can you have a home birth at a different address?

[SpotlessMind88]

I'm 36 weeks pregnant and am thinking about having a home birth. This is my first baby and I'm low risk.
I had my heart set on giving birth at a birthing centre but was told today that my partner would be made to leave at 8pm and not allowed to stay if I was to give birth there. I'm devastated, I already suffer from anxiety and corona-phobia and really didn't want to have to be alone at any point. Now I'm thinking it would be better to have a home birth but my brother has just moved back home and I don't really want to give birth with him around lol.
Does anyone know if it is possible to have a home birth at my partner's address rather than my registered address? They are both in east London but different boroughs.

I don’t see why not. In my trust they come and do a home visit beforehand to check the environment and make sure it’s feasible. I think that was around the 36 week mark so I would let your midwife know ASAP.

How would you get there if you had a sudden, fast labour? That would be my worry about planning a "home" birth not at home.

Would you move in with him temporarily for the few weeks around the due date perhaps?

I would also check whether the 8pm deadline applies to active labour - usually it doesn't. They likely just mean after you're on the ward with your newborn. And if everything has gone well, generally if you would prefer to you can actually be discharged if it bothers you being alone on the ward.

If it's a different borough your midwife may not work in it.

Would it not be easier for your DB to go stay at your DPs while your labour ?

I think this could be complicated, unfortunately. Different boroughs will have different home birth midwifery teams, attached to different hospitals. I moved from one London borough to another while pregnant (only about 5 miles) and was told that if I wanted a home birth at my new address, I would have to re-register with a different hospital, nearer to the new house, as the midwives at my original hospital would not attend a home birth in a different borough.

You could look into switching hospitals in order to get a home birth, or maybe contact other birth centres in the area to ask about their policies with partners staying? I'd also phone your birth centre and get them to clarify their policy tbh, I know several people who recently gave birth in East London hospitals (during lockdown!) and they all had their partners with them during labour. I had my baby in a North London hospital in April & my birth partner was with me during active labour and allowed to stay for about 2 hours after my baby was born.

@BertieBotts I didn't actually know I could be discharged rather than staying on the ward if all has gone well. I'll definetly be doing that (fingers crossed). Thanks so much for your advice and for everyone's input. Really appreciate it xx

I have experience in this area...

You just need to check to see if your partner’s address is within your current unit catchment and if not you will need to transfer units but if everything else has been quite straightforward in pregnancy that’s not usually too much of an issue. Just do the online referral for the new unit and go from there.

You might just want to consider what you would prefer in the event of transfer though- because if you need to go to hospital you will get taken to the unit that covers your partner’s address.

Most places are not kicking birth partners out at 8pm. If you are in active labour they will be able to stay. HTH

They won’t kick your partner out if in active labour- you’re confusing the visiting hours