COMMUNITY MIDWIVES OF BRANTFORD
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  • Birth
    • Home and Hospital Birth
    • Midwifery Care During Birth
    • Preparing for Birth
  • Postpartum
    • Care for Clients After Birth
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    • When to Call Your Midwife
    • Breastfeeding
    • Leaving Midwifery Care
    • Midwifery Care Evaluation Form

Home and hospital birth


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What are the risks involved with a home or hospital birth?

​There are distinct risks and benefits to any birthplace. It is the responsibility of parents to become as informed as possible, to weigh those risks and to make decisions appropriate to them. According to the College of Midwives, it is the responsibility of each midwife to support choice of birthplace within the scope of practice of midwifery. It is also the midwife’s responsibility to plan care appropriately when contraindications to out-of-hospital birth arise.


The standards of the College of Midwives state that birth should be planned to take place in hospital in the circumstances of multiple birth, breech presentation, preterm labour prior to 37 weeks of pregnancy, and documented post-term pregnancy of more than 43 completed weeks. Other situations in which hospital birth should be planned may arise prenatally, with appropriate consultation as detailed in the College of Midwives Indications for Mandatory Discussion, Consultation and Transfer of Care. Despite the standards of the College of Midwives support for choice of birthplace, out of hospital birth remains controversial. Most medical practitioners and organizations believe home birth poses added risks. In our view, the available research indicates that planned home birth and birth in out-of-hospital birth centres is a safe option for healthy clients. Adequate prenatal care is an important factor in detecting and avoiding possible complications. Even though most complications can be screened out prenatally, difficulties can arise during labour and birth. Most of these are not emergencies and can be dealt with at home or safely transported to hospital.

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Choosing to give birth either at home or in hospital means the acceptance of certain risks which can be life threatening. There are rare circumstances when use of the technology available only in tertiary care hospitals may be essential for the safety of the client and/or baby. In hospital there are rare circumstances where serious complications may arise due to iatrongenic causes.

We can provide you with detailed information about some of the complications which may arise and we encourage you to discuss with us our experience in dealing with them.

Your home birth package consists of the following documents:
  • Health Canada’s revised recommendations for breast-fed infants
  • A breastfeeding chart (for tracking)
  • A Statement of Live Birth form
  • Instructions on when to page postpartum

In addition to these and the general resources listed to the left, we encourage you to attend a home birth night to consider this option. Please check the news section to find out when the next home birth night is coming.

Wondering what supplies you'll need for a homebirth? We've made a list of recommended items for both mom and baby.
The supplies you need for a home birth are fairly simple and easy to obtain.
First, make up your bed like this:
  • Clean sheets over the mattress
  • Plastic cloth (e.g., plastic tablecloth or picnic tablecloth work well)
  • Older sheets over the plastic cloth (you may want to put garbage bags around your pillows inside the pillowcase as well)




You'll also need:
  • 5-10 washcloths 
  • 3-4 towels (that you wouldn’t mind getting messy) 
  • 3-4 receiving blankets for baby
  • 2 garbage bags (1 for laundry, 1 for garbage)
  • 2 large ziploc bags or an empty ice cream container for your placenta
  • Plastic tarp or sheet to cover your floor (optional)
  • Roll of paper towels
  • Flat surface (like a dresser or table) cleared of items near an outlet
  • Hydrogen peroxide for cleaning blood from carpets or upholstery (optional)
Your midwife will supply you with disposable protective pads, disposable underwear and postpartum pads, a peri-bottle and newborn diapers.  ​
Community Midwives of Brantford

​217 Terrace Hill Street, Suite 100,
​Brantford, ON
N3R 1G8
Email: CMOBon98@gmail.com
Telephone: (519) 751-6444
Pager: 
1-888-257-4070
Fax: (519) 751-9196



​
  • Intake Form
  • About Us
    • Our Midwives
    • Birth Stories
    • Location
    • Contact
    • Student Evaluation
  • What is Midwifery?
  • Pregnancy
    • Pregnancy Care for Clients
    • When to Call your Midwife
    • Working with Students
    • Pregnancy Resources
    • Booklist
    • Crisis Lines
  • Birth
    • Home and Hospital Birth
    • Midwifery Care During Birth
    • Preparing for Birth
  • Postpartum
    • Care for Clients After Birth
    • Care for the Newborn
    • When to Call Your Midwife
    • Breastfeeding
    • Leaving Midwifery Care
    • Midwifery Care Evaluation Form