Home birth: advantages, risks and costs of a widespread experience
Home birth is a type of experience that we thought was lost in time: our grandmothers and great-grandmothers gave birth at home, often because they had no choice, but the practice is making a comeback, this time as a conscious choice of a new generation of mothers. The excessive medicalization of childbirth has in fact led in some cases to choose to have their child in the comfort of their own home. Often home births are held in water, because water birth specifically has many arguments in favor. But what are they? the advantages and risks of this choice? What do you need to have at home, and what are the costs of such a birth?
Birth at home: the video of an extraordinary birth
Home birth does not always go as planned and planned. In this video, it is in fact improvised: the future mother's waters break, and the labor is so fast that she does not give her time to go to the hospital. And so the father must, with a lot of courage, give birth to his little girl in the living room, improvising himself as an obstetrician. Watch the video of this extraordinary home birth!
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When can you give birth at home?
The home birth must be carefully planned, and you must be sure of several aspects. First of all, the mother must be considered low risk during childbirth, that is, it must be expected with a certain safety margin that she will not have problems during labor. Obviously, home birth is only possible when it is a natural birth, which does not include surgical interventions such as episiotomy and obviously which does not include a caesarean section. Having established that the birth could be natural, and not foreseeing complications, the gynecologist can give the green light to the mother who wants a home birth. The crucial thing is then to find a good and trusted midwife, ready to face any eventuality. In most cases, as we said, you decide to give birth at home when you have planned a water birth. To have a home birth, then, you must not have the following problems:
- previous experiences of twin births or difficult births
- high blood pressure of the mother
- health problems of the child
- heart problems or diabetes of mom or baby
The advantages
Home birth has several advantages. Having made the necessary initial reassurances, it is a fairly safe birth, as long as there is a team of trained obstetricians. The specialist obstetrician Odette Abououf, to whom we turned, assures that "the birth at home brings many benefits, especially to the relaxation and tranquility of the mother, who feels in a familiar environment, where she finds the complicity of the partner and reassurance. of specialists ready for any eventuality ". In fact, all midwives, if something should go wrong, have first aid tools and to stabilize situations before eventually going to hospital. The" important thing is to be clear and know well that there is always some risk, albeit low.
The risks to be aware of if you give birth at home
There is a need to keep in mind the risks, albeit low, that you face if you decide to give birth at home. First of all, natural birth at home does not include an epidural, which would require, as an anesthetic, the presence of an anesthetist and resuscitator. And this is a big drawback, especially if you want to soothe the pain. It is for this reason that many pregnant women prefer to give birth at home in water: the liquid relieves pain and facilitates the different stages of labor. In addition to the risks of something going wrong during childbirth, for the mother or the baby, one must only keep in mind the risks of lacerations or severe pain. One pain relief, not being able to use the epidural, is the Transcutaneous Nerve Stimulator (NEST), which is placed in the lower back at the onset of labor. This stimulates the body's natural endorphins, providing relief. several remedies against pain are homeopathic ones, or with the use of natural remedies such as arnica.
Home birth: what is the need to have?
If you intend to give birth at home, it is better to take precautions and get the necessary in time:
- lots of towels
- bed sheets
- shower mats to protect the floor if you don't give birth in water
- inflatable pool specialized for parts in the water (if you make this choice)
- cushions
- things that help you concentrate, such as: paintings, photographs
- natural remedies for pain
Home birth and water birth: the costs to be faced
The home birth involves costs, like the one in the water, that the National Health Service does not cover. These are expenses that you will have to face out of your own pocket. First of all, the most expensive home birth is the one in the water, because you have to book and rent a specialized pool for this type of birth, as well as paying the obstetric team. The rental cost is around 400 euros. If, on the other hand, you do not give birth in the water, but still want the privacy of your home, the cost of midwives is not low: prices vary a lot, and range from 1,000 to 3,500 euros depending on the city. In fact, it is necessary to ensure the availability of at least two midwives starting from the thirty-eighth week of pregnancy, to pay the actual service during labor and delivery and the puerperium, that is, the control of the female organism between birth and the return to normality. that make home birth free, with no cost to parents, are very few at the moment, and only in a few cities like Turin or Reggio Emilia.
What happens after giving birth?
In hospitals everything is fairly regulated and fast, while at home, you and your baby can relax more. There is no rush to cut the umbilical cord, which is very beneficial for the baby: a third of the baby's blood volume and stem cells are transferred through the cord and if properly drained, they help the baby a lot. The midwife will help you for a couple of hours until the cord is cut and she makes sure you and your baby are okay. Subsequently, the same obstetrician could follow the puerperium, that is the period of time it takes for the female reproductive system to return to normal functioning after a birth. Usually the puerperium goes from the first minutes after childbirth (the postpartum phase) to the return of the menstrual cycle, the signal that everything is back to normal.
