Birthplace decisions - planning where to give birth: guidance - easy read
Easy read version of information for pregnant women and partners regarding planning where to give birth.
What is available at home, in a Community Midwifery Unit and A longside Midwifery Unit
The types of pain relief you can have are water, gas and air, and drug injections.
You will be supported to use any skills you and your partner have learned. These include relaxation and massage.
Many Community Midwifery Units and Alongside Midwifery Units have birthing pools for you to use.
Labour goes well when women are relaxed and feel
safe and supported.
During any labour and birth something unexpected can happen. You may need medical care from a doctor right away. Or you may need something that can only be given at hospital.
If this happens you will be taken to a hospital by ambulance or car. This can be spoken about with health care staff.
If you are in an Alongside Midwifery Unit, you will be moved to a Labour Suite in the same hospital.
Health care staff will talk to you about labour and birth in these places. They will help you decide which of these options is best for you.
What is available in a hospital’s Labour Suite
A Labour Suite is in a hospital. Most hospitals in Scotland have a Labour Suite.
The types of pain relief available include water, gas and air, drug injections, and an epidural.
An epidural is a kind of pain relief that means putting a small injection into your back to stop you feeling pain in part of your body. A hospital’s Labour Suite is the only place where an epidural is available.
Health care staff will provide care before, during and after your birth. If you need extra care or are having a planned Caesarean birth this will be provided.
The hospital’s Labour Suite has special equipment for monitoring you and your baby’s health.
You can choose to have up to 2 birth partners to support you.
Staff may advise that birth is safest in a Labour Suite in a hospital. You can still choose another place though, you can talk to staff about this.
Labour Suites have special equipment, medications, more staff and hospital services than other places.
Sometimes babies need extra care when they are born. The Neonatal Unit looks after a baby if this is the case. This is in the same hospital as the Labour Suite and Alongside Midwifery Unit. Care for your baby will be ready if needed.
It is important that you have information about why birth in the Labour Suite is advised. Health care staff will speak with you so you can decide what is best for you.