Where do you want to deliver your baby? Christine Hill on your choice of venue for labour and birth.

The first thing you need to do is see your GP and ask him or her which hospitals are in the appropriate catchment area, and which he or she would suggest. You may find you have no choice.

If there is a choice, and you don’t know which hospital to go for - you are quite entitled to have a look round before you book in. Many hospitals arrange a tour, when they take groups of prospective patients round the maternity suite. This is useful, as you will be shown round the delivery rooms (where it is all going to happen) and the post-natal wards and you can get a general feel of the place. (Try not to take too much notice of dirty floors. Although it is off-putting, it’s nothing to do with the medical staff. In London especially, women report back that some of the shabbiest hospitals give a first-rate maternity service and vice versa)

The sort of questions you might want to ask the midwife who shows you round are:

• Do they have any specific policies about women in labour?
• Is there an anaesthetist on site?
• What sort of paediatric cover does the hospital offer and what’s the level of care in the hospital Special Care Baby Unit? (Some hospitals have to transfer sick babies to another hospital.)
• How long do most first-time mothers stay in hospital after delivery?
• Do they run their own antenatal classes?

There are two main differences – medical attendance and room allocation.

If you book in to have your baby under the NHS you will see different midwives for your antenatal check-ups and you will be looked after during labour by a midwife. (Hopefully, one that you met when you were pregnant.) Sometimes you are under the general care of a specific obstetrician and his team, but sometimes you are under midwife care only. If your labour and delivery are straightforward, you may never come across an obstetrician at all. However, if the midwife has any concerns about you during pregnancy or delivery, she will call an obstetrician. If you need an epidural, she will call an anaesthetist. Midwives are not allowed to use forceps or a ventouse (suction) so if you need an assisted delivery, an obstetrician will be called.

After your baby has been born, you will go to the post-natal ward, which typically has about six beds, although in some hospitals you can pay for a private or an amenity room. Obviously, this varies from hospital to hospital. In London, the current midwife shortage is noticeable on the post-natal wards. (But not on the labour wards, yet, thank goodness.)

If you decide to have your baby privately (cost approximately £5,000) you are able to choose a consultant Obstetrician with whom you feel comfortable. She or he will see you for each antenatal appointment. When you go into hospital, although a midwife will look after you during labour, she will tell your Obstetrician that you are on the labour ward. Although your Obstetrician won’t be holding your hand through the first stage of labour, he or she may pop in to see you and will be responsible for any decisions that may need to be made. Your Obstetrician will be with you towards the end of the first stage of labour and will actually deliver your baby. You are paying for the privilege of seeing the same person throughout pregnancy and knowing that he or she will be there at the birth of your baby.

After your baby has been born, you then have the luxury of your own private room and bathroom. For most women, however, this is of secondary importance to knowing and trusting the person who will actually deliver you.