A history of childbirth in the UK – from home, to hospital, to COVID-19

By Tania McIntosh, Principal Lecturer in Midwifery, University of Brighton

My daughter was pregnant, and gave birth, in 2020. She attended every antenatal appointment and scan alone. Her partner sat on a chair on an empty hospital corridor while she was in early labour on the ward. Hers is now a normal experience for women. The COVID-19 pandemic has challenged assumptions about the childbearing year. Some features of this change are very clear. Others will take much longer to see and to understand.

In the UK, the first thing to be impacted in the spring lockdown was where women gave birth. In over a…

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