00:08Hi friends, Jade from Sweet Softies here. I am currently 38 plus 1 weeks pregnant and we are
00:17expecting baby to come any day now in less than two weeks. So we are going with a home birth
00:25this
00:26time around. That's our plan and I wanted to share the reasons as to why we're choosing a home birth.
00:32For a quick little bit of context, I have an older daughter and that was four years ago and we
00:41had a
00:41very easy, smooth, uneventful birth at a birthing center with her. It was such a lovely experience
00:48that we decided we really wanted to go with a midwife and a birthing center again but this
00:55time we were given the option of a home birth and I thought, wow, why not? To me, it seems
01:03like such
01:04a wonderful, cozy, intimate experience and we really wanted to have that special experience with our
01:11final, our second and final baby. So we'll say that's reason number one here. Definitely would
01:23love to have that intimate and cozy experience. Sorry, had to adjust the camera here. All right.
01:30Reason number two, we also like the convenience of a home birth. I won't need to pack a hospital bag.
01:37We'll have access to everything we need at home. Don't have to worry about forgetting something at home.
01:44Reason number three is another component of convenience here. We also don't need to install
01:53the car seat right away or weeks ahead of time because we will be birthing at home. We don't need
02:02to have a car seat ready to take baby from either the birthing center or hospital back home.
02:07Now, it makes a difference for us because our older daughter currently has a car seat in our five
02:16seater car and if we put in a second car seat, it takes away a lot of space right away
02:23and we aren't
02:24sure whether or not baby's really coming just yet. So it's helpful for us to not have to install it
02:32until
02:32last minute. Reason number four, again, having to do with the car actually. The worst part of labor
02:41for me last time around was the drive from home to the birthing center. It was 20 minutes, not long
02:49at
02:49all, but it was hardest for me because I was in active labor and I had to be in one
02:56seated position
02:57the whole time. I couldn't really move and my husband was driving so he wasn't able to give me
03:04any counter pressure on my lower back which is where I felt most of my contractions. So eliminating
03:11that car ride trip by birthing at home is kind of a big relief for me this time around. Reason
03:17number
03:18five is that birthing at home is usually a more inexpensive option. It's about six hundred dollars
03:26cheaper for me to birth at home as opposed to at the birthing center. I know if I were to
03:31be birthing
03:32at a hospital it would be even more expensive. So birthing at home tends to be the cheapo way to
03:42go.
03:43Last one, reason number six. Birthing at home is also just about as safe as birthing at a birthing
03:51center. At least for my birthing center that I am going to for my prenatal appointments. The reason
03:59why is because the midwives at our birthing center would be bringing pretty much all the same equipment
04:06from the birthing center to home births that they attend. So I'm really not like missing like having
04:14a lack of access to anything medical that I would not have access to at the birthing center already.
04:21It would be pretty much the same experience except that I'm at home instead of at the center.
04:27And the only difference that was noted for us is that they wouldn't be able to bring the laughing
04:34gas machine. And laughing gas is just a form of pain relief that is sometimes offered and used during
04:43births when moms are in labor. But I didn't use that for my first delivery and I don't intend to
04:53this
04:53time either. I don't feel like it's necessary for me personally. So forgoing just that one piece is
05:01totally fine. I will say this about safety though. There is one caveat and if I, and this is for
05:09my
05:09case in particular, so this is just something to keep in mind if it's your case as well. But if
05:16you're
05:17considering a home birth, knowing how long and far away you are, um, from the nearest hospital with,
05:23um, you know, a lab, um, L and D unit is really important in case you're needing an emergency hospital
05:32transfer. So at home, um, our nearest hospital is about 25 minutes of a drive away. Whereas if we were
05:40to birth at a birthing center where about the hospital there is just right across the street,
05:46it would take less than five minutes to transfer from birthing center to the hospital.
05:51So, um, that is something to keep in mind. Um, and you know, if in case an emergency transfer
05:58is needed, that the time, uh, for transfer could be a really big deal. So definitely one thing to weigh
06:09into those considerations. Anyhow, those are, um, in a nutshell, my major reasons as to why I'm choosing
06:17a home birth over going to the birthing center. Um, but I am just really excited for baby's arrival
06:26and, um, um, I know that plans can definitely go awry. So, um, just here to hope for the best
06:34and, um,
06:35not be crushed if something doesn't go according to plan. Stay tuned. I will be planning to share
06:42about my birth story after baby arrives. The first few weeks of newborn life, um, was a huge adjustment
06:49for me. So I wasn't able to, um, really do much other than attend to my baby, uh, for a
06:57good while.
06:57But my plan is to get my birthing story, my birth story up and shared after baby's born. So stay
07:08tuned
07:09for that. I'll let you know if things go according to plan or totally off tracks. Anyways, um,
07:16thanks for watching and have a good one.
