Why would you choose to give birth away from a hospital?
The surprising truth doctors don’t tell you.
When we think of childbirth, a hospital setting with doctors and medical specialists standing by might feel like the safest option. So why would anyone choose to give birth somewhere else?
Birth Is a Natural, Instinctive Process
To understand why someone might want to give birth away from a hospital, let’s start with how the body approaches birth. Birth, like digestion or breathing, is governed by the autonomic nervous system—meaning it works best when we don’t try to consciously control it. Just as we don’t think about digesting our food, our bodies know how to give birth on their own. When we let birth unfold naturally, it can proceed without intervention, with most women’s bodies fully capable of handling it.
The Physiology of Birth vs. Medical Pathology
Most women experience what’s called physiology during birth—when things work as they’re naturally supposed to, without interference. Imagine a mother in nature: she finds a safe, private place, and her body does the rest. The body has evolved over thousands of years to make birth as safe as possible, and in most cases, it simply requires minimal support.
Hospitals are equipped to handle pathology, which is when something goes wrong, and that’s where doctors and medical teams come in. However, for most women, physiological birth proceeds without complications, and having a medical team actively involved can feel unnecessary or even inhibiting. This understanding of physiology and pathology leads many women to choose environments that support the natural process rather than expecting intervention.
The Role of Oxytocin and the Birth Environment
Oxytocin, often called the “love hormone,” is key to labour. It starts contractions, helps them progress, and keeps labour moving along. For oxytocin to flow optimally, the birthing environment needs to feel calm, private, and undisturbed—essentially, similar to an environment where you’d feel comfortable having intimate moments. In such settings, oxytocin is released in abundance, which helps the body stay relaxed and the labour progress naturally.
In contrast, hospital environments can inadvertently slow down oxytocin production. Moving from home to the hospital, getting settled into a hospital room, having strangers enter and exit, and hearing medical equipment can feel disruptive. Imagine trying to be intimate in a setting like that—it’s not surprising that oxytocin levels may decrease, which can slow labour and, in some cases, make interventions seem necessary. This is one of the main reasons some women choose home births or birth centres where they feel more comfortable, unobserved, and free from medical routines that might stall labour.
Birth and Our Thinking Brain
As humans, we have a highly developed “thinking” brain, or neocortex. This part of the brain loves to analyse, understand, and control things—which can make it harder for women to just “let go” and allow birth to happen naturally. Being in a hospital can make it challenging to quiet that thinking brain, as questions from doctors, medical procedures, and equipment all stimulate our analytical side rather than the instinctual, primal part of the brain that drives physiological birth.
In contrast, in a non-hospital setting, women often find it easier to let go of that need to control, trusting their bodies and instincts. This relaxation can lead to smoother, less stressful labours, with the body progressing naturally. By choosing a setting outside the hospital, some women find it easier to feel “in the zone” and focus fully on the sensations of birth rather than the mechanics or potential complications.
Choosing What’s Right for You
Ultimately, the choice of where to give birth should come down to where you feel safest and most supported. For some women, that’s a hospital. But for others, a home or birth centre offers the kind of privacy and calm that allows them to surrender to the birth process and let their bodies take the lead. In either case, the goal is to ensure you feel empowered and positive about your birth experience, no matter where it happens.
