We were asked by our Local Maternity System (LMS) to make a Home Birth video for a virtual carousel.

For the last few years we have regularly attended the monthly carousel at Hull Women and Children’s Hospital, to promote home birth as an option to local families and answer any queries.

Since the corona virus outbreak, these have been unable to run and have been greatly missed by many.

We have put together a simple video featuring real local home birthing families and their reasons for having a home birth. We hope you enjoy watching!

During the Covid19 restrictions our monthly meet ups have been taking place via Zoom. This is free to access, via a phone, tablet or PC. Please visit our Facebook Group to view the event, alternatively if you are not a Facebook user you can email us at heyhomebirth@gmail.com

Our meetings are run informal and peer led, run by people who are planning or have experienced home births themselves, all are welcome. They are usually attended by expectant parents, past home birthers, and a range of health care professionals relating to birth and breastfeeding. Numbers can vary month to month.

Update: 24/09/20 We have been told by the LMS that the pool hire pilot scheme has reached its pool hire quota and is currently on hold whilst it is being reviewed. There is a wait list in the event of any cancellations. Please visit their website to request to go on the wait list.

Our Local Maternity System (LMS) announced last week that they are piloting a subsidised birth pool hire scheme.

The scheme is available to those living in the Humber, Coast and Vale area, which includes both Hull and the East Riding.

I planned my home birth meticulously, right down to what snacks I would have on offer for our visiting midwives. An area that I did neglect when putting together my birth plan, however, was breastfeeding. Call me naive or maybe overly optimistic, but with my rose tinted glasses on I half expected our first breastfeed to be like a scene out of Snow White.

When my baby boy arrived in August 2015 at 38 weeks I was presented with the opposite, my beautiful baby just didn’t know what to do and I had very little knowledge to help guide him. The Midwives did their best to help me but nobody could get my baby to latch, and due to some minor concerns surrounding his blood sugars his first ever feed was not from me! Our breastfeeding journey definitely had a rough start but I am pleased to say we went onto breastfeed for over 2 years!

If I were to plan my home birth again, I would definitely dedicate an area on my birth plan to breastfeeding. I would also attend the one off breastfeeding session held at our local hospital (I attended this over a year later as a volunteer and found it so informative!). Another thing I would do is gather information on who can help if required. Looking at our local breastfeeding support there are 3 main types; NHS, Voluntary and Private.