Deliberately unassisted birth in Ireland: Understanding choice in Irish maternity services

Four individual cases of professionally unattended birth are used to explore the larger ‘case’ of homebirth service provision in Ireland. The women in these cases were unable to access midwife-attended homebirth. They depended on emergency services for hospital transfer. They hid their intention to birth unattended in order to avoid criticism of themselves or their lay attendants. Current Irish Health Service Executive (HSE) homebirth provision does not adequately address demand for homebirth in Ireland. Some women, including those considered too high-risk for homebirth, will choose to birth alone if midwifery attendance is unavailable.