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Those who follow the Duggars know they mostly prefer to give birth at home. But Michelle Duggar along with many of her oldest daughters have had life-threatening complications that forced them to go to the hospital to have their babies. Now, it seems Joy-Anna Duggar is skipping out on the home birthing tradition for her next baby, as she just told her followers she’s preparing to head to the hospital when she’s in labor.

The Duggars typically choose home births when having children

Choosing where to give birth can be a tough call, and the Duggars mainly choose to have their babies at home. It seems this tradition started with Michelle. Michelle successfully had many of her kids while in the comfort of her own house, but she’s also had to have a couple of emergency C-sections. And back in 2010, the mother of 19 had her most difficult birth yet with Josie, as Michelle developed a gallstone and preeclampsia.

Aside from Michelle, several of her daughters have been rushed to the hospital after attempting to give birth at home. Jessa Duggar went through 10 hours of contractions with her oldest son, Spurgeon. And while she did give birth to Spurgeon at her house, she was then moved to the hospital for excessive bleeding.

Jill Duggar also ended up laboring for 70 hours at home with her oldest son, Israel. She had to go to the hospital for an emergency C-section.

Joy-Anna Duggar had a difficult birth with her son, Gideon

Joy-Anna also had a notoriously difficult birth with Gideon. CafeMom notes Joy-Anna was hopeful she’d be able to have her son at home, but like a few of her older sisters, the birth didn’t go as planned. After 20 hours of labor, she was rushed to the hospital after her midwife found Gideon was breech.

“When the midwife came and told us that the baby was breech and that we had to go to the hospital, I was kind of discouraged because she had labored for so long and we were really hoping that we could just have a home birth,” Austin Forsyth, Joy-Anna’s husband, said on Counting On. “But at the same time, I was ready to have this baby. Joy was tired and I’m just: ‘Let’s just do whatever it takes to get the baby here.'”

Ultimately, Joy-Anna had a C-section for her first birth — and prior to the operation, she was terrified. “Before I went into labor, having a C-section was my greatest fear,” she noted. “That was one of the things that I was scared of. I didn’t want to have to have a C-section. But, by that point, I was really just like, ‘Whatever it takes I’m ready.'”

Joy-Anna is going straight to the hospital this time

Now that Joy-Anna tried home births and the hospital, she’s heading straight for the hospital this time. “I am going to pack my hospital bag today,” Joy-Anna told her camera in her video about preparing for the baby’s arrival she posted on July 19. “I figured it’d be good to have the bag ready a month out just in case anything happens when we’re not expecting it ….”

As for what Joy-Anna’s bringing, she tells the camera at first that she’s not sure. “I’ve never really packed a hospital bag before. With Gideon, I was doing a home birth, so I didn’t have to pack anything.”

The excited mom then decided on the bag she wants to use and started checking items off of her list like extra clothes, clothing for the baby, nursing pads, baby diapers, and plenty of other necessities.

Joy-Anna won’t be able to have her sisters or her mom at her birth because of the coronavirus (COVID-19) pandemic. But she said she’s hoping her hospital room will have a window so her family can still see the baby when she’s born. We’re getting excited for Joy-Anna and hope to hear more soon as the due date approaches!

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