Birth Options
Why Give Birth at Home?
Midwives are the only health-care providers who offer their clients a choice of birthplace. With Family Care Midwives, you have the choice of birthing in the comfort of your own home or at Cortellucci Vaughan Hospital. Once active labour begins, we provide you with one-to-one support, help you to deliver the baby, and then care for both of you immediately following the birth.
During your pregnancy, your midwife will talk to you about your options, will answer all of your questions and provide you with the information you need to make an informed decision about what location is best for you.
Approximately 20% of all births attended by Ontario Midwives take place in the client’s home. There are many reasons why families may choose a home birth, some of these reasons may include but certainly are not limited to the following:
Value a birth without medical intervention (if not needed)
Are confident in their ability to give birth
Find their home a supportive and comfortable environment
Feel more in control in their home environment
Prefer to move freely in familiar surroundings
Want to eat and drink as they like
Believe labour will go faster in the comfort of their own home
Prefer to avoid an epidural
Believe recovery from birth will be easier where they are most comfortable
Believe that home birth is a safe, responsible choice for themselves and their babies
Here’s a short video that follows one woman’s decision to have a home birth.
Why Give Birth at a Hospital?
There are many reasons why families may choose a hospital birth. Some of these reasons may include but certainly are not limited to the following:
Feel most comfortable in a hospital setting
Feel that the hospital is the safest option in case of emergency
Like the idea of being close to hospital-only medical pain relief options such as epidural
May be pregnancy indications/risks that make hospital birth a more appropriate choice for delivery and postpartum
There are more postpartum supports and increased monitoring for those who want or need it
If you are at increased risk for certain complications, giving birth in the hospital is recommended. This is so you have quick access to specialist care (ie. obstetrician, pediatrician) and increased monitoring if you and/or your baby need it.
Some examples of when your midwife may recommend a hospital birth include:
pregnancy-related issues (ie. a breech baby, preterm labour, high blood pressure, previous c-section history, fetal growth issues)
long-term health conditions (ie. heart conditions, diabetes, bleeding disorders)
previous birth complications (ie. stillbirth, a placenta that wouldn’t come out on its own)
