PLEASE don't attempt a homebirth just because you fear covid

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amother

Sun, May 17 2020, 9:57 am

LovesHashem

Sun, May 17 2020, 10:10 am

amother [ OP ] wrote:

If you plan for a home birth, do your research, and are close to a hospital - it's very safe.

Iymnok

Sun, May 17 2020, 10:12 am

As always, homebirth is a great option if done smartly. Use a certified nurse-midwife and ensure that you and the baby are healthy. Normal blood pressure, temperature, iron levels, etc. baby with normal scans , normal size, 37-41 weeks, head down, etc.
Make sure you are totally prepared including an emergency backup/transferral plan.

Basically, don’t be stupid.

(I did not watch the video)

amother

Coffee

Sun, May 17 2020, 10:15 am

Don't lie to get a homebirth, EVER. A responsible midwife will "risk you out" if your circumstances do not make homebirth safe. That is for YOUR benefit.

Unfortunately, there is no 100% risk-free birth option. Babies die in hospitals. Babies die in homes. America has one of the highest maternal AND fetal mortality rates of all developed countries, despite 99%+ of USA births happening in hospitals.

Do your hishtadlus, which is picking a reliable provider, whether home or hospital, and trust in Hashem.

amother

Sienna

Sun, May 17 2020, 10:25 am

I am not sure why the baby didn't get oxygen at birth and till they got to the hospital.

I also don't understand how a hospital would have helped her. Shoulder dystocia is a problem at any delivery location. All the options to resolve the issue are available at home too.

This is a sad story but I don't understand the relevance to home birth.

FranticFrummie

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:19 pm

amother [ Sienna ] wrote:

When DD's birth mom was in labor (40 hours!), we found out that DD had shoulder dystocia. DD's heart rate was dropping, and an emergency C section had to be done.

B'H, she scored straight 10's on her Apgar. Everyone was amazed. Off duty nurses and doctors came in to look at the baby who scored so perfectly after what she'd been through, and how close it could have been to tragedy.

amother

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:29 pm

If she would've been monitored at the hospital, they would've noticed the baby's large size and a c section would've been the way to go.

I realize I used the word would've 3 times in one sentence. Hindsight is not a chuchmah. If even one baby is saved because parents took the right precautions it is worth posting it.

amother

Coffee

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:35 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Not so simple. An ultrasound done 2 weeks before my birth showed my baby was 7.5lb. He was born almost 9lb.

Additionally, half of all shoulder dystocia cases are with babies that are NOT macrosomic.

And C-sections are not risk-free either.

"Taking the right precautions" means picking an experienced and reliable provider. It does not necessarily mean having a hospital birth.

(Anecdotally, I birthed a very macrosomic baby in a hospital waterbirth. C-section was not mentioned once.)

banana123

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:36 pm

amother [ Sienna ] wrote:

I didn't know you could do a c-section at home.

amother

Coffee

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:39 pm

banana123 wrote:

I didn't know you could do a c-section at home.

C-section is usually not a viable option once an unresolvable dystocia has already occurred.

banana123

Sun, May 17 2020, 12:42 pm

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

C-section is usually not a viable option once an unresolvable dystocia has already occurred.

In some cases, it's an option.
In a homebirth, by the time you get to a hospital - if you even head out in time - it's not usually a viable option. Even if it would've been a viable option, had the birth occurred in a hospital setting.
Going to add that often during dilation checks the midwife (if the baby is partially engaged) can feel or see what part of the baby is presenting. I know at least one woman who was rushed from intake to emergency c-section because at the intake exam, the midwife felt a hand instead of a head. And she was at 6 or 7 when she came in. That would NOT have ended well if she had been at home.

amother

Brunette

Sun, May 17 2020, 2:38 pm

Being in a hospital does not guarantee a safe birth. Small babies can have shoulder dystocia. My dd who weighed 6 lb. 11 oz. had shoulder dystocia, but not the one who weighed 7 lb. 11 oz.

A week before my ds was born, ultrasound showed that he weighed 7 lb. and change. He was born weighing 10 lb. 7 oz. So the ultrasound was completely unreliable.

That said, I wouldn't risk having a home birth if I had a choice, especially with my history of shoulder dystocia. One of my children had a fractured collarbone and nerve damage as a result of his shoulder dystocia, even in the hospital.

amother

Sun, May 17 2020, 2:58 pm

amother [ Brunette ] wrote:

One of my children had a fractured collarbone and nerve damage as a result of his shoulder dystocia, even in the hospital.

But survived, right?

amother

Sienna

Sun, May 17 2020, 3:13 pm

amother [ Coffee ] wrote:

C-section is usually not a viable option once an unresolvable dystocia has already occurred.

This.

amother

Sienna

Sun, May 17 2020, 3:14 pm

banana123 wrote:

The HB MW would do the same thing: transfer her to hospital upon realizing presenting part is not head.

amother

Sienna

Sun, May 17 2020, 3:15 pm

amother [ OP ] wrote:

Plenty women deliver over 9 lb babies and C-section is not part of the discussion.

amother

Sienna

Sun, May 17 2020, 3:16 pm

banana123 wrote:

I didn't know you could do a c-section at home.

Shoulder dystocia occurs when the baby's head is already out. A c-section is not an option at that time.

amother

Coffee

Sun, May 17 2020, 4:12 pm

I don't know what you've been fed, but it's not quite so black and white.

Not all hospitals are equal. Not all homebirth midwives are equal.

There are hospitals (like my local one) that DON'T have an OR staff on standby. So an "emergency" C-section just won't happen so quickly.

There are homebirth midwives (like one of mine) that are certified in neonatal intubation and carry the equipment for that.

There are hospitals with pretty awful statistics on maternal and fetal mortality. There are doctors who have a disproportionately large number of bad outcomes. The same goes for midwives, both hospital and home. There are homes too far from a hospital for a safe homebirth, and homebirth midwives who are too confident and foolhardy.

There are babies that die because they were born at home, and they needed advanced care too urgently to wait for transfer. Some of them are planned homebirths, and some are accidental ones, where the mother just didn't make it in time.

There are babies that die because they were born in the hospital, and the routine interventions caused a cascade of problems that never need to happen, like (to give a single example) the pitocin because labor was progressing "too slowly," which caused baby to go into distress, which caused oxygen deprivation, which required an emergency vacuum or forceps extraction, which caused fatal injuries.

Some shoulder dystocias are caused by poor positioning, like mothers forced to give birth on their back, providing the least opportunity for pelvic movement. Some happen because of mothers forced to "purple push," forcing a baby down into a stuck position, instead of pushing instinctively which gives a chance for the baby to turn.

Of course, there is no way to know for sure which category you will fall into.

Which is why you make the best choices you can, by picking a reliable and trustworthy provider. You don't automatically decide that the hospital is "the best," because although it MAY be, it also may not be.

And before believing the nonsense of "all homebirths are dangerous," you actually consider looking at the research.

If you decide to have a hospital birth, that might be the best choice for you. But those who make a different decision (in this and in many areas of life) are not necessarily stupid or foolish.

Hashem_Yaazor

Sun, May 17 2020, 6:04 pm

I had shoulder dystocia successfully managed at home. Ina May Gaskin pioneered a maneuver that is used worldwide.

That being said, of course all homebirths should be done responsibly.

I didn't watch the video, just chiming in.

amother

Seafoam

Sun, May 17 2020, 11:10 pm

I'm very very grateful that I live within driving distance of a low-intervention hospital that I trust and feel comfortable birthing at (Laniado in Israel). I don't know what I'd do if my only choices were high-intervention hospital or homebirth.

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