Home Birth Canterbury

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Home Birth Canterbury

The Canterbury Homebirth Association is a voluntary organisation that promotes and supports home birth as an alternative to hospital birth.

01/11/2026

Birth is more than a moment. It’s the beginning of a story, for a pēpi, a whānau, and generations to come.

Every wāhine deserves to feel informed, heard and supported as she prepares to welcome her pēpi into the world.

Across Aotearoa, every whānau has a story. Every birth is unique. And every journey deserves to be met with respect, manaakitanga and the freedom to make informed choices about where and how birth unfolds.
Because where we welcome our pēpi matters.

Home birth Awareness Week

01/11/2026

Now Home Birth Awareness week is drawing to a close, let's connect and talk about home birth together.

Our final community catch up of the year is on TOMORROW NIGHT!

Monday 2nd November, 7:30pm
14 Denali Street, Halswell

Topic: Siblings at Births

Interested? Come along! We'd love to meet you!

31/10/2026

CURIOUS ABOUT HOME BIRTH?

Ask us anything.
Maybe you’re curious about pain relief, transferring, water birth, what your midwife does, what you need at home or what happens after pēpi arrives.
Maybe you’ve never really considered home birth
and simply want to understand more.

Questions are welcome.

There is no silly question when it comes to making informed decisions about your birth.

What would you like to know about
home birth?

Drop your question below or send us a message.

30/10/2026

Behind every home birth is a story.
“I CHOSE HOME BECAUSE...”

A reason.
A feeling.
A whānau.
A journey.

For some, home feels familiar and private. For others, it is about having siblings close by, being in their own space, moving freely or creating a birth environment that feels connected and calm.

And sometimes the reason is simply:
“It felt right for us.”
Because there isn’t one way to birth at home and there isn’t one reason why someone chooses it.

Why did you choose home?

Share your story with us in the comments or send us a DM. We’d love to hear it.

29/10/2026

SUPPORTING YOUR CHOICE

Choosing your birth place comes with questions.

What are my options?
What happens if my plans change?
Who will support me?
What matters most to me and my whānau?

Having space to ask those questions without judgement matters.
Being supported doesn’t mean being told what to choose.
It means having access to information, being listened to, having your questions taken seriously and being supported to make decisions about your own care.
To the midwives, doulas, partners, whānau and friends who help wāhine feel heard and held ngā mihi.

Who has made you feel supported on your birth journey?
Tag them below.

28/10/2026

WHAT DOES HOME BIRTH LOOK LIKE?
There is no one way to birth at home.
For one whānau, it might mean a birth pool in the living room. For another, labouring in the bedroom, walking through the garden, listening to music or simply being surrounded by familiar faces.
It might be quiet.
It might be loud.
It might involve laughter, tears, movement, stillness .... or all of it.

Home birth doesn’t have one look.

Every wāhine. Every pēpi. Every whānau. Every birth story is unique.

This Home birth Awareness Week, we’re celebrating the many different ways home birth can look across Aotearoa.

What would make your birth space feel like home?

27/10/2026

Knowing your options means hearing stories, following your instincts and knowing what the evidence says.
Research from Aotearoa has found that for low risk wāhine, planned place of birth is associated with differences in the amount of intervention experienced during labour and birth.
Women planning to birth at home or in primary units had fewer interventions than women planning birth in secondary or tertiary settings.
Your place of birth is one of the choices you can explore with your LMC.

Ask questions. Look at the evidence. Talk through your individual circumstances.

Because informed choice starts with knowing what your options are.

Davis D, et al.
Planned place of birth in New Zealand: does it affect mode of birth and intervention rates?
BIRTH. 2011;38(2):111–119.

26/10/2026

HOME BIRTH AWARENESS WEEK | BIRTH PLACE MATTERS
Where we give birth matters.
The place we birth can influence the people around us, the environment we are in,
the care we receive and how supported we feel
throughout the experience.
For some wāhine and whānau, home is the place that feels right.
Home birth Awareness Week is an opportunity to talk about birth place, understand the options available to you, ask questions and hear from whānau who have chosen to birth at home.
There is no one right place to birth for everyone.
What matters is having access to information and support to make decisions that are right for you and your whānau.
What mattered most to you when choosing where to birth?

21/10/2026

A local mum has reached out asking us to post on her behalf. She's looking for postpartum doula recommendations. If you've used a postpartum doula you loved, drop a comment recommending them!

17/10/2026

Midwives who get the whole family involved 🥰💙🧡

Address

Christchurch
Dorset

Website

http://www.canterburyhomebirth.org.nz/

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