Birth Options in Ontario - Location
Choosing the Right Setting for You
Understanding your choices—home birth, hospital birth, and birth centre—can help you make a decision that aligns with your values, your health needs, and your sense of safety.
Choosing where to give birth is one of the most important decisions you’ll make during your pregnancy journey. Yet, the majority of Canadians do not know what options they can even choose from. They tell their family physician they’re pregnant and get referred to an obstetrician and their affiliated hospital without much thought.
“This is just what happens.”
In Canada, you actually can choose the type of physician and the location that feels best suited for your family. This article and Choosing Your Practitioner discusses those options, along with their benefits and considerations. So let’s jump right into it.
Home Birth: Familiar, Peaceful, and Personal
Home birth is a safe option for low-risk pregnancies under the care of a registered midwife. In Canada, midwives are licensed professionals trained to attend births at home and carry emergency equipment with them (including oxygen, IV fluids, and resuscitation tools).
Pros:
You’re in your own space—calm, quiet, uninterrupted
Fewer interventions
Immediate skin-to-skin and family bonding
Midwifery care has more touchpoints and is highly personalized
No need to travel during labor
Considerations:
Must be low-risk (e.g., no preeclampsia, placenta previa, multiples, etc.)
Emergency transfers to hospital may occasionally be necessary (midwives handle this efficiently)
Not every family feels emotionally safe birthing at home—your comfort is key. If you’re on the fence, learn about home birth statistics. You’d be shocked to know they are just as safe, if not more safe, than hospital births.
Hospital Birth: Medical Access + Wider Options for Pain Relief
Hospital births in Canada are attended by obstetricians, family doctors, or midwives. Each practitioner is assigned privileges at specific locations. Hospitals are equipped to handle all types of births, including high-risk situations and surgical births.
Pros:
Full access to medical support (epidural, monitoring, emergency surgery)
Full team of surgeons, anesthesiologists and neonatal specialties for those with high-risk pregnancies or complications
Access to pain management options like epidurals, nitrous oxide (laughing gas) and IV medications.
Considerations:
There are more policies, protocols, monitoring, and possible interventions
Less privacy as some hospitals are teaching hospitals
Possible restrictions on movement and food intake
Longer stays postpartum
All three practitioners (midwives, obstetricians and family physicians can support in hospital settings.
Birth Centre: A Middle Ground Between Home and Hospital
Birth centres are designed to feel home-like while offering additional birth resources. In Canada, these are available in select provinces (e.g., Ontario and Quebec). They are run by midwives and are equipped for low-risk births with quick access to emergency hospital care if needed. Unfortunately, the birth centre in Ontario is located at 525 Dundas St E, Toronto, ON M5A 2B6 and you must live within the catchment area of one of the eleven surrounding midwifery clinics.
Pros:
Calm, home-like environment
Midwifery-led care
Bathtubs, birth stools, and tools to support physiological birth
Shorter stay than hospital
Option for water birth in many centres
Nitrous oxide is available for pain management
Considerations:
Only available in certain areas
Must be under midwifery care to access
Hospital transfer needed for pain medication like epidural
This is one of the most influential decisions you’ll make during your pregnancy as it impacts every aspect of your birth experience.
Each option holds value—what matters most is where you feel safest, supported, and informed. You don’t need to follow what others are doing. You get to choose what feels aligned with your needs, your health, and your hopes.
If you want to talk through this decision, just send us an email and let’s see how we can support you.
