Whether choosing a home birth or a hospital birth, we asked readers for their experiences and about the quality of care
I felt that home birth was the best option for me. I felt my body would be at its best in my home environment feeling safe, calm, and empowered. My midwife was very supportive of my home birth, being a low-risk mother with a positive previous birth in the midwife-led unit in Aberdare, which has since closed.
The only concern was a potential lack of staff to cover my birth. I was told during the later stages of pregnancy that, when the time came, I may well phone up to be told that staff were unavailable, and so I would have to come into Prince Charles hospital in Merthyr Tydfil. There are sadly no birth facilities in my local hospital in Mountain Ash. But a midwife was available and I went on to have a truly lovely and very enjoyable home birth.
I was never informed about the option of a home birth. But being a Dutch national I know it is the norm in the Netherlands for women to give birth at home if there are no complications.
At every antenatal appointment at Central Manchester hospital doctors would try and persuade me to have a hospital birth instead. I was asked time and again to reconsider, that pain relief was limited (for instance there is no option for an epidural at home) and that the hospital offered a ‘homelike’ environment which was the safest for me and my baby.
Related: Giving birth: everything you need to know before labour day
I had my first baby, Nessa, in Glasgow’s now closed Southern General hospital. The labour was long and it wasn’t an easy experience. So I decided to have a home birth for my second child, Ciaran. Being as relaxed as possible during labour and birth was a priority for me. A home birth, where I knew my caregivers and, more importantly, they knew me and my wishes, was the best way for me to try to achieve this.
The care for my home birth was excellent, much better than for my hospital birth. I saw one dedicated midwife from the home birth team at the recently shut down Victoria Infirmary throughout my pregnancy. She also visited me at home on a number of occasions for appointments. In my previous pregnancy, I regularly waited up to three hours for a routine antenatal hospital appointment. In my experience the resources for my home birth were far superior to those for a hospital birth. It is the best care I have ever received from the NHS.
I gave birth to my first daughter, Florence, two years ago at Durham University hospital without complications, so this time around my midwife suggested having a home birth. At first I thought it was a ridiculous idea, as I assumed it would be safer in hospital. But after some research and talking to a friend who had a home birth, I became more open to the idea. It helped that we only live 10 minutes from the hospital so I wasn’t worried about something going wrong as we would be able to get there quickly.
When I went into labour, I rang the ward at the hospital and they told me a midwife would ring me. She did and we had a few phone calls before she came over just in time for the birth. I gave birth to my second daughter Hazel in a water pool at home with just my husband and two midwives present. My quality of care was excellent and the Durham midwives were exemplary and very supportive. It felt like a very personal service.
I like the idea of a home birth but, as this is our first baby, I would like the reassurance of being in close proximity to the hospital delivery suite if baby or I need it. The midwife unit seems to be a good halfway point between a home birth and a hospital birth. I am also very keen to use the birthing pool if possible and these are not available in the hospital delivery suite.
During my first midwife appointment the options were explained to me very well: home birth, hospital birth or midwife-led unit. I was encouraged to ask questions and reassured that I could change my mind at any time. I felt it was enough information at that stage, and subsequent appointments have always provided the opportunity to discuss it again.
I initially chose to have a home birth for my son Douglas but, despite being perfectly healthy, I had resistance all the way through my pregnancy. A midwife told me they were struggling to have enough staff to facilitate a home birth service so I think that’s why.
Around my due date a midwife attempted to diagnose me with gestational diabetes without a consultant, and told me I would be induced two days later. I stood my ground and requested to see a consultant who told me they had never suggested an induction. Another consultant told me I didn’t have gestational diabetes after all.
I see childbirth as a natural process and wanted this to take place somewhere I felt relaxed and in ownership of the space. It was my first baby, but I felt that I would be much less nervous at home. In the end my baby didn’t rotate enough to deliver naturally.
After 24 hours in labour I was transferred into Leeds General Infirmary for a forceps delivery as my baby got stuck facing sideways. Leeds has a dedicated home birth team who use woman-centred care. They are an absolute asset to the NHS. Because I had read up a lot on what my rights and options were, I felt empowered enough to request and decline certain procedures when they were offered and the midwives were understanding and supportive of me.
I’m expecting my second baby in early March this year. Having had an emergency caesarean section with my first child, Henry, at St Thomas’ hospital, I have been given careful guidance on options for this birth. I insisted on this after the trauma of my first one. Midwives and doctors have been excellent in providing this guidance this time around.
However, I strongly feel that in the run-up to and during my first birth I was simply left to see what happened. This ended up leading to a prolonged, uncomfortable, stressful and less-than-ideal birth. Due to the likely large size of baby number two, and to avoid a similar scenario to my first birth, I am opting for an elective C-section for this one.
My partner Lex gave birth to our son in Homerton hospital on 2 January. We are a gay couple and spent over £18,000 on three cycles of IVF treatment before falling pregnant on the third try. Because Lex is 41 we were advised on numerous occasions that we did not meet the criteria for the midwife-led birth centre or a home birth.
Despite the many references to fathers instead of partners in antenatal classes and hospital literature, we found the NHS to be very supportive of us and received outstanding care throughout. One of the consultant midwives contacted my partner and asked if she wanted to come in to discuss the decision for doctor-led care and explain Lex’s options in detail. Following this she felt much more comfortable and in control.
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