Since the early 1990s, government
policy on maternity care in England has moved towards
policies designed to give women with straightforward pregnancies a
choice of settings for birth.1 2 In this context, freestanding midwifery units, midwifery units located in the
same building or on the
same site as an obstetric unit (hereafter referred to as alongside midwifery units), and home birth services have increasingly become relevant to the configuration of maternity services
under consideration in England.3 The relative benefits and risks of birth in these alternative settings have been widely debated in recent years.4 5 6 7 8 9 10 Lower rates of obstetric interventions and other positive maternal outcomes have been consistently found in planned births at home and in midwifery units, but clear conclusions regarding perinatal outcome have been lacking.