367: Planned HBAC Turned Emergency Hospital Transfer and C-Section with Andrea Sidun

“Home birth is not all about just the “birth” part.” - a well stated concept from today’s guest Andrea Sidun. Andrea talks to us about her 3rd birth - her first planned home birth, and the sequence of events throughout the experience that led to a hospital transfer. She also walks us through some of the details of her first two births and how they influenced her choice to plan for an HBAC. Listening to DIAH helped her in her preparation. When she listened to other HBAC stories she thought, “if they can do it, I can do it!” She also shares how she is processing the hospital transfer element of her birth and the emotions that can come with that. Here are some of her words: “Since he is our last baby, it was pretty devastating to me that things did not go as planned. I was more than just disappointed, and still have some grief and trauma thinking of the sequence of events. I have a lot to be grateful for too though. The “home” part of my home birth experience was hands down the best out of my three children. The care and attention the midwives provided, along with the comfort of being home, made it my easiest labor by far. I am also so thankful our midwife was so experienced, and knew when to make the call that we needed to transfer. It really validated our trust in her, and her decisiveness may have possibly saved our baby’s life. If I had to do it over again, I would hands down still choose to plan a home birth. I wish so much that I could have delivered at home, but I have comfort knowing that my c-section was likely unavoidable and not caused by any medical interventions. I think my story is important because it goes to show that a home birth is not all about just the “birth” part, and that everything you go through during pregnancy, labor, and postpartum is important too. It also highlights the importance of choosing a provider you know has your family’s best interests in mind, and who won’t take any unnecessary risks for the sake of their own pride. My home birth team took such good care of us during pregnancy and labor, and even though they weren't there for the birth, they came and visited us at home postpartum. We could just tell they really cared for us, and put their whole hearts into the entire home birth experience.” Things we talk about in this episode: Impact of not preparing or planning for your birth VBAC in a hospital Listening to birth stories for inspiration Hiring a doula Talking to your partner about home birth (especially if they’re not fully on board) An interesting call to 911 for hospital transfer Post c-section complications Links: The VBAC Link Podcast: https://www.thevbaclink.com/podcast/ The Positive Birth Company: https://thepositivebirthcompany.co.uk/ Doing It At Home book on Amazon: https://amzn.to/3vJcPmU DIAH website: https://www.diahpodcast.com/ DIAH Instagram: https://www.instagram.com/doingitathome/ DIAH YouTube: https://bit.ly/3pzuzQC DIAH Store: https://yoursuccessfulhomebirth.com/ DIAH Merch: https://bit.ly/3qhwgAe Give Back to DIAH: https://bit.ly/3qgm4r9 Learn more about your ad choices. Visit megaphone.fm/adchoices