I considered it, but there are no midwives in my area. Hospital it is :)

I would consider how easily the first birth went for you. My wife is an obgyn so naturally my opinion is skewed from the horror stories she has told me about having to patch things up after a midwife has come across complications. With you being in Portugal though, there is no telling what midwives can do there versus what they are licensed to do in the US.

Frankly I do not know why anyone would choose a midwife over a hospital. I know people say, well hospitals rush to c-section...but there is a reason they are doing so. There is a reason the death rate of newborns and mothers combined during childbirth is no longer statistically significant (1 death is significant)...

Think of this, any problems you may have, do you want your child in distress for the amount of time it takes for the midwife to call the hospital and you being admitted? In the US midwives cannot use suction or repair tears...It is just a risk that is incredibly frighting for me to think any woman would take.

However, your past experiences with hopsitals or doctors may be influencing a decision as well. Regardless, I respect anyone's personal choice, and do hope you the best with whatever route you do take.

Personally I am seeing a midwife. She does just fine. She is in a office with other doctors. Plus not all midwifes deliver in their own offices. My midwife was going to be right there with me at the hospital. Plus I think midwifes are more personal with their patients then the dr. To the dr, you are just another patient. The dr, don't remember me, but my midwife does, and she has just as much patients as the other doctors. Sorry, about running on about my midwife. I kinda took offense to what Maxell said about midwifes.



I watch it on tv when some people have home births, and I look at them and I have so much respect for them. I personally don't think that I could do it. I need some kind of drug. I don't see anything wrong with it though. I think it would be kind of neat personally.

I agree with Ins...
I would look into it more, do your own research and you will find that there is alot of information supporting homebirths. I am all for it, it is less stressful on the baby, it comes with less interventions as a midwife has more patience with a laboring mother than at a hospital setting. I would prefer to give birth at home however I waited to long to find a midwife and am stuck delivering at a hospital. I would think especially concidering that portugal is "very old fashioned"
How was your first birth? Was it fairly uncomplicated? Are you low-risk?
I will admit I am a little irritated when Maxell says that he hears horror stories from his "OB/GYN wife" of her having to repair the patches after a midwife has come across complications. Not all homebirths go as planned (most do) but if the "horror stories" that he is refering to come from a women needing a transport to the hospital than take that as hear-say. Complications arise in every setting, the fact is they arise less so at home and end up with a c-section in the hospital. I know that here in the US our medical system is overran by malpractice suits and it often dictates how a women is allowed to labor.
Either way do your own research, see what you find and then make a decision. My cousin just had a homebirth for her 2nd and it was such an amazing experience she says she wouldn't do it anyother way again. It makes me soo envious of women who have the option to give birth at home, but to each his own. Its really a decision you have to make for yourself. GOOD LUCK

I wasn't very comfortable at the hospital during my first labor, but I was glad I was there - I just wish I had stayed at home longer. I was so much more comfortable and relaxed at home. My son was very large, and I did need to be in the hospital, but like I said, I wish I had waited until I was in more severe pain before I went in. Since it was my first, I didn't want to end up delivering at home alone or anything! The second time around, I just stayed at home until I was really hurting and then went to the hospital - I delivered my son within 2 hours of arriving. It was a more positive experience. I don't know if it's a good idea for all women to stay home that long, but it worked for me, and I plan to do it again this time. And as far as midwives go, there must be different laws in different states - there is a midwife who works in my dr. office, but she can't deliver babies anywhere (home or hospital) - it's illegal in California. I like my dr. and the midwife - they both know my name.

I think your crazy lol!!

