Where to give birth

From 37 weeks you can give birth under the care of a midwife. We don’t mind where you chose to give birth, at home or in the hospital. Everyone is allowed and is able to deliver at home, as long as there are no complications during the pregnancy and/or delivery. In case a medical indication causes the need for a hospital birth, we will advise you to go to the hospital. Once labour sets in, it is still possible you need to be transferred to hospital to give birth under the supervision of a gynaecologist. If this is your first child, the probability of this is more than 50%. If this is not your first delivery, the percentage lies lower.

It is important to give birth wherever you and your partner feel the most comfortable, whether at home or at the hospital. Fortunately this decision does not need to be made at the beginning of your pregnancy. Even in the middle of labour, you can still change your mind. At home or in the hospital, in both cases we will guide you through the birth.

 

Home delivery

If you chose a home birth, it is important to check whether your home meets the safety requirements. In principle this means the chosen delivery room cannot be above the first floor. The staircase (not a spiral staircase) must be easily accessible and be equipped with a handrail. In addition there must be parking space available outside your house, in case emergency services need to attend. Also, your bodyweight can play a role in our security requirements. We have agreed with the hospitals and ambulance that a home birth is not allowed in case of a BMI of 35 or above. A BMI between 30 and 35 or weighing more than 100kg at 36 weeks of pregnancy, you will need to choose a delivery room on the ground floor.

 

Outpatient birth

If you chose to give birth as an outpatient (giving birth in hospital) you would then rent a hospital room so to speak. Check with your insurance company if you are fully covered for this before you arrive at the hospital. Even if you choose an hospital birth you start labour at home. We will always first come visit you at home before you go to hospital.  We work with three hospitals in the area:

– Diakonessenhuis (geboortehuis Utrecht) in Utrecht
– St. Antonius Ziekenhuis in Leidsche Rijn
– Wilhelmina Kinderziekenhuis (WKZ) in Utrecht.

It is not possible or indeed necessary to book the hospital facilities in advance as you won’t know when you will be giving birth exactly. When you start your contractions we will call the hospital of your choice to check if there is a room available.

If your first choice is the Diakonessenhuis, you will then give birth at the Geboortehuis Utrecht. For more information visit the website of the Geboortehuis. To give birth at the Geboortehuis, you will need to be registered as a patient beforehand; you will receive a patient number when you register. The same rule applies if you want to give birth at the St. Antonius Hospital. It is possible to register online.

 Table overview hospitals region Utrecht

Last update: feb 2024

	Home	Diakonessenhuis	Antonius Leidsche Rijn	WKZ
Room	Own enviroment1	Not medical:  Geboortehuis If medical: delivery room	Delivery room	Delivery room
Staff	Midwife + maternity care	Midwife + maternity care	Midwife + maternity care	Midwife + maternity care
Pain relief	Shower,  TENS (buy yourself)	Geboortehuis: entonox, TENS If medical: remifentanyl,  epidural	At 2 rooms: entonox (not always available)  If medical remifentanyl,  epidural	–     If medical: remifentanyl,  epidural
Birthing pool	Yes (buy yourself)	Geboortehuis: 4 birthing pools available (costs: €75) 2 rooms have a normal bathtub2   If medical: 1 birthing pool3 (costs involved)	2 rooms with a birthing pool available  Other rooms have a normal bathtub2	1 birthing pool available (no costs) There is 1 normal bathtub in a seperate bathroom2
If medical	transfer from home to hospital	Transfer from Geboortehuis to delivery room if possible4   Staff:  Clinical Midwife or resident	Same room Staff:  Clinical midwife or resident	Same room Staff:  Clinical midwife or resident
Residence partner when mother is admitted after delivery (in maternity week)	n/a	Partner kan sleep in the same room as mother and baby	Partner kan sleep in the same room as mother and baby	Partner can sometimes sleep in the same room as mother and the baby (often mothers shares the room with another woman and her baby)
When baby is admitted after the delivery	n/a	Baby in a different department (if available then in the same room)	Baby in the same room as the parents	Baby in a different department

1.      Conditions for home birth: Always discuss this with us during consultation hours, so that we can think along with you in your specific situation. General principles are: a maximum of 1 easily accessible staircase to the floor where you want to give birth. Property easily accessible for emergency services. See further above under the heading ‘home birth’. For a water birth at home: a bed (at the right height) in the same room as the birthing pool. For more information, see the page about water birth.

2.      You can relax in a bathtub to cope with the contractions during dilation. It is not desirable to give birth in a bathtub because there is not enough space.

3.      It is not always possible to give birth in the birthing pool during a medical delivery, this depends on the
availability and of which medical indication you have.

4.      When you are in the Geboortehuis in the Diakonessenhuis and a medical indication arises, then there is
always a medical room available in emergencies. In non-urgent cases (e.g. needing pain relief) you may have to go to another hospital when it is very busy. This means that you go from the Geboortehuis to another hospital in the region.

Virtual tour and information evening

Would you like to know more about giving birth in hospital? The St. Antonius Hospital and the Diakonessenhuis host (online) information evenings. The WKZ and the St. Antonius also have videos on their websites offering a virtual tour of the hospital.

In our own (Dutch) online information video we also discuss the (small) differences between the hospitals. Around week 30 of your pregnancy you will receive a link to this information video. Would you like to receive it sooner? Ask the assistant!