Home birth restrictions: Information for healthcare professionals
There are many reasons why someone might decide a home birth is best for them, including previous birth trauma, distrust due to systemic racism and discrimination, inability to secure childcare during a hospital birth, or simply because it’s what feels right and safe for them.
If you are a doula, midwife, birth worker or healthcare professional working in maternity care, you can speak up against restrictions and suspensions to home birth services in the Trust(s) where you work.
Home birth: know your rights
Yes. You have a right to choose where you give birth. You cannot be made to go to hospital. Healthcare professionals may want to talk to you about your plans and any concerns they have. This should be an opportunity to have an open discussion and to share information. They should always respect your views and choices. All NHS Trusts are expected to run a home birth service. This is not guaranteed in law, but the law says that your right to choose where to give birth should only be restricted when there is a good reason to do this, and where the decision is ‘proportionate’. This means that a Trust should only pause their home birth service if they have looked at all the options for keeping it going and they are still unable to. If you are told you cannot give birth at home because of staff shortages, remind the hospital that it must make sure there are enough staff to provide the services it has promised. They should have plans for situations such as staff shortages. This could include providing an independent midwife.
● If you feel that your choice to give birth at home is not being respected, you can contact Birthrights for advice using our contact form or by emailing [email protected].
Yes. Only you have the right to decide where you give birth. No one can overturn the decision you have made. This is the law. The only time that someone else can make decisions about your healthcare is if you lack mental capacity to make those decisions. This is very rare.
● You can read more about this in our factsheet on Mental capacity and maternity care.
Even if healthcare professionals advise you not to give birth at home, no one can make you go to hospital. Your midwife and hospital consultant (if you have one) should work with you to make a care plan for giving birth at home. When professionals give you advice and information about where to give birth, it should be based on facts, not personal opinions. Healthcare professionals must not put pressure on you, or threaten you, when you are deciding where to give birth. They must not threaten to involve social services. If you feel this has happened, you may not have given consent to the treatment you received. This could mean that the healthcare professional can be taken to court for failing to obtain your consent.
● You can read more in our factsheet on Social services and maternity care.
If you have difficulty understanding spoken English or speaking it yourself, NHS England sets out how Trusts should obtain language and communication support. This could include hiring a professional interpreter or translating written material for you. Everyone needs to be able to communicate fully and understand what consent they are being asked for and what restrictions they are facing. This is called ‘reasonable adjustment’. The right to reasonable adjustment is set out in the Equality Act 2010. This does not mean that everyone should get exactly the same care. Under the law, treating someone equally can mean that they should be given extra support in order to put them in the same position as other people who are having a baby. This might mean them being provided with: an interpreter; large print information materials; lighting that enables someone to lip read; an advocate to support understanding and communication, or whatever else might be needed for an individual.
‘Can I choose where to give birth?’ factsheet
Download our full ‘Can I choose where to give birth?’ factsheet to inform and equip you fully on your rights.
‘Can I choose where to give birth?’ factsheetWhat to do if you want to speak up against restrictions or suspensions of the home birth service where you work
If you work in maternity care and want to speak up against restrictions to or suspensions of the home birth service in the trust(s) where you work, you can challenge these restrictions. Download our ‘Taking Action’ resource below to learn more about the steps you can take.
Remember to CC in Birthrights when challenging via email using at: [email protected], and if you’re sharing details of your challenge on social media, don’t forget to tag @birthrightsorg!
You can also help inform our campaign by sharing your experiences of the home birth service in the trust(s) where you work, by emailing us directly at: [email protected]. Your answers will be used solely to support our efforts to advocate for better, more equitable maternity care.
Has your trust attended any Birthrights training?
Birthrights provides training to professionals working within the maternity sector in both clinical and non-clinical roles. Our training is specially designed to equip healthcare professionals with a comprehensive overview of the human rights framework, their legal obligations within this and how to provide truly personalised care across a range of scenarios. Learn more about our training for healthcare professionals here, and about our training for birth workers and doulas here. You can request a training via this form or by emailing [email protected].
Taking Action
If you would like help making a challenge, our Advice team can help you. Get in touch with us if you need additional support.
What happens next?
If you have any issues using our templates or questions about making a challenge, you can contact our Advice team for guidance and assistance on how to proceed further.
We want to hear from you!
Please let us know if and when you hear back from your Trust after using our templates, regardless of the outcome. Your responses will help inform future work in this area and could help us drive meaningful change.
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