Hi T.,
Congratulations on your upcoming birth.
I've had two homebirths. Both were water births.
My first homebirth was my third birth, it was my husband's first. My first two births were natural births in hospitals (first with an OB/GYN, second with a Certified Nurse Midwife), no drugs and little interventions.
My third birth was planned for the hospital with another CNM group until about 6 weeks before my due date, my husband and I found a hospital policy which we didn't like and upon discussing it with our midwives all of us agreed that the policy didn't make sense in our situation so we interviewed a homebirth midwife and changed plans (the hospital has since changed that policy). Our homebirth midwife has a relationship with the hospital midwife group so we could see both throughout the pregnancy, that way if any complication were to arise we already had midwives who were familiar with us and would take over care at the hospital and call their back-up OB/GYN if necessary. Both of my pregnancies and homebirths remained in normal low-risk parameters and we had two successful homebirths.
In addition to our midwife and her assistant, my husband and I chose to have my sister and my 11 1/2 year old daughter present at our first homebirth. My daughter was given the option of being present or not. She orginally thought she wanted to be close by but not IN the room. As labor progressed she acutally came closer. She napped on the couch so she wouldn't be to far away in case I needed her (so sweet, and completely her choice). By the time the midwife was on her way my daughter was very involved, rubbing my shoulders/giving me sips of water/wiping my forehead. She asked whether I was o.k., when I said yes I'm o.k., it's hard work she responded, "I can tell by your swearing"! LOL! The baby was born with a low APGAR, but the midwife was experienced, calm, focused, and skilled as she worked with the baby, everything was fine within minutes. Despite their age difference my girls are very close and I'm glad my older daughter was present for her sister's birth.
My second homebirth was 22 months later. My older daughter was at her dad's house (it happened to be Father's Day). We had the same midwife, this time she had a new assistant. My toddler accompanied me to all the prenatal visits, the midwife involved her in measuring my belly. By the time the midwife came for the homevisit and for the birth my toddler was familiar and comfortable with her presence. This time my sister, a cousin, and dear friend (who is an RN interested in becoming a midwife and curious about homebirth) were present for the birth along with my 22 month old daughter. My toddler did show some concern at times when I became vocal, she was never truly upset, she spent time in the arms or lap of all the women present including the midwife, and stood next to daddy sometimes. My friend was holding her during the actual birth and explained in simple terms that mommy is doing some hard work but that everything is fine and the baby is coming. When she saw the baby in my arms she was genuinely surprised and happy, "A BABY" she exclaimed! This labor was quicker than hers had been and she napped through the early part. My sister pushed her in a stroller as we went for a walk in the neighborhood to speed labor along (short, effective walk!) when she got up from her nap. She played in the other room for some time during labor too. She had plenty of attendants and was free to come and go as she was comfortable. She was curious about the birth tub in the kitchen and stood next to it splashing the water once or twice. I'm not really sure what she remembers from the experience, but I know she remembers some and that it was an overall good experience for her. A few weeks ago out of the blue she happily stated that her brother was born "right there, in the bath, in the kitchen". She's now 32 months old and he's 10 months old. He was born with an even lower APGAR. The midwife was again focused and skilled as she worked with him, he too was fine within minutes. I was bleeding, the midwife was skilled and focused as she assessed me, got me out of the water to better assess the situation and worked with the baby. The midwife has discussed the low apgar's with other midwives, they all agree that would have happened in the hospital too and that the outcome was the same. No one really knows why but one theory is that some babies born in the water are sometimes very relaxed and need to be encouraged to breathe, so the midwife has suggested that if we have another baby (we're done though) we should use the tub for labor pain relief and comfort but get out for the birth. I've witnessed other water births where there were no problems with low apgar.
I really enjoyed being home for my births.
I would encourage you to only have present those who can support you through birth. I didn't allow my mil to come to the births because we have a strained relationship and I knew I'd be tense with her present. She was mad at me for it but I didn't worry about it during the hard work of labor. She was allowed to come visit about an hour after my son's birth, she fixed me something to eat.
The midwives took my husband, toddler, new baby and I to my room for some "immediate family" bonding time and kept everyone else out for at least an hour before they even weighed and measured the baby.
The Midwife and assistant were wonderful "keepers of the space". Very quiet and unintrusive while being completely aware and present.
They did a newborn exam, got breastfeeding started, made sure I had something to eat, and went over "after-birth" instructions with my husband before they left. Follow-up visits were in my home at 1, 3, 5 day and two weeks postpartum and in the office at 6 weeks. The midwife informed the back-up midwives and our family Pediatrician of the baby's birth.
My husband too is very pleased with our homebirths.
This has been a long post but I hope to have addressed your questions. I hope you'll message me with your birth experience.
Best wishes, K.