Home Birth Support People: How Many Is Too Many?
I had a pretty traditional hospital birth with my daughter 8 years ago (epidural, EFM, episiotomy) and am opting for a home birth with a CNM this go round. This was a decision made mid-pregnancy, so I have been doing lots of research/adjusting my thinking from one model of care to another. With my daughter, I did not get the epidural until I hit transition and panicked (why someone gave me an epidural then, I do not know!), and prior to that, I dealt with the contractions by essentially going very inward... I liked being by myself and having quiet.
My husband may or may not be home from deployment for the birth, so my sister is my birth partner for the time being, I will also have my midwife and doula here as well as potentially a midwife student who is apprenticing under my midwife. This leads me to my question: For those of you who have done Hypnobabies and/or tend to be more internal with pain management, who did you have at your birth and were you happy with your decision? I have other family members who want to be present, including my 8 year old daughter, but I am worried I will get overwhelmed with anymore people there (since I'm already at potentially 5 other people!) and that I will lose focus. I'd love to hear from other mamas on the topic and their experience!
Replies to This Discussion
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Permalink Reply by Dania Kabbani Shelton on -
I am a midwife and I have had four homebirths, my own. You have had a baby before and it reaches a certain point when you don't care who is in the room, right? You should plan on having your husband or sister with you then and the midwife and apprentice will be somewhere else in your house until needed. I don't think you need a doula if you have your sister and two midwives. Ultimately it is your birth and you feel free to tell people what you want. The midwife and her apprentice should know how to keep their distance until needed. As far as your 8 year old goes have her called in when the baby is crowning, then there is no way you can get distracted or involved with her. However your 8 year old might not want to come in and that is ok. You should have a person there for her, maybe your sister. You should discuss this with your midwife. But it is your birth and a you should have what you want.
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Permalink Reply by Darcel on -
How many people are you comfortable with attending the birth? I had 5 of my friends in the room at the hospital for the birth of my first, plus the midwife, and an intern.
For my first homebirth it was only my parents, husband and daughter. My parents ended up leaving and coming back after the baby was born.
Last summer it was only my husband, my dad watched our girls and the midwives. -
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Permalink Reply by Michelle Van Norman on -
I had a homebirth 2 yrs ago after 2 ceserean births. I had a total of 9 people there. But they all wern't hovering over me my entire labor. The only time everyone was in the same place was when I was pushing n the tub and by that point I didn't even remember half of them being around. The best advise I can give is do what seems comfortable for you. Tell your doula ahead of time if you get overwhelmed who you really want with you and who can leave and she will take care of asking them to step out. Another option is don't call anyone but your sister,midwife, and doula when you go into labor. Take a couple hrs to see if you can handle labor without the distractions of others around. I also did hypnobirthing and truthfully there is no concept of time or people when you are inside yourself. I was in labor for 18hrs but it felt so much shorter than that. Hope all turns out and ultimatly it's your birth and your choice. Good luck and enjoy your delivery.
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