Why We Chose a Birth Centre: and Why We Then Changed Our Mind

We booked into a birth centre thinking it was perhaps the most ‘sensible’ way to go about getting a natural birth. After all, what more could you really ask for?: Natural birth within the safety-net of a hospital in case something goes not so smoothly…well, it didn’t quite turn out that way:
- Birth Centres are still bound by strict hospital policies which may end up leading to medical interventions that are really unnecessary (which would have been the case for us in our first birth, whereby my partner would have been artificially induced into labour due to the time taken for labour to begin after waters broke).
- We found out that the Birth Centre we booked into closed a couple of times per week, meaning that if we happened to need to go in on one of their “off” nights, it would be straight to the labour ward. This birth centre no longer exists.
- So, we booked into another birth centre…

During our home births, having water available (birth pool) proved to be an invaluable pain relief tool for my partner. Our first child was actually born on the couch, but the second was a water birth. Whilst the second birth centre we booked into had a large bath available, there was no guarantee that it would be free when needed. Furthermore, hospital policy prevents births from taking place in the water, which means the woman actually has to get out of the bath to give birth!...I can tell you that from what I’ve seen, disturbing a woman at that point in the show is not what you want to be doing.
Now, regarding the birth-in-the-bath policy, we were given a wink and a nudge by the midwife who showed us around, and I think the wink is a permanent fixture of the birth centre tour…there are many a midwife who work in hospitals and birth centres who are frustrated by the confines of hospital policy, designed largely do avoid potential litigation at all costs, and who will do all they can to ensure a natural birth takes place. But, there are limits to what these good-willed people can do:
They can’t guarantee:
- A woman will be given all the time she needs to progress safely throughout labour without resorting to artificial induction.
- That water will be available for pain relief, and if desired, for birthing.
- Continuity of care (this is the biggie, really…I can’t overstate how great it has been having the same two amazing midwifes care for my partner through what will soon be 3 pregnancies/births. They don’t clock off…)

Enter home birth.