Choosing where to have your baby

Currently, about 3 out of a 100 women and birthing people choose to have a home birth in Leicestershire.

Home birth is nationally supported for women and birthing people with no risk factors between 37 and 42 weeks of pregnancy (NICE 2014).

What you need to know about home births

• • You are more likely to have a vaginal birth at home than if you were at hospital
  • Leicester’s Hospitals have a dedicated home birth team offering a 24 hour service
  • The team support women and birthing people choosing to birth at home throughout their pregnancy, birth and after birth
  • A risk assessment is done at 36 weeks to make sure a home birth remains a suitable choice
  • Two midwives will normally be with you to support you during labour and at the birth of your baby
  • They leave about two hours after the birth
  • The midwives on the homebirth team carry a range of equipment to help you give birth at home, including gas and air (Entonox)
  • If you wish to use a birthing pool or TENS machine, you can supply this yourself or these can be borrowed from the home birth team for a donation
  • For more information about homebirths please see their Facebook page (University Hospitals of Leicester home birth team) or call the home birth team on 0116 2583425

This video was not produced by Health for Under 5s and may contain adverts.

You can have a water birth at home. The home birth team will give:

• Inflatable birth pools: the home birth team has inflatable birth pools. They will bring it to you in early labour. You can also collect it from their office at Glenfield Hospital
• Pool setup help: they will help you set up the pool and explain how to fill it

What you need to buy

• Hose and pool liner which costs around £50. You can buy the disposable liner and a 10-meter non-toxic hose from Birth Pool in a Box.
• Tap adapter: make sure it fits your tap at home
• Plastic sheeting: to put under the pool to protect your flooring
• Towels: lots of old, clean towels are needed during home water birth

Pool size

• Location: the pool must be on ground floor
• The home birth team’s pool
  • Eco pro mini: professional grade, measures 165cm x 145cm. It takes about 15 minutes to inflate. One hour to fill. This depends on your home boiler. The home birth team empty and clean the pool after the birth.

Donation support: to make sure these pools can be an option for everyone,  a donation of £10 is asked for. This helps to look after and replace the pools.

More options

• Private pool hire: you can hire your own pool. This can be useful if you have quick a labour or if your birth partner wants to join you in the pool

Please note from 7 July 2025, births and inpatient postnatal services at St Mary’s Birth Centre will be paused due to safe staffing challenges and low birth numbers.

Home births and community-based antenatal and postnatal care in the area will continue uninterrupted. Midwifery-led units are available at the Leicester Royal Infirmary and the Leicester General Hospital. Information about the changes is available on the UHL website. If you have any concerns regarding your pregnancy, please speak with your named midwife.

St Mary’s Birth centre is a midwifery led centre based in Melton Mowbray, in Leicestershire. It offers a 24/7 service for labour and postnatal care.

It is staffed by midwives, maternity care assistants and maternity support workers and is suitable for women and birthing people who are having midwifery-led care.

St Mary’s Birth Centre is available to all pregnant people, even if you are not booked for care at Leicester’s Hospitals.

What you need to know about St Mary’s Birth Centre

• The birth centre has a birthing pool in both of its labour rooms, whilst beanbags, stools and mats are also available
• There are a range of pain relief choices available. These include gas and air (Entonox) and the pethidine injection.  Women and birthing people’s birth plans are supported to include the use of TEN’s
• Should you need more support during the labour or birth, you can be transferred to a consultant led unit (either Leicester or Nottingham – depending on the hospital you booked at)
• The birth centre offers breast feeding support in the postnatal period. This is available on the postnatal ward, the daily postnatal clinic or over the phone
• St Mary’s has free parking right outside the door. It is easily accessible from all parts of the city and county.

Check out the St Mary’s social media pages for more information:

• Click here to visit their Facebook page
• Click here to visit their Instagram page

Phone: 01664 854 854

Address:
St Mary’s Birth Centre
Thorpe Road
Melton Mowbray
Leicestershire LE13 1SJ

The birth centres are staffed by midwives with Maternity Care Assistant support staff. The facilities include:

• Birthing pools
• birth balls
• birth mats
• low lighting

What you need to know about Orchard Birth Centre and Meadow Birth Centre

• The birth centres are based in the hospital.
• There is access to consultant led care (Delivery Suite) and epidural drugs if you you want them. You would need to move to the delivery suite if this is the case.
• The birth centres are close to the Delivery Suite.
• The birth centres are part of the Delivery Suite, but separately staffed.
• The midwives work a rota system so you may see more than one midwife during your stay
• Meadows Birth Centre at the Leicester General Hospital has four birth rooms: Two of the rooms have birthing pools and one of the rooms has an en-suite bathroom
• Orchard Birth Centre at the Leicester Royal Infirmary has six birth rooms: Two of the rooms have birthing pools and two have en-suite bathrooms.

