Tag Archives: Physiological third stage

Welcome OwlBert

Posted in At Home by

One of the gorgeous caseload babies from Monday’s trilogy!

We were delighted to be able to support this family for the second time as they welcomed their second child in to the world at home in the shower!

#continuity #RepeatCustomer #HomeBirthJustHappened

Psst if Spock Monkey looks familiar that became this isn’t his first appearance on our blog. Here his is announcing another special arrival https://surreyhillshomebirth.org/2017/09/15/spock-monkey/

Team Stats 2019

Posted in Inspiration & Information by

We are delighted to be able to finally share our 2019 stats with you.

The Surrey Hills Homebirth team work within a continuity caseloading model which means that we continue to care for our clients throughout their childbearing journey, even if plans or place of birth change along the way*

In 2019 we were responsible for the care of 203 pregnant women and their families.

Of these families 32% birthed their first baby, 42% birthed their second, while 26% birthed their third or subsequent baby

92% of our entire caseload experienced a vaginal birth and 82% knew the midwife who was caring for them in labour.

133 (66%) of our caseload used water in labour (hydrotherapy) with 50% (n=101) remaining in the water as they birthed their baby (waterbirth).

We welcomed 99 girls and 104 boys in to the world.

From our original caseload (n=203) 73% (n=148) of families planned to give birth at home with the Surrey Hills team at the onset of established labour. The remaining 55 families (27%) opted for an alternative place of birth. This change in planned place of birth occurred for a number of different reasons including consent to Induction of Labour, the development of situations/conditions which recommended a hospital based birth and moving out of area.

Of the 148 families who planned to give birth at home at the onset of labour 82% achieved their planned birth at home (n=121). 18% (n=27) experienced an in labour transfer to an alternative place of birth, while 3% (n=5) were transferred in the immediate postnatal period.

95% of the clients that birthed at home had a physiological (natural) birth of the placenta with optimal cord clamping.

*please note that there have been some changes to our service in 2020 due to Covid 19 pandemic. Please talk to a team member or read the Covid 19 page for more details

Continuity during Covid-19

Posted in Hospital birth by

We love waking to the news that wonderful caseload client welcomed her baby earthside over night at @RSCH_Maternity with the support of a Surrey Hills midwife and another client birthed yesterday with the support of one of our wonderful Royal Surrey colleagues.

#continuity #Covid19 #BirthIsAmazingWhereverItHappens

A cup of tea and a brownie

Posted in At Home, Inspiration & Information by
“On the morning of my due date I had a few mild cramps which came and went with me hardly even noticing them. I put it down to ‘due date excitement’! I had a sweep booked in with Emily at around midday and I was excited that at the prospect of it possibly starting things off.   I took my toddler to nursery and my husband and I went out for breakfast to enjoy some child-free time before the next baby came along. Emily and a student midwife came over after lunch at around 1:30pm, and after a cup of tea and a lovely chat she did the sweep for me. She said I was already 3cms dilated and my cervix was fully effaced!! What!? My body had been up to all sorts of things without me even knowing! Emily said that we would very likely have our baby today and said to call the team when things ramped up, and advised that we inflate the birthing pool. Having the sweep at home was much more relaxing than at hospital (if you can call a sweep relaxing!?). 

Third time lucky

Posted in At Home by

After supporting this family over multiple pregnancies it was an absolute pleasure for the team to be able to facilitate the birth they have always desired.

Team Stats 2018

Posted in Inspiration & Information by

We are delighted to be able to finally share our 2018 stats with you.

The Surrey Hills Homebirth team work within a continuity caseloading model which means that we continue to care for our clients throughout their childbearing journey, even if plans or place of birth change along the way.

In 2018 we were responsible for the care of 190 pregnant women and their families (6.3% of 2998 registrable births supported by Royal Surrey Maternity in 2018).

Of these families 27% birthed their first baby and 73 % had had at least one child before.

We welcomed 99 girls and 91 boys in to the world.

From our caseload of 190 clients, 135 (71%) families planned to give birth at home with the Surrey Hills team at the onset of established labour.

The remaining 55 families opted for an alternative place of birth. This change in planned place of birth occurred for a number of different reasons including consent to Induction of Labour, the development of situations/conditions which recommended a hospital based birth and moving out of area.

79% of our caseload (n=190) knew the midwife who was caring for them in labour.

Of the 135 families who planned to give birth at home at the onset of labour 97.1% had a vaginal birth.

24 of our clients experienced an in labour transfer (17.8%) to an alternative place of birth. 111 families birthed their babies at home as planned (82.3 %). 3 of our families were transferred in the immediate postnatal period (2.2%).

Altogether 27 families (20%) were transferred during birth or in the immediate postnatal period.

Of the 135 families that planned to give birth at home at the onset of labour 98% used hydrotherapy (birthing pool) with 71 births (63% of our home births) occurring in the water.

95% of the clients that birthed at home had a physiological (natural) birth of the placenta with optimal cord clamping.