Hospital Birth

Your choice of caregiver affects where you can give birth, and the place of birth can influence your caregiver options. It's important to discuss with your caregivers what services and facilities they provide, as these can vary. Here are three main options:

Choice 1

You birth your baby under the care of your gynaecologist and stay in hospital for 2-3 days

• When you arrive at the hospital in labour / to be induced, the hospital midwives look after you, and call your gynaecologist when the birth is imminent. Your gynaecologist is then usually present for the birth.

• After a straightforward birth, the typical hospital stay is 2-3 days. During this time, hospital midwives provide the postnatal care for you and your baby

• Under the care of your gynaecologist it is possible to leave hospital earlier than 2 days, with your postnatal care provided by an independent midwife

Additional Options:

If your antenatal care is (principally) with your gynaecologist, you can still arrange some visits with an independent midwife and ask that she come to your home to support you in the early stages of labour, and even support you during later labour and birth in hospital. In this case your midwife would not provide any medical care for you during labour and birth; the hospital midwives would be responsible for medical care.

Once home from hospital, it is a good idea to call on an independent midwife for extra postnatal care, e.g. for help with breastfeeding, general questions about looking after your baby.

If you would like to have postnatal care from an independent midwife, you will need to organise this yourself in advance to ensure continuity of care.

Choice 2

You birth your baby under the care of your gynaecologist, and leave hospital earlier than 2 days, with your postnatal care provided by an independent midwife

When you arrive at the hospital in labour / to be induced, the hospital midwives look after you, and call your gynaecologist when the birth is imminent. Your gynaecologist is then usually present for the birth.

After a straightforward birth, provided you are recovering well and your baby is healthy, you may prefer to leave hospital early. This can be anything from a few hours after the birth, to 1 to 2 days later, depending on your situation.

Hospital midwives provide postnatal care for you and your baby while you are still in hospital, but once you are at home, a home-visit hospital/independent midwife takes over the care. Some hospitals proactively suggest this option, in which case they would arrange the follow-up midwife visits.

However, if you would like to decide on the midwife, make contact during your pregnancy to ensure availability and continuity of care. The independent midwife would then liaise with the hospital midwife upon your discharge. 

If you have an independent midwife, she may be able to come to your home to support you in the early stages of labour, and may even accompany you to the hospital. In this case she would not provide any medical care for you during labour and birth; the hospital midwives would be responsible for medical care.

You birth your baby under the care of an independent midwife (only possible in some hospitals) and leave hospital earlier than 2 days, with your postnatal care provided by an independent midwife

Your independent midwife would typically come to your home during labour, and travel with you to hospital.

In hospital, she continues to care for you during labour, and then delivers your baby (without the need for a gynaecologist to be present) Not all independent midwives can support births in hospitals, as it depends on individual agreements.

After a straightforward birth, provided you are recovering well and your baby is healthy, you may prefer to leave hospital within a few hours, or you may prefer to stay a little longer.

Hospital midwives provide postnatal care for you and your baby while you are still in hospital, but once you are at home, your independent midwife once again takes over the care.