@grizzlybearr@xanga - Most VBACs are totally safe. And if your friend is the same as my old friend here in xanga, hers ruptured most likely because of the pitocin. You should never, ever use pitocin with any previous uterine surgery. My VBAC was totally safe. And midwives are equipped and experienced enough to recognize a true emergency and will take steps necessary to get the Mom where she needs to be. Midwives have an OB back-up. And that is who would be called in for the emergent cesarean.

The risk of uterine rupture with a healthy pregnancy and healthy Mom are extremely low. Much lower than the risk of surgery (repeated cesarean) itself. The Mom I knew who had the VBAC-gone-wrong had pretty bad hypertension at the end of her pregnancy, which is why, as I recall it, they used pitocin to get her labor going to begin with. A midwife would red flag that situation and would likely suggest going to the hospital rather than birthing at home.

That is just my opinion.

@CrisaRei@xanga - I did not mean to mislead, if I did. I didn't have a VBAC at home with a midwife. In Florida, where I was at the time, that was illegal and would have had to be done underground. I couldn't justify it, so I used the midwife's back-up OB as my physician during the pregnancy. I started off with the midwife group and found out everything about the practice though, before they took me aside, and tearfully told me they could not legally attend my VBAC (and suggested their OB who was VBAC and natural childbirth friendly). The way they ran their practice, you had one or two visits with the OB to get to know and become comfortable with him/her just in case. The remainder of the pregnancy was with the midwife, as well as the labor/delivery and 6 weeks postpartum. 

@CrisaRei@xanga - I could not recommend having a midwife and home birth any higher. I wish so hard that I had known more with my first pregnancy. It may have changed everything, and prevented the cesarean I had (because I succumbed to physician pressure to unnecessarily induce which led to nothing but intervention and troubles). Good luck to you, it's awesome that you know your options. I didn't and regret it.

@CrisaRei@xanga - Check out birthwithoutfearblog.com. A great resource for info and birth stories.

If/ When I have kids, I want am hoping for a water birth.

@HopeWithinReach@xanga - Me too. :) You know how we were talking about not following other people's expectations for us? It's turning out well so far, I already know a lot about my options for birth that I wouldn't have if I'd jumped on the baby wagon already! :D

I want my next birth to be at home.  I live pretty close to a hospital, so I have that "back-up" nearby just in case.  My midwife charges $1300 for a homebirth (I think), with about $100 for the birthing pool.  That covers all my prenatal care, too.  I plan to take a HypnoBabies class again, and don't know how much it will cost since I already have the materials. My sister will be my doula, and so will not charge.  All in all, I expect my next birth to cost us less than $1800.
  My last birth was at a birthing suit with a midwife and a student. I got a $200 discount for being willing to have a student...and really got her and the midwife who was guiding her, so it was double the care and I loved it.  All in all, they charged me $1600-ish for my care and the use of their suites, and then I payed $300 for the HB class.  It was a fabulous experience and well worth the money.  I certainly enjoyed it more than my hospital births.

@CrisaRei@xanga - The birthing pools I've seen have really sturdy sides so that the mother can use them for support...and part of the cost is, I assume, paying the midwife to clean/sterilize it, which I'm sure can be a rather unpleasant job.  I birthed last time in a large tub, and don't think an ordinary bathtub is roomy enough to open the legs as much as needed.  If I am not renting out my master suite, however, I probably will use that tub, because it's extra wide.  It's usually rented out and so is not an option.

@SamiPolizzi@xanga - ....and probably the fact that it could potentially kill the baby and the mother. 

@DontTurnAway@xanga - Even a hospital birth can potentially kill a mother and her infant. And infant mortality has gone down over the centuries because people who birthed the babies learned to wash their hands amongst other things. Midwives are highly trained in birthing babies and know what to look for for signs of danger. If the midwives remotely believe that your or your baby is at harm before the birthing process, during, or after, she will definitely take the initiative to seek help immediately. Home births have back up plans in case of emergencies, and home births are also very beneficial. 

Arrangements for emergency or hospital care are made ahead of schedule in case something does go wrong in most home births. Home births have fewer caesarians and episiotomies as home births and midwives encourages my body to do what it does naturally. Also, my immune system as well as the baby's have built up an immunity to the germs around my house as I am in that environment all the time and my baby and me have been exposed to those germs through the nine months. 

My homebirth cost 2500,  It was much better than a hospital birth. 

Depending on where you live, you might have the option to use a birthing center. My wife and I were so lucky last year to have our baby delivered there. It's like a home birth, but at a professional facility. The rooms are HUGE, and have a queen size bed, REGULAR sheets (not those ugly hospital kind, the rooms are painted with all kinds of color, there's a couch, recliner, all that. The place is stocked with nurses and midwives. There are no doctors on hand, but they're on-call. Our local birthing center is across the street from a hospital, so in case of an emergency they would have just rolled her over,  and presto. By far the best parts: It was silent. We went in on a Friday night, and since there were no other births taking place, no one else was in the building but us and the few people taking care of us. Since the bed was huge, I was allowed to sit behind and alongside my wife during the process, which was great. She was allowed to eat and drink all she wanted, whenever she wanted. Our doctor told us there was really no reason to keep a woman in labor from eating or drinking if she felt like it. Also, we were allowed to let whomever we wanted in the room, as many as we wanted. Our insurance covered all of it, and it still would have been cheaper than a hospital birth. Oh yeah, SUPER BEST PART: Gave birth at 1:30am, we were discharged by 11:00am same day, even with a touch of jaundice. They just delivered the bili-lights to our house a few hours later. Fantastic, and I wouldn't ever go to a hospital after what our friends have described.

Here's the website for our center:http://www.lisarosscenter.com/