Home birth

Joana and Nick Weaver, both 42, from West Bridgford chose to have a home birth for their fourth child born in May this year. As nature-lovers, they wanted to have an off-grid birth and the NUH home births team pulled out all the stops to make this possible. This is their story. 

Joana: I didn’t even consider a home birth with my first two children, I just never thought to have a baby at home. With my first baby, I didn’t know what I wanted and so went along with the hospital system and what I was told to do, although by my second birth I had started to look around at other options.

When I was ready to have my third child I felt informed and experienced and I knew what I wanted – a home birth. It went well and I knew that’s what I wanted for our fourth baby too.

It’s more relaxing to be at home rather than in a hospital, and it’s very safe.

Nick: Choosing to have a home birth just felt right and for us as a couple it was just gold that we were on the same page.

We both like things to be as close to nature as possible – I work as a gardener and landscaper – and so the idea of giving birth in nature and off-grid would be great. There’s an extra bit of magic involved in a home birth.

We’ve not been ones to always go with the status quo, and we had dreamed of having a home birth in a cabin in the woods. However, we’re not reckless and we still wanted to know that it would be safe, even in an emergency. We spoke to the NUH Homebirth Team who said ‘that’s different! But let’s see what we can do’.

We found a cabin in Nottinghamshire which is completely off-grid – no electricity, cold running water, no internet, and a petrol generator and woodburner. The Homebirth Team worked with the ambulance service to make arrangements for in the case of an emergency, and our plans were signed off.

We had candles for light and a meditation playlist on. We were completely immersed in nature, exactly as we had hoped for.

Joana went into labour on 21 May, and when she started having three contractions in 12 minutes, we made the call to the Homebirth Team. The midwives were going to be half an hour away, so the ambulance service attended to be on hand in the meantime if needed.

The midwives arrived to support us, and Baby Otto arrived safely at 10.10pm weighing a healthy 7lbs.

The home birth was more than we hoped for - we can only describe it as absolutely perfect.

Joana: We are so grateful to the Homebirth Team for making our dream birth possible – they had the attitude of ‘how are we going to make this happen for you’. It allowed me to give birth my way.

For anyone thinking of having a home birth, make sure you educate yourself. Often if you mention that you’re planning to have a home birth, people give you a look and as ‘but is it safe’?

That’s why it’s important that you know the risks so you can make peace with them, and empower yourself so that you understand what is happening to your body during labour and birth – we are made to have babies. That will help you to put yourself in control and decide how you want your birth to be.

Sham, 31, from Hyson Green, opted for a home birth in May this year. Due to complications, she was able to labour at home for most of the time, but needed to go to the hospital for her baby girl to be born. This is her story.

I hadn’t considered having a home birth until I came across a discussion in a Baby Centre group. A lady was asking if anyone was considering a home birth because she was planning one, and I became very interested. I shared the idea with my husband, who was fully on board, and we began to do some research. My mum had a home birth, but even after nine years of living in the UK, I didn’t know women here had them.

After doing a lot of research into home births, I decided at my 34-week scan that I wanted to have one. However, because I have a blood condition and had already suffered four miscarriages, the doctor said it might be too dangerous for me to give birth outside of a hospital.

A few weeks later, I received a phone call from the home birth team saying they got my message about wanting a home birth, and they arranged for a midwife to come to my home to discuss the possibilities. The midwife told me, "It’s your decision to have the birth the way you want it." I was able to talk to her about all my concerns. She explained that if anything changed during the home birth, they would transfer me to the hospital.

It was very empowering, even before the birth, as it was made clear that it was my decision. It’s hard to explain, but because I had done a lot of research and asked many questions, for the first time in my life I felt so knowledgeable when making the decision.

We set up my living room a month before I was due, and my husband got everything we needed – we hired a birthing pool, put puppy pads around it, bought lights, and a CD with rain sounds.

My waters broke at 5pm on 21 May. My contractions started at 7pm, and we called the home birth team when they became more frequent.

