When we think about being pregnant and giving birth, we tend to think of that happening in hospital, don’t we? I mean everyone we know has had their babies in hospital, or even if we know some people who have given birth at home they will certainly be very much in the minority. Where to give birth is something that most of us don’t even think about, with hospital being the default position. But where you choose to give birth can have a significant impact on how your birth actually goes, so its arguably one of the biggest decisions you’ll make in your pregnancy.

Have you ever considered giving birth somewhere other than hospital? Do you actually know what your options are? And have you thought about what might be best for your and your individual circumstances?

If the answer to these questions is no, then you have some work to do!

I’ll let you into a little secret, I never ever considered giving birth anywhere else other than hospital either. Lots of you will know I am a huge home birth advocate and have given birth to three out of four (and soon to be one more) of my babies at home. But actually, if you had asked me eight years ago if I would consider giving birth at home I would have thought you were actually insane. Genuinely, this was not on my radar at all. Yet in October 2015 all that changed when little miss Orla decided she wasn’t quite willing to wait and entered the world in dramatic fashion at home, in the bathroom, caught by her granny with the help of paramedics. I later found out this is a called a BBA - born before arrival (of midwife).

Now at that time, I really hadn’t considered the different options of birth place or the pros and cons of each, like most hospital had been the default position. I didn’t really give it a second thought. But after Orla’s birth, it started to click for me how different an experience it had been. I felt different not only physically but also emotionally, I felt empowered by the experience, even though it wasn’t what I had planned.

It wasn’t until I became pregnant again in 2020 that I really started to think about home birth, and indeed just in general where to give birth, and a lot of the information and research I read was pretty eye opening. My hypnobirthing teacher pointed me in the direction of the Birth Place Study (although there is also lots more up to date research) and I joined the Home Birth Support Group UK facebook group and as the pregnancy progressed and my research continued I realised it was a no brainer for me and my individual circumstances to give birth at home.

Does that mean everyone should give birth at home? Of course not - I’m not you and you’re not me and your individual circumstances, preferences, beliefs and so on will be completely different from mine. But I do really strongly believe that everyone should consider home birth as an option, as well as all of the other options of where to give birth. Exploring this might bring you back to the original default of giving birth in hospital, or it may lead you down a different path. What will you have lost by considering all options? Nothing! But you have so much to gain as no matter the conclusion you reach, you’ll have made an informed choice.

When considering ‘birth place’ I always recommend to my clients to turn things completely on their head and instead of starting with the default or most common option (hospital) I suggest they start with homebirth and work their way back from there. If I’m feeling particularly mischevious I might even suggest that they start with the most ‘radical’ option of all - unassisted or freebirth - where there is no medical professional present at all.

Now the majority of my clients will not be considering freebirth as an option, so its not something we really delve into. But the point is just making people aware that they do have choices. Every single decision about your pregnancy and birth belongs to you and this includes all aspects of the care you will be offered. Including accepting or declining any or all of those offers. If you do feel freebirth might be an option for you I can of course signpost to other resources. It might also be argued that it is worth having knowledge of freebirth or indeed what to do if a medical progressional is not present (unplanned) just in case you too get an ‘Orla’ type of birth. But for the purposes of this exercise and with the hope nobody has been scared off at this point, we will move forward on the basis of considering the following options:

• Home (supported by midwives)

• Birth Centre

• Hospital Labour Ward

I suggest then taking each turn and exploring the ‘pros and cons’, where we will also consider some of the very interesting and often surprising research around choice of birth place. There is no right and wrong answer in terms of where you should give birth, this is an individual decision for you to make based on your own circumstances and preferences. My aim is to coach you through the decision making process so you can reach the right answer for yourself.

If you are interested in exploring this topic further, this will be the focus of my next FREE Birth Place Masterclass, which is taking place on Thursday 5 October (online), sign up now. This session will explore all birth place options including pros, cons and other relevant research and information to help you make your decision.