Pieces of a woman, being released early January, is set to become the next Netflix hit. The story of a couple – The Crown’s Vanessa Kirby and Shia LaBeouf – whose home birth goes tragically wrong earned Vanessa a Best Actress award at the Venice Film Festival, making her a frontrunner for an Oscar nomination.
Meanwhile, critics can’t stop talking about the opening birth scene that was shot in a single, dizzying, 30-minute take. But the scene could prove highly controversial, with childbirth being both deeply personal but also hotly debated.
‘For most women in the UK, home birth is a very safe option,’ says Patrick O’Brien, consultant obstetrician and vice president of the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists. Around one in 50 women in England and Wales gives birth at home and O’Brien says that while there isn’t yet data on home births during the pandemic, anecdotally there has been more interest.
For Wendy Murphy, 40, a home birth with her second child was a pivot away from the stress of the hospital experience with her first child, Rosa, now eight. ‘Rosa’s labour was straightforward but I hated staying in hospital afterwards,’ says Wendy. ‘Walking through the ward to get to the shower. Lying alone and anxious in the hospital bed because my husband, Conor, wasn’t allowed to stay. Desperate for sleep but being kept awake by crying babies. I returned home exhausted and I felt wrongfooted for motherhood.
‘When I told this to my midwife during my second pregnancy, she asked if I’d considered a home birth. My first thought was, “I’m not that kind of woman.” I imagined hippies surrounded by candles and joss sticks. But the more I thought about it, the more it appealed. My labour was three hours and I gave birth to Liam in a birthing pool. It was perfect. Afterwards, Conor made me a cup of tea and I sat with my new baby in my arms, calm and relaxed. It was so far removed from a hectic maternity ward.’
NICE advises that women who’ve had a baby before, like Wendy, should be offered the option of home birth because they’re less likely to have interventions compared with being in an obstetric unit.
For first-time mothers, the message is marginally different, possibly because the risk of death or serious complications for the baby is nine in 1,000 for a home birth, while for a hospital birth it’s five in 1,000. Yet O’Brien stresses that these are ‘low numbers’, and many first-time mothers, like Ida Dirks, 31, prefer to plan a home birth.
‘When I got pregnant I knew I wanted a home birth,’ says Ida. ‘I’m half-Dutch and in the Netherlands home birth is fairly common – my mum had me at home. I had everything prepared. The birthing pool, towels, buckets. I’d also read up on hypnobirthing. I felt calm and ready. My contractions started at around midnight on a Friday and I was still having them 24 hours later. My husband called the home birthing team but my midwife was an hour away, stuck in snow. She said that we could go to the hospital to see how far along I was and return home, so that’s what we did. I was barely 3cm dilated – I felt so deflated and went back home.
‘After several more hours of contractions I felt I needed to start pushing, but by this point I was exhausted and knew I couldn’t do it without an epidural. So we went back to the hospital, and Leo was born.
‘I wanted to have this perfect home birth,’ says Ida, ‘but I had to listen to my body, adapt and be flexible.’
O’Brien agrees. ‘Things can change unpredictably during labour. Whatever plans you make for your birth, it’s a good idea to keep an open mind.’
‘Pieces Of A Woman’ is in cinemas from 30 December and on Netflix from 7 January. If you have been affected by baby loss or any of the issues explored here, visit tommys.org