The debate over whether a home or hospital birth is best has attractive arguments on both sides. Ultimately, the decision is personal and will depend on your needs, as well as those of your baby, your location, and the medical options available to you. If you’re still undecided, we hope that this article’s discussion of the advantages and disadvantages of both settings will help you.

Giving birth in the hospital

This is still the most popular option by far, despite growing interest in home birth. Most hospitals offer a full complement of obstetric care, including antenatal care, labour, delivery, and postpartum care. If your pregnancy is high-risk or you are simply anxious, a hospital can provide instant peace of mind. Hospitals are equipped to handle a wide range of medical interventions, including epidurals, inductions, and caesarean sections, if necessary.

They are also staffed by people trained to give you the best possible help. Medical professionals are available to visit your bedside day and night. Beyond the obstetrician, there may be nurses, midwives, and anaesthetists available to assist with your birth. Hospitals offer a wide range of medical interventions to help manage pain and complications.

Disadvantages may include a negative sense of an over-medicalisation of your birth or that interventions are suggested before they are needed. Hospitals are designed to manage medical complications, but you may feel that they overdo it. It’s important to ask as many questions as possible to understand why any medical intervention is helpful at any time in your specific case, and your consent should be any professional’s priority.

You may also be challenged about some of your birth plans in the hospital. Different organisations have specific rules in place to ensure the safety of the mother and baby, and some policies may restrict certain birth preferences, such as water births or other deviations from standard procedures.

Giving birth at home

Home birth is far more than a trend, and many women find it a wonderful experience. This is an intimate choice involving giving birth at home with the assistance of a midwife or other trained healthcare professionals. Home births are typically recommended for low-risk pregnancies and do not involve medical interventions or medications.

The strong degree of control you and your partner will have over the entire process is perhaps home birth’s greatest advantage. The birthing environment, positions, and other factors are entirely up to you. In addition, some research suggests that home births carry a lower risk of infection than hospital births.

As you might expect, the most obvious disadvantage is a lack of immediate access to medical intervention or medication, if you need it. Now, maybe a dislike or distrust of medicalisation is precisely why you want to give birth to begin with. However, it is worth remembering that, however close you live to a hospital, it will take time to get there and access the care you need in an emergency.

On the subject of care, your midwife or the other professional you choose for a homebirth will not have access to the same level of resources and range of expertise that they’d find in a hospital setting. There’s also your general safety to consider, as well as that of your baby. While home births are usually safe, complications can arise, and a rush to the hospital for emergency care isn’t the birthing experience that any mum would plan.

What do I need to know about my hospital and home birth options?

For Unii’s Preconception Journey, we compare the hospital and your home as places to give birth.