3.1.1. Choice of birthplace
Organisations in both countries
adjusted their advice for the choice of birthplace according to whether
the woman giving birth was suspected of being positive for COVID-19
(Table 3). The most striking difference between the UK and the NL was
the provision of home birth services. Although most guidance advised
that the provision of home birth and midwifery-led choices should
continue, a Royal College of Midwives (RCM) survey of the heads and
directors of midwifery reported that 32% of services had stopped or
restricted home births in the UK (RCM_33). Home birth services were
discontinued in some UK regions, mainly due to (anticipated or actual)
staff shortages in hospitals and ambulance services (RCOG_2a, _11).
Conversely, in the NL, women who were considered to be low-risk were
initially advised not to give birth at the hospital to reduce the
potential impact on hospital capacity (KNOV_1, 22 March 2020). However,
this advice was withdrawn within a month (24 April 2020), as it became
clear that there were no actual capacity issues due to COVID-19.
Table 3 Choice of birthplace