Although giving birth at home is relatively safe for women who are in good health and have experienced no complications during pregnancy, there are certain reasons why your midwife may wish to transfer you during or after labor and delivery to a hospital. Your midwife has undergone intense training to make judgments regarding your health and that of your baby during your labor and delivery, and afterwards. She will rely on this training to make the call as to whether you should remain at home or be taken to the hospital.

If your labor is progressing more slowly than anticipated, your baby could be at risk, which is especially true if your membranes have broken. If your midwife feels that your baby may be undergoing too much stress, she may transfer you to a hospital where your labor can be helped along by labor induction methods or acceleration methods.

Any problems with removing the placenta after the birth is complete will require that you be transferred to a hospital setting. Although the placenta, in most cases, dislodges itself after the baby is born, there are some instances that it does not.

If you have second-degree tearing from the delivery of the baby, you will require more advanced suturing than a midwife is trained to offer. This would also necessitate your transfer to a more qualified practitioner. You may decide, during labor, that you wish to be medicated for the pain, as some women do during labor at home. If this happens, do not look at it as a failure on your part. The choice to have pain medicine or not is one that only you can make personally.

Even if you have planned your home birth well, and thought that you were mentally prepared for childbirth, there are always things that can go wrong. Giving birth in a hospital may leave you feeling disappointed after months of preparations. Just keep in mind that the most important thing is that you and your child are healthy after the birth, regardless of the setting in which it takes place.

If your baby is in the wrong position, and your midwife feels like she cannot easily turn the baby, she may send you to the hospital. The same is true of instances where the use of forceps is indicated to help the baby pass through the birth canal.

When your midwife senses any type of danger to you or your child, she will make the call about sending you to a hospital. Keep in mind that your midwife wants to make your home birth successful, but she will not jeopardize either your health of that of your child in the process.

Excessive bleeding or hemorrhaging may indicate to the midwife that you need to be transferred to the hospital for further treatment or internal stitches. Profuse bleeding indicates a problem, and in some instances a blood transfusion may be in order. This is accomplished only in a hospital setting.