Choosing a hospital or home birth
Our aim is to help you make an informed decision about where you give birth, whether you would like to give birth at home, or in one of our hospitals.
Giving birth at home
Our homebirth service is currently suspended but will reopen on 6 October 2024. If you are due to give birth on or after this date, you can consider a home birth if that is your preference.
A home birth offers women the opportunity to give birth in the comfort of their own home. You will receive one to one care from a midwife in your own home and will have two midwives present for the birth.
You are particularly suitable for a home birth if you have no medical conditions, have had an uncomplicated pregnancy, did not experience complications in any previous labours and labour starts spontaneously after 37 weeks.
If it is your second, third or fourth baby and you are not at risk for developing complications during labour, home birth is safe for you and your baby.
The home birth service has been paused for a long time due to staffing challenges which made it difficult to offer a consistent service for expectant mums. We want to reassure you that when the service returns in October, it will be a sustainable and safe service centred around the needs of our communities.
Giving birth in hospital
For low risk women we can offer the birth centre as an alternative to birthing at home.
Women who planned birth in a midwifery unit had fewer interventions, for example starting a drip, and were less likely to have a Caesarean section in labour (Birth Place Study 2014).
We recommend that women who need consultant care during their pregnancy have their baby in the maternity unit labour ward. You may live near more than one maternity unit. Please discuss this with your midwife, who will be able to give you information about the different units to help you to decide which one you would prefer to attend.
Your midwife will be able to give you information about the facilities available to you.