Having your baby in a consultant led unit can mean a higher chance of interventions, such as using a medical instrument to help with delivery of the baby. There is also a high chance of having a caesarean section compared with birthing at home or at St Mary’s Birth Centre.

If there is a problem with your baby, a Neonatologist or Nurse Practitioner will be available to assess the well-being of your baby. There are facilities to care for your baby if there are any complications with your baby’s health but these facilities are different at Leicester General Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary.

• The neonatal unit at Leicester General Hospital provides special care
• Leicester Royal Infirmary provides both special and intensive care

This means that your baby may need to be transferred to Leicester Royal Infirmary or another hospital in the region to provide intensive care should this be needed.

If you are having shared care or consultant led care it is advised that you give birth in hospital. Midwives and a consultant led team of doctors provide a 24 hour service.

You will have choices about the kind of care you want, including pain relief, monitoring of your baby and environment. The midwives and doctors will discuss your birth preferences with you. You will be advised to have your baby on the Delivery Suite if your labour has been induced.

The maternity team on the delivery suites is led by

• a senior midwife (midwifery coordinator),
• consultant obstetrician and
• consultant anaesthetist,

but there are many team members whom you may meet and receive care from. You may be advised to give birth on delivery suite because of problems in a previous or the current pregnancy, or due to medical issues. Sometimes you may need to or choose to transfer to the delivery suite during labour or even after birth because of concerns in the labour.

Some women and birthing people need close monitoring during pregnancy or around birth. The maternity team are able to manage most of this on Delivery Suite.

You will have a midwife looking after you who will provide most of your care. You will be reviewed by the maternity team when you arrive on Delivery Suite and on ward rounds, which happen in the morning and in the evening. The team will discuss your current situation and make a plan with you for your care. This is a chance to ask questions and discuss your care, but you can also ask your midwife in between these times.

On Delivery Suite, you will have direct access to doctors who can provide:

• more specialist advice
• epidurals
• assist with your birth, including caesarean sections.

[caption id="attachment_9018" align="alignnone" width="439"] Photograph of birthing room at Leicester Royal Infirmary Delivery Suite[/caption]

What you need to know about Delivery Suite, Leicester Royal Infirmary and Leicester General Hospital

• You will be able to use a TENS machine (however these are not provided by the hospital), gas and air, pethidine and epidurals.
• The staff will respect your birth preferences, you can use birthing balls, have dimmed lighting etc in a similar way to the Birth Centres
• If you are having your baby on Delivery Suite, you might need continuous monitoring of your baby. Your movement might be limited but there are machines that are wireless, which means you can walk around. Please let your midwife know if this is something you would like
• The midwives work a rota system so you may well see more than one midwife during your stay
• Both Delivery Suites have two operating theatres where we deliver babies by caesarean, forceps or ventouse, and do other necessary operations around the time of birth. If you need to go to theatre you may bring one birth partner with you

There are facilities to care for your baby if there are any complications with your baby’s health. The facilities are different at Leicester General Hospital and Leicester Royal Infirmary.

• The neonatal unit at Leicester General Hospital provides special care
• The unit at Leicester Royal Infirmary can deliver more intensive care

This means that your baby may need to be transferred to Leicester Royal Infirmary or another hospital in the region to provide intensive care should this be needed.

If there is a chance your baby might be born before 32 weeks, you will be asked to go to Leicester Royal Infirmary. This is because there is more specialist care available at the LRI neonatal unit.

Leicester General Hospital Delivery Suite

Address:
Leicester General Hospital,
Gwendolen Road,
Leicester,
LE5 4PW

Leicester Royal Infirmary Delivery Suite

Address:
Leicester Royal Infirmary
Infirmary Square
Leicester
LE1 5WW