Where should you birth your baby?
You collect that pregnancy test kit from the pharmacy, race home and nervously pee on the stick, your partner waits outside the door. He talks through the door to you, ‘Well is it?’ Finally you glance down, push open the door with the broadest smile and he knows the result instantly, its positive. You both check the instructions to make sure there has been no mistake, it really is positive! OMG were pregnant! Feeling excited you contact your nearest and dearest and spread the news, the pregnancy journey begins ? Now what happens? You contact your GP surgery who makes an appointment for you to see the midwife. The booking appointment arrives and together you journey to the doctors to meet the midwife. Feeling nervous and excited you wait for her to confirm the pregnancy and she continues to ask you questions from family history, diet, nutrition, exercise, antenatal classes to where are you planning to have your baby. You didn’t realize that there were so many choices! Many assume that the only choices are home or hospital but now the options widen as we talk about a birthing centre or a midwifery led unit.
So how do you choose where to give birth to your baby? During our free early pregnancy classes and antenatal classes we do not recommend that one place to give birth is better than another – there is no one size fits all when it comes to choosing where to have your baby. We are passionate, however, that women feel they have been given all the information to make the right choice for their personal circumstances. Although some options may not be available in your area, it is important to find out what is!
Location, location, location and having this choice empowers women, increases the number of straight forward births and improves parents’ satisfaction with their birth experience. Sounds like a no brainer to me!
It is important to have all of the information before you can make a choice of where you would like to birth your baby. Although this feels daunting at such an early stage in your pregnancy at any point you can change your mind, even at the last minute.
So why is the birth environment so important? Women, like other female mammals, need to feel both safe and protected to give birth easily. The optimal environment to create this is one that feels comfortable, warm, safe and familiar allowing a real sense of privacy. The care givers, your midwife and birth supporter/s should offer non intrusive and sensitive care, enabling you to move freely, breathe, change positions, use a pool, make as much noise as you need to, have your own music, dim lights, relax, cuddle your partner the list is endless! This relaxed calm environment encourages the secretion of hormones such as oxytocin, which stimulates the womb to contract and endorphins, which are the like your own relaxant and pain relievers. All of this means that labour can progress well and you body’s natural chemistry helps you to cope with the pain. A home like, hormone enhancing environment, where you can relax and let go without inhibition to the power of the birth process is essential for an active birth. For some of us this environment of safety and protection will be in a hospital setting surrounded by the latest medical technology and for others this will be at home surrounded by your own familiar belongings or in a midwifery led unit where normality of birth is encouraged by offering a more homely environment. Positive birth experiences are possible in all manner of environments but to increase the likelihood of achieving this, a birthing woman needs to feel secure and supported. Indeed, the environment in which you choose to give birth can massively influence the way your labour and birth pans out.
You will get information to help you decide where to have your baby from your midwife, GP and other mums, but recent NICE guidelines recommend that women with ‘straightforward’ pregnancies should be encouraged to give birth at home or in midwife-led-units – with labour wards reserved for ‘difficult’ births only.
A useful website enabling you to understand your maternity choices and compare services is ‘Which? Birth Choice’ http://www.which.co.uk/birth-choice
It’s important to know that you have choices about where you would like to give birth. Before you make up your mind make sure you obtain all the information about your options. Your midwife will discuss the options that are available in your local area through the NHS, though you are free to choose any maternity services if you are willing to travel. Ask your midwife if your hospital has a walk around tour, visit the hospital or midwifery led unit or a homebirth group where you can talk to community midwives and other couples who have or are planning a home birth.
Keep in mind that you can change your mind about birth location even in the last weeks of pregnancy – this is absolutely your prerogative.
Weigh up the pros and cons of each location for you. Gather as much information as you need to feel completely comfortable with your choice and feel content that you will birth in exactly the right environment for your needs. Tune in with your gut feelings about where you’d like to birth your baby – following your instinct is really important too.
Remember that ultimately only you can decide what is right for you – not your friends, your family or even your health care providers.
Remember your body, your baby, your birth. And finally we are here to help you
