Why choose a homebirth?
Fifty years ago it was commonplace to have your baby at home but, in recent years, fewer mothers have chosen this option as we were led to believe that giving birth in hospital was the safest option. However, the Birthplace Study in 2011 identified that home is, in fact, a safe environment for women who are healthy and having a straightforward pregnancy. There is a very low risk of problems for them or their baby. For more information on this study, please speak to your community midwife.
Advantages of homebirth
Staying at home and not travelling to hospital means that your labour hormones are not interrupted; therefore, labour is more likely to progress well. The benefits can be endless and include:
- Feeling empowered, relaxed and in control
- Influencing your own birth environment e.g, room, lighting, music and birthing partner(s)
- One to one midwifery care
- Positive birth experience
- Normal birth is more likely
- Less medical intervention is required
- Not being separated from your partner or other children
Community Team
Homebirths are supported by our community midwives. Your community midwife at booking and throughout pregnancy will help you to make the right decision as to where to have your baby. Should you be booked for midwife-led care, and continue to do so throughout pregnancy, you may wish to consider a homebirth.
More information
Please refer to the homebirth patient information leaflet for more information about
• Suitability
• What you will need
• What to do in labour
• Pain relief options
• What happens after birth
What our mothers tell us…
“People look at me like I am crazy when I tell them I had a home birth. I can point out the very spot in my living room where my daughter was born, in the birth pool. It was calm, private, and empowering. I had my family with me, my daughter got to watch her little sister being born. My husband felt useful, filling the pool and making cups of tea for the midwives. The two midwives didn’t deliver my baby; they helped me to do it for myself. It wasn’t a crazy thing to do at all.”
“At 8 weeks my husband and I went to my GP surgery and met my midwife. I felt from the start that I would like to find out about home birth and what my options were as giving birth at home felt like the most natural thing to want to do. This was my first pregnancy and I was not certain if having my baby at home would be something that would be encouraged.”
“I felt so lucky to find out that, in the Dudley borough, home birth is an option. My midwife took the time to listen to me and discuss all of the possible places where I could give birth at length. She explained to me that there are times when mothers do not get so many choices, especially if either mom or baby have health complications throughout the pregnancy, and that this could alter my options as time went on”.
