Question about Home Births!!?

There are no midwifes in my area but I am wanting to have my second child at home or in a birthing center the problem is I can not find any close to where I live... My step sister is a Trauma Registered Nurse And My Grandmother is a RN also would they know what to do and how to deliver my baby or should I look into safer measures...

My personal opinion... you should always have babies in hospitals or birthing centers where you know that if there was an emergency, someone would be there to take care of you and your baby. It just isn't safe to have your baby at home in my opinion... I know people who have done it and everything has been fine, but that's just how I feel about it. I feel safer in a hospital.

do it your way, i would have an ambulance on stand by, but if you live more than 15min from a hospital i would do it, but either way its your choice use and do what you feel is safe!

Even if you're planning a home birth or a birthing center, you still need to have regular appointments with your OB to make sure everything progressing as it should with your baby. At this point he/she is no doubt counting on being the one to deliver your baby, but in the end it is your choice.

My mother is a retired registered nurse also, but that doesn't mean that she has access to any of the emergency equipment such as oxygen tanks or even the obstetrics kit necessary to complete the birth. They also have no legal right to complete the birth certificate. In the end you still will have to take your baby to the hospital to be checked over and the proper paperwork filled out.

I'm not saying that you shouldn't have either one of them there, but have you asked THEM yet? Not just if they'll be there, but for them to be in charge?

EDIT: Let me re-phrase something for those of you who don't quite understand what I meant. When I said that HER sister or grandmother wouldn't be qualified to fill out the birth certificate; I did not mean that midwives or birth-center attendants can't. That's their job, they will have all the proper equipment as well as legal papers to do the job.

What I thought was an obvious thought pattern obviously wasn't.

I am a big supporter of home birth and/or birth centers. I hope my next baby will be born in one of those two locations.

That being said, I would want to deliver at home with a midwife or a doula at the very least.

If it were me in this particular situation, I'd choose to find the most supportive OB and then be a HUGE advocate for myself and set up a clear birth plan and go with the hospital birth. It is possible to have the birth you really want in a hospital w/o having to compromise on the "biggies." But...you have to be willing to be forceful, assertive, and piss some people off.

It's a hard decision. Good luck to you.

I had a homebirth with my second and it was absolutely fabulous. Now pregnant with my 3rd I wouldn't have it any other way unless of course there were contraindications. Homebirthing statistically is as safe as hospital birthing for low risk normal birthing. Realize non-low risk is determined long before the first labor pains in nearly all births.

Anyways, look deeper for a midwife in your area. Many will travel around 2 hours or so. Your alternatives I doubt would be as helpful as a midwife trained in the nature of birthing. They also may have a highly medicalized view of birth vs. natural life event. Keep searching. Ask doulas and independent, non-hospital paid birthing teachers in your area and extended area.

Homebirthing isn't for everyone; however if it is for you, then pursue it; it is an adventure worthy.

Try going to Mothering.com/discussions and going to the Tribal Areas section...there you can ask about midwives in your area. There may be some that just aren't registered.

I think your step sister and grandmother might be fine choices!

I'm having an unassisted birth; you might want to look into that, too.

I am planning on a home birth myself (unassisted or a "freebirth"), here are some links for you... pore over them, take as long as you need to absorb the info. Talk to the other moms, etc. You will a wealth of information... and after reading these and some books (info on all these pages) you may feel safer delivering at home, perhaps even safer than you would in the hospital. Just for your information, to do with as you please. This is not a "recommendation" but a sharing of knowledge.

http://www.purebirth-australia.com/
http://www.unhinderedliving.com/childbir...
http://www.spinningbabies.com/
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/
http://www.unassistedchildbirth.com/link...
http://www.naturemoms.com/birth-and-baby...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/for...
http://www.mothering.com/discussions/for...
http://www.midwifeinfo.com/content/view/...
http://www.powells.com/biblio/9780553381...
http://health.groups.yahoo.com/group/Emp...

My husband went to a 4 hour midwife training class and he was there for me for moral and physical support (we had 2 of our kids just me and him at home). I highly recommend homebirth, i pushed when i wanted and stopped when i wanted:)

Good luck!

home deleiveries are for pizza lol

I don't know what to tell you. I personally would be too scared to have a home birth even with a midwife available ( I had a midwife deliver my baby in a hospital with a Dr. on standby in case of complications)

I guess what the previous person said about having an ambulance on standby, or maybe contact the hospital and see if they have any resources for you or what their recommendation would be. (Obviously their first recommendation will be to have you deliver at the hospital but once you tell them you're set on having it at home maybe they'll offer advice on that.)