility for most city dwellers, but our second homebirth was just on the other side of the fence from a public school (and recess ended just as active labor came on…)
- No paperwork is necessary at your homebirth.
- You can cut the umbilical cord when you are good and ready. The speed at which they want to snip our newborn’s lifeline is unbelievable.
- No gadgetry on the mother: A homebirth midwife doesn’t require you to wear a monitor or get an IV started “just in case”.
- You don’t have to sign out when you leave your house.
- Your family doesn’t have to negotiate a giant parking lot and endless hallways to visit you.
- A heating pad does not cost $50 to use.
- You can have as much sage, incense, candles, whatever, as you like.
- There is no pressure to circumcize, vaccinate, or apply for a Social Security number for your baby right after a homebirth.
- You don’t end up with a “gift bag” (marketing samples) from big corporate America, full of disposable diapers, formula, baby wipes, shampoo, soaps, and brand propaganda.
- Your baby’s placenta does not become a biohazard. We left our placenta at the hospital, but we planned to bury it, so I drove back, all bleary-eyed, and asked for it. They weren’t going to give it to me, even though we had our name on it in the fridge (just like lunch…) We had to call the OB and have her sign off on the release, and then I had to sign about four different forms, and then they finally gave it to me in a bag with “Biohazard” all over it. Sheesh.
- The dad has a bed at home. Sleeping on a foldout cot next to the hospital bed sucks.
- Nobody comes in, wakes you up, and checks your vitals every half hour at home.
- You can stream the live video of the birth to all your friends (Pay-per-view homebirths?) OK, I’m kidding.
- Having a homebirth is different. Different is cool.
- The hospital is open 24 hours, so if you need it, it will be there.
I know that it isn’t for everyone, but if you feel at all drawn to homebirth, I say “Go for it - it’s not as mysterious as it sounds.” It’s the way women have always given birth. Only recently has birth become the domain of the doctor and hospital, the insurance company and the pharmacy.
I’ve listed 35 of the reasons that we choose homebirth, but I’d love to be able to change the title to read “75 Reasons…” or “100 Reasons…”, so help me out here by leaving a comment.
If you choose homebirth, what are your reasons?
Related posts about homebirth:
- Labor of Love: Home Birth is a Choice that the AMA Wants to Outlaw
- Why I Hate Dr. Phil: Sensationalizing Home Births
- Labor of Love: 3 Essential Books to Read When Planning a Natural Birth
Image: Author
36. Being able to bathe after giving birth, spare your baby of an unnecessary soapy-water bath, sponge is enough for a newborn.
37. Having homevisits from your midwife to check on you and your baby! You don’t have lo leave the house, pack your older children in snowsuits and drive to the pedriatician office (at least for the first six weeks).
38. less chance of having “babyblues”
I’ll add more when I have more time!
I love your list! We had our first homebirth last October and I would do it again in a heartbeat. I had my son (8 years ago) in a hospital and I must add that the hospital would have to pay ME to have another child there.
–Being able to immediately nurse and bond with your baby without nurses hovering… and with the cord still attached!
–Crawling into your own, comfortable, familiar bed with your family afterward… cuddling up and resting. Purely amazing.
–Not having the option of an epidural, it is amazing at how well a woman can handle the “pain” when there is not the option of pain relief.
–The fun of irritating your in-laws (one of which is a labor and delivery nurse) with your “hippie” choices. Then enjoy basking in their change of opinion when they see the wonderful process (and how safe it is).
Homebirth is indeed not for everyone.
I have given birth in hospital twice, and once at home. Giving birth at home 18 months ago was absolutely wonderful. Giving birth in hospital was very average, instrusive and at times stressful - but I did get two wonderful babies as a result.
For me, a combination of modern antenatal care and homebirth combines the best from the new and the old. I think to have a scan to ensure the placenta is away from the birth canal, and to ensure the pregnancy is low-risk is a desirable precaution before proceeeding with birth at home.
Birth (just like driving a car) is NEVER without risk, regardless of the location, and a qualified, experienced caregiver mitigates a great deal of the potential risk of giving birth at home.
Giving birth in hospital absolutely increases your risk of C-section, infection and non-essential interventions.
Hospitals run well on shifts, policies, schedules etc. and they need to be efficient. Hospitals are limited by their organisation and nature as to how they can cater to a labouring woman. There are only so many tubs, so many rooms, the rooms are only a certain size and so on - and these factors do impact on the way a labouring and birthing woman is “managed”, as well as impacting on her freedom to labour the way that comes naturally to her. So that sounds very earth-mother - but even a veterinarian will tell you that a mother cat is impacted by her physical and emotional environment when she gives birth.
Giving birth is a process not governed by rules, policies, schedules or efficiency. It is not a process that always fits well within an institutional framework. Giving birth is an intimate, personal, physical, emotional process. And the way a woman gives birth to her children stays with her forever. Those experiences form part of her self esteem and her womanhood.
Several studies have shown that planned homebirth attended by a qualified experienced caregiver is as safe or safer than hospital birth for low-risk women.
Thank goodness for hospitals, OBs and operating theatres. But remember the midwifes who not only deliver babies - but who also deliver triumphant, empowered mothers too.
I agree with Sommer. If you want to do homebirth that’s fine, but there are risks & due to them, my husband would never let me do homebirth even if I wanted to. His reason? The safety of our child. I’ve been at births & heard from friends that had children where there was NO high-risk pregancy. If these births that I’m talking about were done at home…all those kids would be dead. An ambulance doesn’t get you to the hospital that fast. I know. I use to drive them. Who cares about the food, strangers, or money? Your baby’s safty is the #1 priority.