The midwife, Eliza, arrived at 11pm, and it was really nice and relaxed. She guided me, rubbed my back, and we chatted like friends. I was using a TENS machine on my back and had gas and air, while Eliza monitored me and the baby.

At 5am, I felt the urge to push, and Eliza could see the baby’s head. I kept pushing, but there was no progress, and it just went on and on. Eliza and another midwife who had arrived became concerned that nothing was happening and recommended a transfer to the hospital. I was hesitant, but they reassured me that everything would still go the way I wanted it, and since nothing was happening, we needed to go.

A midwife came with me in the ambulance, and when we arrived at the QMC, there were lots of people in the room. The doctors and midwives were really nice and explained everything to me. The ventouse didn’t work, so they had to use forceps. Because I have had FGM, I needed an episiotomy, something the midwives had explained to me earlier. It was the worst pain I had ever felt, but everything happened so quickly. My baby was on my chest – and she weed on me right away! It was so emotional.

My placenta was retained, and I needed stitches, so they took me to the theatre, but they allowed my husband and baby to stay with me the entire time.

I am really grateful to all the midwives who supported me throughout this journey, especially Polly and Eliza. Even though it wasn’t the home birth we planned, what happened couldn’t be avoided, but I still had the experience my way – I had so much choice all the way through.

I definitely want home births in the future and would tell other women, “Do it.” Birth is often treated like a medical condition now, but it is a natural thing – a home birth helps it feel beautiful and natural. It’s the most empowering thing you’ll do, and it gives you such confidence – I am a new woman.

Dorrie Scott, 34, from Sneinton, had always been interested in having a home birth and so opted to deliver her first baby, Orly, in her Nottingham home in May this year. This is her story.

I’ve always had an interest in home births as my brother was born at home, so the concept wasn’t unusual to me. For most of my pregnancy the home births service wasn’t live and so for us it just wasn’t an option, we continued to plan a hospital birth.

However, whilst attending Twelve Moons’ four-week hypnobirthing course, Amy, the class leader informed me that the home birthing service had been relaunched in March. It felt like it was all meant to be, so at seven months’ pregnant I decided to swap to a home birth – for us there was nothing to lose, if we ended up having to transfer into hospital then at least early labour had been in the comforts of our home.

For me, it was about having confidence in my body and the baby to do what was needed, I knew I needed a relaxed and familiar environment for birth to happen as naturally as possible. It felt more comforting to be at home and would allow my husband Ben to be as involved in the birth as possible.

My last few midwife appointments were at home, and during those I met most of the home birth midwives, which meant it would be a familiar face at the door when the time came.

Orly arrived exactly on my due date – 7 May. I went into labour at 6am the day before; I’d got up and went to the toilet, and as soon as I got back into bed, my waters broke. 

A few hours later we rang the Home Births team just to let them know I was in labour, so they came round to check me. They offered me stretches and massage as well if I needed them; to be offered that as part of the service was incredible. They then left us to it and said for us to call them again when it became a bit less manageable.

Ben and I had a nice day at home pottering in the garden, my contractions were increasing in intensity but it all felt doable on our own until about 8pm when we called the Home Births team again.

I’d been worried about having lots of people in the house when the time came, but the midwives were so subtle in the way they came into the house, just really calm and steady, it didn’t feel intrusive at all. They helped me with stretches to level out ligament tension in my hip joints, and we agreed they would be in the living room until I was ready to go.

Every room in the house had a different set up – the living room had fairy lights and music, a birthing pool was in the dining room, we had a fuel station in the kitchen with lots of snack, and then upstairs we prepped both bedrooms with the practicalities such as waterproof sheets, so that we were ready wherever I gave birth.

When I was more actively pushing, the midwives moved through into the pool room and did regular checks on me and the baby. Up to that point I had wanted to be on my own with Ben. At about 1.30am the midwife, Sarah, checked again and confirmed the baby’s head was there so he was on his way and I needed to make a decision as to where I wanted to have him. We moved into the bedroom. My body knew what it needed to do, I felt like I needed to be upright, so Ben supported me with my arms wrapped around his shoulders, Sarah guided me through the final stages of labour and 45 minutes later he was born.

