Ayrshire and Arran have a dedicated and passionate home birth team to support women’s choices of birthing their baby at home.
Is a homebirth the right choice for me?
The Homebirth team aims to provide continuity of care where the majority of your care will be with your named midwife where possible or buddy midwife throughout the pregnancy and postnatal period, and with the majority of your appointments carried out at home. This has shown to improve pregnancy and birth experiences.
Through sustained commitment and collaborative working, the Ayrshire and Arran Homebirth Service has established a dedicated service that provides women with a safe, viable, and supportive homebirth option, with homebirth rates increasing steadily over the past five years.
The Homebirth Team
Your named midwife is part of an on-call rota with the rest of the homebirth service to ensure a member of the team is available to attend when you go into labour. The homebirth team midwife will call the wider community team when required for a second midwife to be in attendance for your labour and birth.
The team offers hypnobirthing, aromatherapy and acupuncture and are experienced in biomechanics for birth. These are all to help minimise intervention and requirement for strong pain relief.
Keeping You and Your Baby Safe
Although it is rarely necessary, you may be advised to transfer to hospital prior to or during labour. The midwives will monitor you and your baby and will discuss any concerns they may have with you. Birthing at home has proved to be a safe option for women with no problems during pregnancy. If you require extra care in pregnancy but still wish to explore this option, you will have the opportunity to discuss this further with your midwife, the homebirth team and obstetrician.
Postnatal Care at Home
Following the birth, the team will support you and your baby at home, providing postnatal care until handover to your Health Visitor. Your baby’s newborn examination can also be completed in the comfort and familiarity of your home.
Interested in a homebirth?
If you feel this is an option you would like to explore you can request this when calling to arrange your first booking appointment, or at any stage throughout your pregnancy by asking your community midwife to refer you to the team.
If you prefer you can also email the team directly at clinical_homebirth_team@aapct.scot.nhs.uk.
Meet the Team Sessions
There are regular face to face meet the team sessions where you can talk to other parents that have birthed their baby at home recently and also get to know all the midwives in the team and ask any questions. You can find more information about upcoming sessions on our Instagram page: Homebirth Team Ayrshire & Arran