The system is a bit different here, and the care you receive changes with the area you live in. The woman we know who gave us the info on the home birth option had given birth to her first child in one of the Leicester (nearby city) hospitals. She was really overwhelmed there. I believe she was in a room with a large number of other women giving birth, and there was one midwife per 10 women. (I don't know the US system well, but midwives are used here until there is some reason for a doctor to intervene)
By contrast, with the home birth, she was sent two midwives all for herself. One was training, but still, she just felt she had a lot more help and support with the home birth than she did in the hospital. Also, the typical pain relief options here (gas, and some kind of shot) are available with a home birth, though an epidural obviously isn't. So it's not quite the Dutch "here bite on this piece of wood" method, either. :D
The birthing centre sounds like a reasonable alternative to me, if we're eligible for it when the time comes. There is a much higher midwife-to-mother ratio, and there are even more options for birth, like pools and such.
The system is a bit different here, and the care you receive changes with the area you live in. The woman we know who gave us the info on the home birth option had given birth to her first child in one of the Leicester (nearby city) hospitals. She was really overwhelmed there. I believe she was in a room with a large number of other women giving birth, and there was one midwife per 10 women. (I don't know the US system well, but midwives are used here until there is some reason for a doctor to intervene)
By contrast, with the home birth, she was sent two midwives all for herself. One was training, but still, she just felt she had a lot more help and support with the home birth than she did in the hospital. Also, the typical pain relief options here (gas, and some kind of shot) are available with a home birth, though an epidural obviously isn't. So it's not quite the Dutch "here bite on this piece of wood" method, either. :D
The birthing centre sounds like a reasonable alternative to me, if we're eligible for it when the time comes. There is a much higher midwife-to-mother ratio, and there are even more options for birth, like pools and such.
/ramble!
Reply
Leave a comment