"Like all important decisions in our lives, choosing where we birth involves gathering and sorting through information, exploring our values and priorities, and, finally, taking responsibility for our choices." Pam England, Birthing from Within

Where you have your baby is an important decision to make. You have a choice when it comes to the place where you give birth to your baby. 

 Birth is generally very safe for both women and babies, which is why you should be offered a choice of where you want to give birth, whether this means planning a home birth, giving birth in a midwife-led unit or at a maternity unit in hospital.  

You may be offered a choice of the following options:

> Home 
> Midwife-led unit (birth centre) 
> Maternity unit at a local hospital

Follow the links to the right for subpages on the different options.

If you are one of the majority of women who are healthy with a normal pregnancy then you should be able to give birth in any of these places, depending on what is available in your area. Some women who have medical conditions or a complicated pregnancy will benefit from the care that can be provided by a consultant in a hospital.  On these pages we will give some further details about the birth options available to expectant parents in Bath. You can discuss the choice that you are making with your midwife. One way to find out more about your local birth options is to attend an NCT antenatal class where you can get help with preparing for labour and birth. You can find details of Bath NCT antenatal courses here:http://www.nct.org.uk/in-your-area/bath/your-pregnancy

The Birth Choice UK website has a map with contact details for all of your nearest maternity units:http://www.birthchoiceuk.com/

Note: If you are looking for information about the experience of birth itself, you can go to the NCT Information Centre on ‘Labour and Birth’ here: http://www.nct.org.uk/info-centre/browse-6