Home births soar
Covid-19 sees demand for non-hospital births jump
MORE women are opting for a home birth due to fears around Covid-19 with the increase seen across public and private services.
Midwives working for the HSE could not meet the demand, according to Aisling Dixon, vice chair of the Community Midwives Association. The National Maternity Hospital, which offers its own service, also saw an increase as did midwives working for Private Midwives Ireland.
A HSE spokeswoman said that last year 272 women were approved for a home birth, but this year so far 277 women have been approved to give birth at home. This is a free public service.
Ms Dixon said: ‘The interest in home births definitely increased, partly because we had women who were on the fence about whether they would or wouldn’t have a home birth and basically the pandemic decided it for them.’
Nineteen independent midwives work for the HSE, and Ms Dixon said: ‘The numbers went up for every midwife, but we couldn’t meet the demand because there is a finite number of midwives.’
She said the demand was so high in Cork, mothers had to book a midwife before their 35th week, and in other areas women could book before 37 weeks’ gestation.
At the National Maternity Hospital, Mary Brosnan, director of midwifery and nursing, said 50 of its mothers gave birth at home last year. She said: ‘Approximately 35 have given birth at home so far this year, slightly higher demand since Covid as a small number of women say they prefer this option.’
The NMH offers an early transfer home option after a hospital birth, and this saw a 40% increase in demand. She said many women chose this as their partners could not come onto the wards.
Liz Haliday at Private Midwives Ireland said it delivers about 58 home births by August every year. ‘There’s been 72 home births so far this year,’ she said. ‘It has been quite a jump and we turned down clients over the summer. I’ve been flat out since March.’
The company received so many enquiries in March it could not log them all. ‘The biggest hurdle to home births is women don’t know how to access it. I hope this is changing,’ she added.
In Kildare, Corah Gernon opted for a home birth in May for safety and so that her husband could see their child, Eva, being born.
Already a mother of one, she was planning for a hospital birth.
She said: ‘Before, I couldn’t visualise myself giving birth at home, then with things going the way they were, that was definitely a contributing factor to why I decided to give birth at home.’
Attending hospital appointments in April she saw men standing in the car park waiting to be called in for the last minutes of their child’s birth as the Covid restrictions required. For Corah and Shaun the idea that he could not attend the birth at the Coombe Hospital was just horrible.
‘People don’t know what’s happening in the hospitals, and I don’t think they know how amazing the home birth service is either. It was great – I would wish for everyone else that they could experience it as well,’ she said.
Corah gave birth in a water pool in the living room with Shaun and two midwives from the HSE providing help as required. Her son stayed with family for the birth.
Corah, host of Ireland’s Birth Stories podcast, said: ‘When he came back after a couple of hours we were sitting on the couch, eating toasted sandwiches with his little sister, it was so relaxing.’
Hannah Daly in north Dublin also changed to a home birth for her fourth child in June. Working in the disability sector, she is very aware of the coronavirus risks.
Hannah, a member of Irish Homebirthers & Hopefuls on Facebook, said: ‘Home birth came with the benefit of avoiding risks related to Covid and attending the hospital as well as eliminating childcare.’
She added: ‘It is not about being anti-establishment, it’s giving a choice to women and families. I can honestly say it was definitely the best choice I’ve made during uncertain Covid times.’
‘It’s about giving a choice to women’