Can I choose ANY hospital to give birth in?

[theboysmammy]

I am thinking about moving house when 7 months pregnant. The new place would be 5-10mins over the county border. Does that mean I'm no longer allowed to give birth in the hospital I am currently marked down for?

I have already chosen one that is NOT my closest hospital (second closest from current location), so I will be moving 10 mins drive further away still.

Or does it not matter which county you are in?

I moved when I was 22 weeks pregnant last time. I had to re-book in with the new midwives. This meant filling in a whole new set of forms because even though I stayed within Leicestershire, I moved from one hospital trust area to another. I then had to book in with another hospital.

However, even though I?m in Leicestershire and I?ve chosen to go with one of the three options within the ?University of Leicester Hospitals? trust, I had the option to book in with Kettering hospital which is in Northamptonshire but is actually closer than Leicester.

So, I think the answer is that, yes, you should probably be able to choose within reason. Best to check with your new midwives though.

As far as I know you can give birth wherever you choose. I have chosen a hospital out of my borough and further away based on the kind of specialty care they provide rather than proximity.

Just let the hospital know your change of address once you've moved.

yep you can. I had the option of Warwickshire or West Midlands hospitals when I gave birth.

If I were you I would not tell them I had moved until I arrived for booking at the hospital on the day of birth if you think there is a problem. I would just stay registered at my present doctors and change my telephone contact to my mobile just for a couple of months. My dad has not lived in our village for 5 years but is still registered at our doctors using this address (his previous one BTW) as he has a good relationship with the doctors here.

Thanks for the advice - I might just hold off on telling them for a bit - I don't really want to leave the doc's surgery here and I really like my community midwife.... only problem will be if she wants to do a home visit..