Our experience was amazing and I was proud that we were able to put our own stamp on our birth. Of course, it was also very intense, but it all felt very smooth and calm. It was incredible to be in my own bed, with my baby in my arms when the midwives left.

The biggest advice I would give to anyone considering a home birth would be to do research; read about birth, consider attending hypnobirthing classes with your birth partner, learn about your options and read plenty of positive birth stories – knowledge is power. There are so many choices about birth that are yours to make but they aren’t always made obvious, I think many people don’t know that home birth is even an option to them.

Through doing the research you might decide you want a medical environment and all the equipment on hand, but until you read up then you won’t know. Then you can be confident in your decision.

If you do decide to have a home birth, the NUH team are amazing – they offer such a personalised service, they can be called on any hour of the day, to any house in Nottingham, to any home set up – that must be a difficult thing to navigate, but they do a great job.

Our post natal care in the days following Orly’s birth was incredible. Everyday someone from the home birth team called to see how we were doing, and came to the house to check in on us and offer advice if we weren’t sure about something. It felt so personal and valuable in those early days as a first time Mum.

Ellen Clark, 40, from Nuthall, has had all seven of her children with Nottingham University Hospitals, and has opted to have home births for three of her babies due to speedy labours. Baby number seven, Evie, arrived on 6 August. This is her story. 

I chose to have home births because lots of my children have arrived quite quickly – my second baby was nearly born in the car on the way to hospital.

Therefore, rather than rather than giving birth halfway to hospital and my husband having to deliver the baby, we decided to have the midwife support at home and be as prepared as we could be. Two of our other children were born at home, and we chose a home birth for Evie too.

Having a home birth is magical. You give birth and then once the midwives have taken everything with them, you’re in your own home, left with a baby and no other signs of anyone else having been there.

Being in your own home is comforting too – you have everything to hand, you are able to get something to eat when you want or make a cup of tea, and use my own bathroom and toiletries.

I knew I wanted a home birth this time, but I thought it might be off the cards due to my age. I mentioned it to my midwife and she was really comforting and reassuring, and I was transferred to the Homebirth Team.

I had a sweep at just over 40 weeks and was pleased to be able to have it at home rather than needing to go into a clinic.

About eight or nine hours later, things happened quickly and I thought ‘this is it’. With my previous two babies I’d gone from being 3cm dilated to delivering in 20 minutes. I made the mistake of thinking she would just pop out.

At midnight I said to my husband, Shane, ‘you need to ring the Homebirth Team and tell them things are progressing’. I was expecting a phone call so it really threw me when there was a knock at the door at about 1am.

And then all my pains and everything stopped. The midwife examined me and suggested we went back to bed for a bit. I managed about 30 minutes before I was woken up with a strong contraction, so I stayed up and timed them until I got up with our three-year-old, Leon, at 7am. It was the school holidays so it was nice not to have to rush around trying to get them all out the door.

I was uncomfortable so went upstairs for a bath. Ten minutes later my waters broke and I felt the need to push. My husband, Shane, rang the Homebirth Team and at 9.20am the midwives arrived.

They were really lovely and very calming – I’d got myself into a bit of a panic that the baby would arrive before anyone got there.

A while later it felt like I had been pushing a really long time and so the midwife helped me hobble to my bed to examine me. She could feel that I was fully dilated so the labour was very much progressing, but she could see that Evie’s hand was on top of her head. I asked, seriously at the time but it makes me laugh now, could she not just flick it out of the way! So Evie was born (after another reposition) with a very bruised hand and with her right hand just resting on top of her head.

It was nice as my 15-year-old daughter and 13-year-old son watched Evie being born but had the freedom to come and go. I really loved that they felt comfortable to stay.

I would always recommend a home birth. It’s calmer and more relaxed because you’re in your own surroundings, and that can’t be replicated in a hospital or birthing centre.