Home Birth Stories

[Mom of one 10]

I am wondering if any of you diabetic mothers have had (planned) home births? And what precautions you took and how they went? If willing, please share your stories.

[sarahspins 11]

I had wanted to do a UC at home with my last.. that didn't happen and I ended up going to the hospital (and had my baby about 40 minutes later) because I had a freak out moment, but honestly unless it's something you're 110% comfortable with it and fully prepared, I wouldn't recommend it... I prepared and really thought I was ready to go through with it, but in the end I felt it was better to go in. I don't regret making that choice at all, because I didn't have what I needed at home to know what was actually going on - all I knew is I was gushing blood (enough that I initially thought my water broke, but too my absolute horror it was not my water), I wasn't even 100% sure I was in active labor when I made the choice to go in to the hospital, and I was worried for not only my life, but my baby's too. In the end everything was absolutely fine - I was bleeding basically from dialating SO fast with my short (and pretty much painless) labor, but I had no way of knowing that until they did an U/S to make sure there was no abruption. Now I know that "bloody show" can really be quite bloody, but it wasn't something I had experienced with my two prior births... I walked into L&D at 9cm, laughing, talking, and the triage desk didn't actually think I was in labor... I remember the OB's eyes bugging out of his head when he checked me and realized not only was I IN labor, but I was practically ready to deliver. He had to go off and do an emergency C/S though, so I had to wait for him to finish that.. he came back, broke my water, and I had my baby in 2 pushes.

 

My first baby was supposed to be born in a birthing center, and that didn't work out (I was diagnosed and "risked out" of midwife care, transferred to an OB and had an induced hospital birth) - but had that gone to plan, and I didn't have D, #2 and #3 would have almost certainly been home births. It's what I had always imagined... to be honest growing up it never even occurred to me to see an OB for a pregnancy... they are surgeons, afterall.

 

I really tried, but I couldn't find a CNM when I was pregnant with #3 who was willing to treat me in any capacity while pregnant... I did find one lay midwife who was 3 hours away willing to do concurrent care, but she was too far away for me to be comfortable with (which turns out would have been too long - my labor was only about 2 hours with that baby). That was a few years ago, and honestly it's only getting harder and harder to find alternative options when you're diabetic - I was basically told by all the CNM's I talked to that because I take insulin, they just can't even take a chance on me - my actual control or medical history didn't matter, it was too risky for them to consider.

 

My crazy fast labor with my last did have one pretty huge unforseen benefit - the on-call doctor who ended up delivering him was also a T1, and if my husband and I do have another child at some point, I'll almost certainly return to him for my care, simply because he understands being a T1, and won't BS me the way that almost every other medical professional has - he was AWESOME with my aftercare in the hospital after my last baby, basically telling the nurses to leave me alone, pretend I don't have D, and let me have "regular" food.

 

Things may be different in Canada as far as midwives go, but I'm not sure. There's a really good UC forum over at mothering.com if you want to look into that some more.

[jenngwenn 10]

Hi Momofone, I considered a home birth with baby #2 but we ended up searching and interviewing doctors until we found one very experienced in natural birth who would do a hospital birth for us. things worked out well for a natural birth at the hospital for me even with type one diabetes. oh, and we researched all of the hospitals in our area to find the one with the best natural birth record... The only T1 home birth I have ever read about was the lady in england w/ a midwife...

 

Diabetic Birth Without the Drip

 

best of luck to you!

[pittsburrito 10]

Here's another example of a type 1 diabetic homebirth, also from England:

Diabetes and Home Birth, by Debbie Dooley

 

I know of another type 1 diabetic planned homebirth that took place successfully in Minneapolis MN, but she has not publicly posted her birth story on-line. When I wrote to her to ask her about it, she did write back to tell me about it, though.

 

A diabetic homebirth is very unusual, but technically possible, as evidenced by these 3 women. It necessitates A LOT of preparation, planning, self-education, and excellent glycemic control throughout. It is certainly not something one should attempt casually, but with much thought and weighing of the risks involved.

[Funnygrl 21]

Rikki (Keezeekhana, or something like that) was thinking about doing a home birth. It's a good thing she didn't, as the cord was wrapped twice around the neck and she had an emergency c-section.

[Keezheekoni 10]

Yes, I was going to have a homebirth. However, you must really listen to your instincts too. Had I been able to labor at home, I know that I would have decided to transfer anyway. My baby's head never engaged and he was way up high for all of the pregnancy. If they don't drop before labor starts, then there's something wrong.

 

I still would have had a homebirth if I'd been able to, but this baby wasn't coming out for anything...and now we know why.