Personally, I've never really considered any other sort of birth other than a hospital birth. Being in a hospital whilst going through childbirth just feels like the most natural option to me. I think it's the reassurance of having obstetricians, neonatologists and all of the medical equipment close by if any problems were to arise. I don't like the idea of being transferred during labor if something was to occur and I also feel better about having the option to have an epidural for pain relief if I want it (I had an epidural with Ethan as his was a long labor and I was advised that it was the best sort of pain relief for the back labor I had during labor with him).
So I suppose that it's for that reason that a home birth has personally never appealed to me and neither has given birth in a birth center. There's obviously pro's and con's to all of the different choices, but I think it's all about going with what you feel comfortable with, what feels natural to you and what suits your personal preferences and your outlook on childbirth the most.
I really do think that it's important for pregnant women to feel well informed about the choices available and to have a good understanding about the options. One of the best resources for finding out a lot of information about these options is via your community midwife, but you can also seek advice and support online.
With the birth boxes, Which? also sent me details of their Which? Birth Choice website (find it here), I've been having a read of it myself and have found that it offers tons of really useful information about the different birth choices available and it even has a birth choice tool which is designed to help pregnant women decide where they'd like to give birth, it takes into account personal preferences and circumstances and then suggests the local units that are most suited. There's also a search box which allows you to find local birth centres and maternity units close by to you just by tapping in your postcode. It brings up a list of local hospitals and centres and then provides further information about each location, it even shows how far the different locations are from you, which I thought was quite useful.
It's a great website, packed full of really handy information aimed to help pregnant women make a well informed decision when it comes to birth choices, which I think is pretty empowering. I've personally just spent the last half an hour over on the website, using the tool (which did suggest a hospital birth would suit me most!) and reading through tons of really useful information about different birth choices and units. It's genuinely well worth having a browse of if like me, you're also expecting and want to make sure that you feel well informed about your own different birth choices.
Additionally, you fancy the chance of winning your own set of three birth boxes, valued at £250 then have a go on this five-question true or false quiz about different birth options, created byWhich? - They've said that anyone that enters via my blog, will be entered into the contest and will be in with a chance of winning! So if you do enter then - good luck :)
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