It's up 2 u girl but plz make sure u do all the research.
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I think if you had a relatively uncomplicated pregnancy and birth then go for a home birth, I personally would love to birth at home, I am in the process of finding a midwife myself, hospitals and ob's are not very personal anymore, and what pisses me off the most is I'm sitting there doing all the hard work yet I still have to pay 5k$ to the hospital and ob for just standing there and playing catch, I don't know about where you live but I have priced out home birth here and found that from begginning to end pre-natal care included you can get off paying less then $3k, and the midwife I spoke to has an office with an ultrasound at her home office, they have ways to monitor the baby and medication they can administer after birth for bleeding problems, I think most ob's claim all of these horror stories because if truth was known how much less expensive it is to have a midwife and that there are plenty of reputable one's out there ob's would be loosing some cash!! There are medical horror stories in any profession, I bet there is a whole lot more coming from a hospital then a home! I also would like to say that I watch the birth stories and I \'ve spoke with many midwives they stick with you your WHOLE labor they don't go to lunch or deliver someone else(most of the time) they don't push medicine on you if you aren't laboring according to their other appt's, you feel like your labor is their only responsibility, they build a relationship with you and your family, I love my ob and I trust him fully but he delivered both of my kids and may deliver this baby, I doubt he knows my kids names, he's just too busy, as soon as I delivered he give a little pat on the back and he's gone!! I really hope you do some research, talk to midwives where your at, you can even ask for phone numbers of women they've delivered I know we have all these confidentiality rules but some women might opt to be contacted, it's worth a try expain to the midwices your concern the myths you've heard and so on I'm sure they'll go out of their way to help you, let us know what you find out and what you decide

I've thought that it would be cool to do a home birth in the past. Now that I'm actually pregnant, I still can see the benefits. Given that we don't have health insurance right now and though my husband will be starting some come January and it sounds like pregnant women can't be denied coverage in our state and the coverage they give you is prenatal care and like 500$ for the birth, it would be SOO much better financially for us to do that.

I've done a bunch of research on it, just in case, and they say it should only be done in low-risk pregnancies. I have a number of risk factors, so I don't know if it would be a safe option for me. If your baby is presenting breech, they say its not a good idea to do it at home either.

If you're going to plan on doing this, get info and get registered at a hospital too, as a back up.

Good luck!!

my sister just had a baby three months ago. it was supposed to be a home birth. when she was "transitioning" the midwife took her into her room to check how dialated she was. only to find out she was only open 1cm! my poor sister has been in labor for almost 21 hours by that point. after trying to pull her cervix back into place three times, during contractions my sister finally had to go the to hospital because she was getting too tired and thought she may pass out. we drove her to the nearest and best place to admit her. within two hours her little man was born.
all this to say that i learned two things. i want a midwife, and a personal experience,but when it comes time for the birth i want to be in a hospital. i just dont want to take any chances of being too far from medical help.
so thats my two cents. i havent had a child yet, but watching my sister cry for hours on end was enough for me.

I had my first child in hospital as didn't think I had a choice at the time - but only just made it there in time as it was a very quick birth. My second and third children were both born at home. Again quickly and happily. They were the best experiences of my life! I felt calm, in control (as much as possible!) - and no uncomfortable journey to hospital. My community midwife was excellent and completely supportive of my choices. I'm a massive supporter of homebirths and (as long as there are no problems in pregnancy) would whole-heartedly recommend them. A friend (who's a doctor) thought I was mad considering one. She had her first in hospital - a long and painful birth. When it came to her second, she had a complete change of heart and opted for home, saying there was nothing the hospital did that could't have happened at home. Although it was still a long birth, she said she felt far better about it and more relxed throughout. Probably old-fashioned now, but Sheila Kitzinger has written several books on the subject and is a mine of information. Am happy to give you as many details as you can stand at any time, so please get in touch if you'd like to! Hope your birth goes well, wherever it happens! x

I would love to haev a home birth I've done the research and it seems wonderful but I'm high risk so its the hospital for me .

I've loved reading all your posts. Just adding my two cents in. I have thought about home birth, but what really stopped me is two things: 1) I may want an epidural and that can't be done at home and 2) My cousin's wife had a home birth and he spent the whole time doing laundry to keep up with the mess. I want my hubby to be there holding my hand the whole time and the most stress for him to be me cutting off the blood flow to his arm. ~L~ So those are my reasons for wanting to give birth at the hospital. I have a midwife and will have two by the time I give birth. They work really well with the doctors and if I find I really need an epi, they'll get the anesthesiologist, get it done by him/her, then come right back in and help me through the labour. It may be a difficult trip to the hospital, but I'd rather have a nice clean home without the smell of blood etc to come home to, and have my hubby there the whole time. That's just my opinion.