My last post was about Considering Giving Birth at Home (https://mydoulalove.com/blog/). This week, I want to address those who will be birthing at the hospital.
I have assisted homebirths, birth center births, and hospital births. The best hospital outcomes have come from laboring with mom at home first. As a doula, I tend to meet moms at home, where they have already begun active labor. I come when mom has a difficult time talking and walking during contractions, when she needs the support of hands-on care.
Why do we encourage laboring at home? Interventions. More interventions are preformed, the longer the mother labors in the hospital. The hospital has policies and procedures that may not be in your birth plan; it can often become theirs, especially if you don’t have a doula to support your choices and help you make informed decisions.
I often encourage moms to labor at home, just as transition is happening. This does depend, however, if mom is high-risk, or they are quite a distance from their hospital.
Here is a great post I found. It follows my suggestions for laboring at home.
https://www.motherrisingbirth.com/2016/10/labor-at-home.html
