Recently, there has been an increase in cases of birthshome. More and more expectant mothers prefer to give birth to their child at home, in the family circle. If you and your husband have decided to give birth at home, then you need to carefully prepare for it in advance. Of course, at home, in a familiar and familiar environment, in the presence of her husband, it will be much easier for the expectant mother, since at home she will be constantly supported by a loved one, and she herself will be the mistress of her situation. But you should think everything over carefully before finally and consciously making your choice. So, home birth: pros and cons.
Childbirth at home: positive sides
Of course, the main advantage of home birthis that you will meet your baby for the first time at home. He will be born in a warm and cozy atmosphere, he will not have to experience additional stress because of the hospital walls (and passing through the birth canal is already a big burden on your baby!). In addition, if you are ready for a home birth and are well prepared for it, your state will be calm and relaxed. In many ways, a woman's desire to give birth at home is associated with a nervous atmosphere in maternity hospitals, rude and incompetent medical staff, as well as the lack of opportunity to control the process of the birth of her child. Some women even joke: "I'll sell my soul to the devil - just not to the maternity hospital!" But there is some truth in every joke: unfortunately, at present, some doctors do not listen to the wishes of a woman, induce labor unnecessarily and use other undesirable methods of obstetrics. Home birth will help you and your husband become not just observers, but real participants in the birth of your child. If the pregnancy is not complicated and proceeds normally, and the woman is healthy and young (for first-time mothers, the age does not exceed 35 years), then the married couple who decided to give birth at home has the moral right to do so. It is not for nothing that popular wisdom says: at home, even the walls help. In addition, a significant advantage of home birth is that you do not part for the notorious five (or even more) days with your family and friends. And this contributes to the emergence of spiritual unity, an atmosphere of warmth and love in the family. At the same time, you will still need to invite a midwife to your home, who will be constantly with you during labor and will monitor what is happening from a medical point of view (and not just the so-called "spiritual" accompanying person who will provide moral and psychological support during labor). Discuss all the details with her in advance, prepare everything that may be needed during the birth of your child. Do not forget that you are responsible for a new life - the life of your baby, which only you can give, not the midwife. It is for this reason that special qualities are needed to participate in home births: inner strength and responsibility, high self-regulation and patience, readiness for self-sacrifice, etc. …
Disadvantages of home birth
Giving birth at home is a very important step,and it is necessary to prepare for them with all seriousness. Unfortunately, they have certain disadvantages, which, in fact, are a continuation of their advantages. The main disadvantage of home births is the lack of necessary medical equipment and qualified personnel at home who can provide assistance in an emergency (this can be important, because it will be problematic for you to get to the hospital during labor). Therefore, if there were any complications during the pregnancy or there are possible risks, then it is better to abandon the idea of home birth, since this can negatively affect the health of you and the baby. In particular, you may have a rupture of blood vessels and, as a result, blood loss, and the baby may be overtaken by hypoxia (oxygen starvation), the approach of which is determined in the maternity hospital by special CTG sensors. Home births are also fraught with tears in the vagina, which are sometimes better prevented by correct incisions and then treated. By the way, in such cases, a woman usually cannot sit down for the next two weeks and overexert herself, and this is easiest to organize in a maternity hospital, where you will be looked after by specially trained medical staff. Who, by the way, will also teach you the basics of caring for a child and answer your questions about breastfeeding (and at first there may be some difficulties with this). The biggest danger lurking in home births is the possibility that something will go wrong. There can be a lot of options: sudden hypoxia in the baby, its large size, narrow pelvis, incorrect position of the child, and even twins that were not seen on ultrasound (yes, this happens). In such cases, emergency intervention by specialists may be needed (up to and including a cesarean section), which will be difficult to implement if you give birth at home. Therefore, before deciding on such a step, you should very carefully weigh all the pros and cons. and "against" such a decision. Do not forget that according to statistics, infant mortality in home births is somewhat higher, and you will be held responsible for this (and not the doctors who failed to cope with the situation).
Preparation for home birth
So, your decision to give birth at home is now final.accepted. Now it is necessary to decide on the issue of preparation for home birth. For this purpose, there are special courses for future parents, where you can be prepared by specialists who understand this issue. In childbirth preparation centers, you can take a similar course that will help you cope with childbirth at home. As a rule, it contains basic information about the physiology of childbirth, its periodization and the content of these periods, methods of natural pain relief, etc. Of course, home births are fundamentally different from childbirth in a maternity hospital. Therefore, it will not be superfluous for the future father to attend lectures where he can watch a video about childbirth at home, as well as get useful advice on how to behave during childbirth and what kind of help may be needed. Very often, home births take place in water - it is believed that this makes the birth process easier for both mother and baby. That is why a special preparatory lesson in the pool can be held during courses with a married couple. During labor, it will help the couple, as they will already have an idea of what to do and how to do it. You should not forget that home birth requires even more health and mental strength from you than usual. In such a situation, you will no longer be able to switch off and rely on doctors and their advice - you will need to constantly keep everything under control and understand what you are doing (and this is problematic in the altered state of consciousness associated with labor). Your husband should also understand that labor is not the most aesthetic process, and be prepared for blood and the birth of the "afterbirth".
Take a weighted decision
Of course, childbirth is naturalprocess, and the best preparation for them is to achieve a calm and positive attitude. The goal of any birth is not to complicate your life, but to help your baby come into the world. Supporters of home births appeal to the fact that for thousands of years our ancestors gave birth on their own - and nothing, humanity survived. But do not forget what were the risks of mortality for the mother and the child. Thank God, now a woman can choose how the process of giving birth to her child should take place. And this decision must be approached as responsibly as possible, weighing all the arguments "for" and "against". Only in this way can you make the most correct decision. We recommend reading:
