Choice of Birth Place
You may choose to give birth at home, at the Toronto Birth Centre or at St. Michael’s Hospital, where we have privileges. During your prenatal visits, your midwife will provide you with the information needed to make an informed decision about the appropriate place for you to plan to give birth.
There are distinct benefits and risks to any birth place. It is the responsibility of parents to become as informed as possible to weigh those benefits and risks and make decisions appropriate to them. The College of Midwives of Ontario requires that midwives in Ontario support choice of birthplace within the scope of practice of midwifery. It is also the midwives’ responsibility to identify contraindications to out-of-hospital births.
A midwife will support a client’s decision after the information and recommendations have been considered by the client. Notwithstanding this, birth should be planned to take place in hospital in the circumstances of multiple birth, breech presentation, preterm labour prior to 37 weeks, and post-term pregnancy of more than 43 completed weeks. Other situations in which hospital birth should be planned would be assessed prenatally.
To read high quality Canadian studies on home birth outcomes, click here and here. Click here for en editorial on the safety of home birth.
There are distinct benefits and risks to any birth place. It is the responsibility of parents to become as informed as possible to weigh those benefits and risks and make decisions appropriate to them. The College of Midwives of Ontario requires that midwives in Ontario support choice of birthplace within the scope of practice of midwifery. It is also the midwives’ responsibility to identify contraindications to out-of-hospital births.
A midwife will support a client’s decision after the information and recommendations have been considered by the client. Notwithstanding this, birth should be planned to take place in hospital in the circumstances of multiple birth, breech presentation, preterm labour prior to 37 weeks, and post-term pregnancy of more than 43 completed weeks. Other situations in which hospital birth should be planned would be assessed prenatally.
To read high quality Canadian studies on home birth outcomes, click here and here. Click here for en editorial on the safety of home birth.
