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The suspension of Jersey's home birth service has left expectant mothers and users feeling “saddened”, “devastated”, “disheartened” and “shocked” — with some even considering unassisted home births as the pause enters its fourth month with no clear end date in sight, Express has learned.
As Express revealed yesterday, the Health Department suspended the service in October to carry out an internal review of protocols, staff training, and resources.
It follows a significant decline in home births from 45 deliveries in 2022 and 43 in 2023 to just nine in 2024 before the suspension.
Director of Midwifery Ros Bullen-Bell said the review aims to improve the service, though the department has not specified when home births might resume.
The lack of a timeline has left families feeling unsupported and, in some cases, forced to consider alternatives such as unassisted home births, or “freebirthing”, which some see as riskier to both mother and child.
Shelley Porter, who had a home birth after three hospital deliveries prior to the refurbishment of the Maternity Unit being completed, said she was “completely put off” by her experience in hospital when she had her third child.
“There was a lot of work going on at the time and it just felt noisy and cluttered,” she explained. “At the time there were no toilet facilities in the room where you were giving birth. Walking through a corridor to go to the toilet, past nurses and other patients while in labour, is not comfortable at all.”
She went on to describe the “magical” experience of giving birth at home in a “calm space” surrounded by “home comforts” where she was able to choose music to have in the background and felt completely “in control”.
Pictured: Shelley Porter, who gave birth at home after three hospital deliveries, described the contrast between her experiences.
“Giving birth at home was hands down the most magical thing I’ve ever done,” Shelley said. “I wish I would’ve had all of my children at home.
“My eldest son was able to cut the cord off his little sister, and it’s just something the two of them will have as a bond for the rest of their life.”
“I’m hoping watching his mum give birth will give him a headstart to be a good birthing partner himself one day.”
Shelley added that she felt “saddened” for those denied the option, saying that it could have “detrimental” consequences.
“It’s extremely hard on women after they’ve given birth both physically and mentally and it is important they are given the right start.”
Another islander who turned to home birth after a challenging hospital experience was Alix Le Cornu.
She said: “I had a terrible experience with my first birth in hospital. I felt completely out of control and ended up with lots of medical interventions, followed by several very lonely days in the hospital.
“I ended up with severe post-natal depression so wanted to explore a different route with my second-born.
Alix went on to describe her home birth as “a healing experience” and emphasised the benefits of being in her own environment.
Pictured: Alix Le Cornu experienced a hospital birth with her first child and a home birth with her second.
“From the moment the midwife came round to do the initial home check she completely put my mind at ease.
“On the day the midwife was amazing. The difference that being in your own home makes is huge psychologically.
“My labour was quick and I was allowed to move about my home while the midwife gave me space.
“I had complete confidence that she had everything under control and my son arrived with no trauma and no interventions next to the Christmas tree in 2021.”
Alix said she feels “devastated” at the lack of options now available for women.
“Having experienced both environments, this would honestly put me off having another child if I knew I didn’t have this option,” she said.
The suspension has left expectant mothers like Jade Le Neveu without their preferred option after she also faced a difficult experience in the hospital.
She said: “My first experience in hospital wasn’t ideal, and my labour was so fast that I’m keen to avoid the stressful car journey and instead remain in the comfort of my own home and use a birthing pool, which I didn’t get to experience the first time."
Pictured: Jade Le Neveu is expecting her second child in April.
She continued: “I completely understand that the baby’s safety is the priority, and I’m prepared to be flexible depending on circumstances. However, it’s so disheartening not to even have the option of a home birth.”
Poppy Elizabeth also shared her contrasting experiences of childbirth, having opted for a home birth with her youngest child.
Two of her three children were born in Jersey, including her second child, who was delivered in June 2020 during the height of the pandemic and in what she described as a “stressful” and “terrible” experience.
“The birth was terrible. From the moment I went into labour and phoned maternity, I felt unheard about my level of pain.”
In contrast, her first birth, which took place in a different country, was quick, calm, and relaxed.
When she became pregnant with her third child, Poppy and her partner reflected on these two very different experiences and decided that a home birth would offer the relaxed and calm environment they wanted.
Pictured: “It was a lovely relaxing environment."
They also considered research indicating better outcomes with home births and the practicalities of having two young children at home. “Birth is unpredictable, and it was easier to think they could stay asleep in bed,” she explained.
Poppy’s third labour turned out to be very fast – just two hours from start to finish – compared to 24 hours with her second.
“We only had one midwife present as it all happened so quickly,” she said.
Her son, Wilf, was born at 5:00 while her older two children were still asleep upstairs. They woke later to meet their new baby brother, along with the second midwife and a student who had arrived after the birth.
“It was a lovely relaxing environment,” Poppy recalled. “I went from the birthing pool to my own bed, and by 7:30 that morning, the midwives had gone – you wouldn’t have known I’d given birth hours earlier!”
