Home birth enquiries soar as Duchess Catherine announces she is expecting third child

The number of home birth enquiries has soared since Duchess Catherine announced she was expecting her third child.
The 35-year-old royal announced her and her husband Prince William – who are already parents to Prince George, four, and Princess Charlotte, two – were expecting another child and Private Midwives, the country’s largest private provider of home birth services saw a 44 percent increase in enquiries.
Duchess Catherine is reportedly keen to have a home birth this time around.
Linda Bryceland, director of midwifery, quality and safety at Private Midwives, said: "We’ve seen a definite rise in interest surrounding home births following the Duchess of Cambridge’s announcement, with many of the services she and other A-listers utilise becoming more readily accessible and affordable, we’re seeing expectant mothers being presented with more and more options. It’s now even easier to tailor birthing care and plan a journey that suits mothers-to-be.
"As well as a rise in awareness, there is also an increase in professional career driven women who in the current economic climate do not want to take time off work for antenatal appointments – their partners also frequently struggle to get time off to attend antenatal appointments."
The research also revealed that almost a third (29 percent) of people would prefer to give birth in their home. And for those who wanted to give birth in a hospital, over half of them (62%) would like to have their baby in a birthing suite, similar to what the likes of Amal Clooney and Cheryl Tweedy had.