Parent24: Home or hospital?
Birthing Centre in the USA - Source: Porter Medical Centre
More and more women are opting for home births assisted by midwives. What are the advantages of having a home birth?
Home birth
• The woman may feel more in control as she is in her own environment
• She has more privacy
• She will be assisted by the midwife of her choice
• It is cost-effective
• It can be a more relaxed and peaceful atmosphere
• There is no unnecessary intervention
• A woman may use natural ways of relieving pain
• She can have as many people present as she wishes to
• She is never separated from the baby
• There is less distraction
• An episiotomy can be avoided
• Birth is seen as a natural process rather than a “medical” event
• Older children don’t have to deal with the absence of their parents
Make sure that you are assisted by an experienced, qualified nurse/midwife or by a qualified physician. In case of a medical emergency, you should be within 20 minutes of the nearest hospital.
According to Dr Martin Puzey, Gynaecologist, a woman should be cleared as being a low risk case for home birth by her gynaecologist. “People tend to forget that giving birth is a very dangerous process and is a time in a woman’s life when things can go seriously wrong,” he says. “Many years ago, the first thing a father asked of the delivering doctor after the birth was ‘how’s my wife … did she survive the birth?’. If a woman has a high risk pregnancy, she should examine her alternatives.”
Hospital birth
You may want to consider the following advantages of a hospital birth:
• The baby can be delivered by an obstetrician
• There are different pain relief options available
• Hospitals are well equipped in case of emergency
• Breastfeeding clinics or lactation consultants are available in most hospitals
Would you opt for a hospital or a home birth? What influences your choice the most?
