Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home

Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home describes and discusses the main challenges and issues that midwives and maternity services encounter when preparing for and attending a home birth. To ensure that a home birth is a real option for women, midwives need to be able to believe in a woman’s ability to give birth at home and to promote this birth option, providing evidence-based information about benefits and risks.

This practical guide will help midwives to have the necessary skills, resources and confidence to support homebirth. The book includes:

the present birth choices a woman has

the implications homebirth has upon midwifery practice

how midwives can prepare and support women and their families

the midwife’s role and responsibilities

national and local policies, guidelines and available resources

pain management options


With a range of recent home birth case studies brought together in the final chapter, this accessible text provides a valuable insight into those considering homebirth. Supporting Women to Give Birth at Home will be of interest to students studying issues around normal birth and will be an important resource for clinically based midwives, in particular community based midwives, home birth midwifery teams, independent midwives, and all who are interested in homebirth as a genuine choice.