Today’s episode is about Rosie’s experience having a home birth in Portugal. We talk about how in Ireland, home births by the Health Service Executive as part of the public health system. In Portugal, home birth is completely through private funds, and is very uncommon. We talk about finding the right midwife, and how COVID-19 made the idea of a home birth more appealing. We talk about the process of testing and checks, and how the midwives could administer those through house calls. The 37 week mark is the legal minimum in Portugal for having a home birth. Rosie recounts her experience birthing. Her contractions were milder and slower than usual, so that made the experience a little more uncertain. We talk about the arrival of the midwives, the presence of the other kids, and setting up the pool for the birth. We talk about the transition into more active labour and breathing techniques as part of hypnobirthing. We talk about the delivery, as well as the preparation of the placenta for encapsulation. We invite the listener to listen to the next episode for more tips and info on the home birthing process.

Making the Decision to Birth at Home 0:26
The Home Birth 5:47
Delivery; Placenta Encapsulation 17:17

“I still had to get bloods done, which I managed to get done here in the house, which was fantastic. And then we also had to check for Strep B, the same company came back, so that was all done. And I had already gotten all of my scans and everything done privately in the hospital, so I had that.” 3:33

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