This is an indepedent support group run in conjunction with the Wirral NCT branch. We have good links with local community and independent midwives. People that attend the meetings are a mixture of those with experience of home birth (personal and professional) and those who are looking for information and support.
Choosing home birth increases you chance of a straight forward birth and reduces your risk of medical intervention and halves your risk of a caesarean even if you later transfer to hospital.
Research over the last decade shows that women who give birth at home use far fewer drugs to help them cope with labour. This is probably because it’s so much easier to deal with the pain when you’re in your own home, surrounded by familiar objects and people you know.
You are more likely to breastfeed following a home birth and you are less likely to
get an infection at home than in hospital.
Women, who give birth at home, report higher levels of satisfaction that those using a hospital.
At home women report they feel more relaxed. You are able to use your own toilet and bath, eat what you want and when you want it and take things at your own pace moving around and doing what you wish. The midwives are guests in your home and you control who else comes into your house. Although some women transfer to hospital in labour, for most women choosing a home birth means you don’t have decide when to leave for hospital nor travel in labour.
After the birth you can sleep in your own bed and have the visitors you choose when you choose them. Partners often ay they feel more involved and get to hold and care for their newborn baby and become as expert as the mother.
Many people, including health professionals, friends and relatives will tell you that you are ‘brave’ to choose a home birth. But for women with a straightforward pregnancy – including women having their first baby – home birth is a safe and satisfying option.