While Shelly, Alix, Jade and Poppy have argued the suspension causes a lack of autonomy for families, others have said the benefits of home births extend beyond personal preference.
Kat de la Mare, a former doula and vocal supporter of community midwifery, spoke to Express about the importance of maintaining the service.
“For some women who suffered from anxiety or had previous birth trauma, going into the hospital was just not an option. For others, we just wanted to birth our babies at home because deep down we knew that this was how it was meant to be.”
Pictured: Kat de la Mare is a former doula – a trained professional who provides physical, emotional and informational support to their client before, during and shortly after childbirth.
She continued: “I was always filled with so much happiness when I was attending a birth at home, watching the midwives sit back quietly in support of these women at their most vulnerable and sacred time and stepping in if needed.
“Serving birth is an honour, and serving it at a woman’s home where she feels completely safe and relaxed is just such a different experience to a hospital birth. Simply because a woman is at home in her own environment, all of her hormones help labour along dance their beautiful dance together at their own pace. There is no rush. This is how birth is meant to be. It is truly sacred.”
Kat also pointed to research showing that planned home births often lead to fewer complications and interventions for low-risk pregnancies.
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She cited a Cochrane Library study published in 2023, which concluded that “planned hospital births increase the number of complications and interventions without achieving any demonstrable benefits in terms of lower maternal or child mortality".
While acknowledging the vital role hospitals play in high-risk pregnancies and emergencies, she stressed that “the vast majority” of pregnancies are low-risk.
“I am, quite frankly, raging that this service has been suspended for so long. Pregnant mothers keep being told the service is ‘under review’, only to then be told they ‘must’ birth in the hospital as their estimated due date arrives.”
Eloise Noel, who is five months pregnant, said she was “shocked” by the suspension of the home birth service, describing it as a clear “reduction in women’s choice”.
“We should be given as many birthing options as possible,” she said.
Eloise also raised concerns about the potential consequences of the suspension, warning that women without the option of homebirths may now consider freebirthing — giving birth at home without medical assistance.
“Freebirthing rates have increased elsewhere, with five cases in Guernsey last year because there was no home birthing option,” she explained. “The concern is now that some women in Jersey will be forced to consider birthing at home alone without medical help, if their preference was for a home birth over a hospital birth."
"It is a wonderful thing to give birth at home"
Amanda Berresford also spoke with Express about her frustration at the suspension of the home birth service, describing it as "really upsetting" and evidence of "false promises" and a lack of priority given to women by the Government.
She said she felt that she had no choice but to spend £400 on a single-use birthing pool to use at home.
“I initially felt some hope as every two weeks the maternity team would say it might be back on. They dangle this carrot in front of you. I’ve been asking since my 12-week scan about this. I’m now 37 weeks, so that is a very long time to be hoping that they will sort themselves out, which they clearly haven’t,” she said.
“It is a wonderful thing to give birth at home," she said, adding that she felt like one of the "best" choices for her had been "eliminated".
While Amanda made it clear she does not wish to free birth – give birth without medical assistance – she said she feels the ongoing suspension could leave her with no other viable option.
Another mother, speaking anonymously, said the suspension was “absolutely criminal” — and said she would pursue an unassisted home birth if she were due while the service was expected.
“I have had four home births and would without any doubt be having an unassisted home birth if I were pregnant at the moment and told I had to go in to give birth.
“The hospital is not the place for newborns and pregnant women to be at this time of year surrounded by illness and huge volumes of people.”
This comes just four years after maternity care in Jersey was hit by damning reports, describing it as “inadequate and highly unacceptable”.
A total of 127 recommendations were made in response to the review in the Maternity Improvement Plan – 87 of which had been completed as of January 2024.
But in a heated Scrutiny hearing last year, Professor Simon Mackenzie – who came to the island in January 2023 as the clinical lead in a five-person “change team” – said that progress in the maternity department had been "helped along by the fact that there was going to be this inquest into the death of Amelia Clyde-Smith".
In April 2024, an inquest into the death of baby Amelia – who was just 33 days old when she passed away – found that "failings in the midwifery team" and "neglect" on the labour ward contributed to the tragic outcome.
And an update on the progress of the Maternity Improvement Plan, which was presented to the Health Advisory Board last summer, said that "there are still concerns regarding the culture" in the department – namely relationships between doctors and midwives, doctors and doctors, and midwives in hospital and midwives in the community.
Meanwhile, a leading midwifery union raised concerns about persistent "poor culture" and retention issues within the department in late 2023.
The Royal College of Midwives found a "perception among staff that maternity management are not prioritising their health and wellbeing" and that midwives had been left unable to take any breaks when working 13.5-hour day shifts and 11.5-hour night shifts.
At the time, the Health and Community Services' executive team described the concerns as "somewhat out of date".
"At the time that this was submitted RCM may not have been fully aware of developments over the last year to improve maternity services," they explained.
"Internal review" sees Jersey's home birth service suspended
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Mother welcomes "neglect" finding in baby Amelia inquest (April 2024)
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