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I am teaching an NCT client with Ankylosing Spondylitis who has given me permission to ask this question here. Is there any reason why it would be risky or inadvisable for her to homebirth?
She has never been offered the option, but that is not unusual here.
However, both she and her partner want a hands-off birth and would have booked one were it not for her condition. She is about 32 weeks now and feeling very well. Have any of the listwives had a client with this condition or have any comments I can pass on?
With many thanks in anticipation.
Jenny
I looked after a woman in February with AK. Consultants advised her against
homebirth (well, they would, wouldn't they?) but it seemed to me the most important
thing for her would be to have the freedom to move around as she wanted and
the worst possible option would be to have continuous monitoring and restricted
movement. She would have found it very difficult to lie
on a bed.
She was quite short, (under 5 foot) and had a lovely home water birth of an 8 and a half pound baby at 39 weeks. She found she was able to manage her AK during pregnancy very well and only very occasionally needed painkillers.
Rosie
LW updated July 2, 2004