Hospital vs Home Birth

Dare I write on this subject???

I've always opted for sharing recipes or craft ideas instead of other mommy/baby topics because I either feel like I am already too far on one side to objectively write about it..........or I just don't want to raise a controversy!

But with the topic of home births and hospital births, I am completely open on both sides.
When talking about this with people it's clear it's becoming just as hot an issue as natural vs pain med deliveries, bottle vs breastfeeding, co-sleeping vs self soothing, etc etc etc etc etc :) :)
It's so funny to me how us mom's can go from the few day's after having your sweet baby thinking "Do they know I have NO clue what I'm doing?!? Someone tell me what to do!" to a year later we are saying "oh.well. what you really need to be doing is this, this and this."

So here I am, completely in full support of both home births and hospital births !

With the birth of our first daughter we opted for an amazing "birth center" that was still within a hospital. So it was a great mix of both worlds. I had an amazing water birth with a midwife and doula by my side and I LOVED that.  ("Amazing" meaning memorable/quick/no complication.....not because I enjoy labor AT ALL. In fact my dad so nicely informed me later they could hear me when they parked their car....... embarrassing much?)  My husband enjoyed the fact that we were still technically in a hospital for that rare chance that something would be needed.

But with our second baby coming we have been looking at all the options over again. I know some people are hard core home birth people and other's are completely the opposite -- they want to be IN a hospital maybe even hooked up to meds ASAP :)  Again -- no judgement on either side!

We began this pregnancy opting for a hospital closer to home because I really want our daughter and family to easily come visit and while I knew it would be far from the experience I had before I figured since it was my second I could handle it without the support of a doula and midwife. While.......as the weeks draw on and I talk more with my Dr I am getting increasingly frustrated and anxious about how they do things and how they are already pushing drugs (even though I have informed them I have done this once without! They know best for the mom.....hmmmm).

So back we went to looking at other places which led us to tour a birth center this past week. At the birth center you are basically having a home birth, just at the center instead. You go home VERY shorty after and continue your postpartum care there. While I know I would LOVE the birth experience at this center, I honestly can't imagine getting back in my car 3 hours after delivering and doing my own postpartum care. I would feel better about that decision if I knew the midwife was coming to at least check on things the next day but their policy is 2 days later......which to us just seems like a long time for no one to check the vitals on mom or baby since delivering.

I LOVE and fully support my friend's decisions to have home birth's but it is not quite for us at this time. I think it's a great choice for healthy, normal pregnancies with a  mom and midwife who are willing and open to medical intervention IF ever needed. I DO have a problem with it when I feel like people make that choice simply because they "hate hospitals" or "doctors are stupid".......I mean come one.......both are used daily to save and help people!

While choosing a home birth is perfectly normal and safe it must be with a willingness to accept that you are not "super mom" who will never need any help or intervention and that above all, your baby's health comes before your ideals. But it's unfortunate that the other option is then a traditional hospital birth where you feel completely out of your comfort zone and that very little of what goes on is up to you. You have an IV (for what reason again???), restrictions on food and drink, when you can leave, where you can delivery, how you  can delivery, what your baby needs, etc. Not to mention that your prenatal care often consists of rushed OB appointments and far from the care you get from a personal midwife.

I guess I am just wishing there could be some kind of compromise in the middle! The only place I know like that is where we delivered our first and at this point it's looking like we will go back there again......1 1/2 hours away. With my first labor under 5 hours I am hoping this one is quick too but not so quick we can't make it :)

I'll have to call ahead and yell "fill up the tub!!!!"

What concerns/considerations did you have when you chose Where and How to have your baby?
I am curious to hear people's thoughts on this subject!