For my second child my husband & I were in a new town, we had two hospitals to choose from that were next to each other. It was an easy decision. One had no NICU. No way I was risking the 90 seconds it would take just to get to the other hospital if something were to go wrong. If docs are right there, you have a better chance. Yes there are no guarantees, but why risk.
I was extreemly healthy during both my pregnancies: all check ups were excellent, no scares, good readings. When it came time to deliver (I wasn’t enduced), my body would not cooperate halfway through. If it weren’t for the meds and my wonderful doctors (1st time woman w/o kids so she never gave birth before & 2nd time man) I would have been uncapable of delivering my children vaginally. Hospital birth saved me from emergancy c-sections twice and it was worth every penny to me when I look into my boys’ beautiful blue eyes every day!
[...] If we want to make the C-section more like a vaginal delivery, might we move toward the actual natural birth for the many strong mamas out [...]
[...] me again how home birthing is a [...]
[...] the characters in the commercial are no actors. It’s actual scenes from an actual family, giving birth at home while a peaceful soundtrack plays, and voiceovers talk about the miracle, the specialness, the joy [...]
We’ve had two wonderful, safe homebirths. Homebirth was the best option for my family.
The most important factor here is that women are able to birth in the place where they feel most comfortable and safe. This allows her birthing intuition to be “on” resulting in a safer and easier delivery for mom and baby.
The reason why you will find so many glorified accounts of homebirth on the web is because in many cases we are being totally disrespected in mainstream society. It’s fine if you don’t want it, but you have to respect another family’s informed decision to birth where they feel best. That is where true empowerment comes in. Even if you give birth in the hospital it is so important to stay empowered and remember that you, the mama, is giving birth. A doctor does not deliver your baby, you do.
I also want to mention that there will always be high risk births, which is why hospitals and doctors are wonderful. A lot of the scary birth stories we hear are left over from colonial America and there is reason to believe that many women might have been suffering from rickets and poor nutrition, which would have resulted in a malformed pelvis, making many women and babies susceptible to major complications including death.
Another thing to think about is to look back historically at some European standards which included a woman being tightly corseted for much of her pregnancy, not gaining much weight and staying indoors out of natural sunlight and fresh air. Yes, we remember the scary stories, but there might be a correlation to way women were caring for there bodies and babies.
In many of the societies where a large number of scary beliefs about birth came from there was a difference between noble birth and peasants. Peasants were known to be sturdy and strong and the noble women where subjected to all sorts of misinformed unhealthy practices, some of which I mentioned above.
My point is that if you are going to rely on a historical based fear of women and babies dieing in childbirth (which they did and still do) then it is important to look at the correlations and significant factors so you can consciously choose if you want to continue acting from that fear based model.
We know so much more about how to have a healthy pregnancy and birth and if you couple that with complimentary care between a midwife and doctors we *could* have some of the best birthing outcomes in the world.
Sadly, this is far from the truth. Until women and their families start expecting respect and look at themselves as the main player in childbirth we will continue to have higher maternal mortality rates than 33 other countries (according to WHO)and higher low birth weight rates than 23 other countries. Ironically we spend more on healthcare per person, than any other country. The answer might not be fancy equipment and high paid doctors.
Something has got to give and I’m not sure it will until we stop glorifying the current broken medical model of birth and start looking within ourselves and making decisions based on maternal expertise rather than fear.
I had my second in a detached birth center and I have to say it was WONDERFUL. It was absolutely FUN and exciting and thrilling and everything. I got to sit in a jacuzzi tub with scented salts and music playing for two hours before pushing my baby out in a beautiful room and then holding him and being taken care of for eight hours and then GOING HOME. What’s not to like?
Of course birth matters. It’s one of the hardest things a woman will ever do and if the people in her surroundings work to make it a pleasant experience for her, then she can look back on it as an accomplishment instead of something she was too weak for and had to be saved from.
Yes, it is sometimes dangerous. Some people who run marathons will come dangerously close to dying but we don’t tell people they all have to run marathons in treadmills at a hospital. The ambulances are sufficient. Saying a midwife in attendance is useless in the case of an emergency is like saying an EMT is useless or an ambulance is useless. Yes, hemorrhages happen quickly but guess what! Midwives have things they can do in case of hemorrhage! They can pump you full of pitocin and oxygen so fast your head will spin while you’re on your way to the hospital so don’t discount them so quickly. TALK to a midwife! ASK them what they do in case the worst happens! You might be surprised. They’re not as helpless as some people think.
Derek, just found your site through Twitter and love this post. Very topical since Ricki Lake and Abby Epstein’s book, “Your Best Birth” just came out. They also have a great website with tons of information supporting informed birth. I had a homebirth almost 2 years ago with a CNM and felt 100% confident in the process. It helped that we took a Bradley Childbirth class and understood the process so well. All these years of hospital births have taken women away from witnessing, helping and really understanding what is happening to our own bodies. We need to take that back - for low-risk pregnancies.
I was surprised by Green and Clean Mom’s response. She hasn’t read any scientific literature regarding homebirth. It’s fine to have an opinion - but she doesn’t know any facts. I am personally offended by her comment about “natural” equating to mom’s ego - and that the childbirth itself doesn’t really matter. What? Because we don’t want drugs going into our baby that we spent 9 months nourishing with healthy foods and prenatal vitamins. Because we want the freedom to labor in a variety of positions, in a variety of places and to eat and drink what we want. Where is ego involved there? It’s about making decisions about our own bodies. She sounds defensive. Perhaps she has some unresolved feelings from her surgeries. Many C-section women do. Make peace - and let the homebirthers share their knowledge and help women reclaim birth. Have to say - I’m not going to follow her on twitter anymore. Not because of her support of hospitals ( I like them for sick people), not b/c she’s bashing homebirthers as egoists, but b/c she hasn’t read any facts about homebirth before she put her opinion out there. Makes me question any other information she puts out there.