Giving birth in Guildford

[Isil]

Hi ladies,
We have just recently moved to Guildford and we are expecting our first baby.I'm 26 weeks now. (est. due date 13th Jan.)We are eligible for NHS, though I don't have any idea about how long the process of application will take. Besides I have heart that NHS hospitals tend to intervene during the delivery.
I want a birth as natural as possible, with the least intervention possible and I'm also considering a homebirth.
What would you suggest to me? Should I look for an independent midwife? Should I see a private doc? Any recommended ones? Are NHS hospitals (Royal Surrey) in Guildford good enough? Can I find doulas here, since we have noone from the family that would be great.
Thanks for taking your time.

I gave birth to ds in 2000 and received excellent care (having had nightmare at another hospital with dd 2 years previous).

However, at the end of the day it is an NHS hospital and you will have to take it as you find it. They do now have a home birth centre which is a half-way house between home birth and hospital. I think the room is more homely, you have your own bathroom and kitchen area etc and the midwives treat it more like a homebirth. However, if things go wrong and you need cs or epidural etc you are right next to the hospital for a quick transfer.

My midwife had tempted me with this option but unfortunately I now think I will have to have intravenous antibiotics during labour so it rules it out for me.

No info on doulas around, however, the NCT around the area is very strong and are usually a mine of info. Good luck.