Birth guide

Choose the Birth Guide to find the right care for you and your baby.

Finding a good service during one of the most important events in life is crucial, and depends largely on accessing the right maternity information. The Birth Guide makes it simple for you to find the help best suited to your needs as an expectant mother. With the ability to research different maternity units by postcode or by alphabetical listing, as well as compare the services they offer, our directory gives you the need-to-know that every mother and child deserves.

The Birth Guide is a comprehensive resource designed to give expectant mothers the detailed maternity information needed to choose the care that best suits, such as:

  • Availability & Rates of Scans
  • Caesarean Rates
  • Pain Relief such as Epidurals & Pethidine or Natural Birth options

It's important to note that in deciding on your maternity unit, there are two main options, Consultant-led and Midwife-led units. Both have their benefits, so it's a good idea to research which choice will suit your needs.

Dr Foster is an independent organisation dedicated to helping patients make informed decisions about their health. Find the birth information you need with the option to either search an alphabetical list of Consultants and Midwives, or simply search for your nearest service by typing in your postcode.

More information on maternity unit types

Shared midwife and consultant units: This is the traditional hospital-based maternity unit staffed with doctors and midwives which account for the vast majority of births in the UK. These units have consultant obstetricians on staff and are able to deal with both complex and straightforward pregnancies and deliveries. Many will offer a choice of being under the supervision of a doctor or a midwife, although if there are complications you will almost certainly be put under the care of a doctor. These units are capable of carrying out all medical interventions in childbirth and can offer a full anaesthetic service, including epidurals.

Midwife-led units: These maternity units do not have consultants working in them and offer services for women who show no signs of having any difficulty giving birth naturally. Most of them are staffed entirely by midwives although in a few GPs with training in obstetrics also provide care.

By and large these units offer a very different style of care compared with consultant units. In general there are no anaesthetists to administer epidurals and no surgeons to perform caesarean sections. Interventions are very limited. Midwife-led units can provide an environment in which women are given support to give birth without medical intervention or high levels of drugs for pain relief. However, if you do get into difficulties at one of these units, you would be quickly transferred to a large hospital.