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Day 192 of 280 · 27 weeks + 3 days

The birthplace decision

Last reviewed · 3 min read · 8 sources · Plain-text version

Twenty-seven weeks and three days. The NHS says to start thinking about where to give birth. Today you pick one, tell your provider, and learn the route.

Size this week
about the size of a head of cauliflower
Length this week
around 36.6 cm from head to heel
An East Asian couple in a parked car outside a hospital entrance in soft overcast light, she with a clear 27-week bump under a denim jacket, he pointing at the door sign.

Twenty-seven weeks and three days. Back at 17 weeks you may have made a shortlist of places to give birth. Today you choose one, out loud, and find the door you'd walk in through.

Your baby

One whole head of cauliflower with the leaves trimmed, on a plain pale wooden table, soft window light.

Around 36.6cm from head to heel, about the size of a head of cauliflower (NHS). The lungs are now capable of breathing, and the baby is getting plumper by the day (NHS). There are weeks of growing still to do, and a place to finish it.

Your body

"Start thinking about where to give birth" is on the NHS's list for this week (NHS). In the NHS's terms the options are a hospital, a midwife-led unit, or a home birth, and you can change your mind later (NHS). What's on offer depends on where you live and on your pregnancy, which is why the choice goes through your provider.

The place connects to the plan. The NHS suggests a birth plan that covers your pain relief preferences and the role of your birth partner (NHS), and both of those depend partly on where you'll be. The AAP adds the practical layer: write down the hospital's name, address and phone number, your doctor or midwife and their backup, and the quickest route and entrance (AAP).

Try today

  1. The birthplace decision

    Time: 20 minutes

    1. Take out your shortlist, or make one now from the options your provider offers (NHS).

    2. Pick one and write the single reason that decided it.

    3. Tell your provider at your next visit, and ask what happens if plans change on the day.

    4. Write the name, address, phone number, quickest route and entrance on one card, and save it in both phones (AAP).

    Make it work:

    You're choosing, not signing. The NHS says you can change your mind (NHS), and a plan made now is easier to change than one made at 38 weeks.

Watch for

  • Normal

    headaches, which are on this week's NHS list (NHS).

    Call your provider

    right away for changes in your vision, or a headache that comes with blurred vision or dizziness (CDC).

  • Normal

    round ligament pain, also on the list (NHS).

    Call your provider right away

    for constant, severe belly pain, possible contractions, or pain with bleeding or fever (MedlinePlus).

  • Normal

    some vaginal discharge.

    Call your provider

    if it smells bad, turns greenish, itches, or hurts; vaginal infections matter in pregnancy because they may cause preterm labor (MedlinePlus).

For you

The right place is the one that fits your pregnancy and the two of you, not the one with the best reviews or the one your friend loved. Choose for yourselves, with your provider's input, and let the rest go.

For bleeding late in pregnancy, MedlinePlus says your provider will tell you whether to go to the ER or to labor and delivery, and whether to drive or call an ambulance (MedlinePlus). Knowing the building and its entrances now means that call ends with you already knowing the way.

If you're the partner: drive the route once this week, at the time of day you'd be most likely to need it, and find out where you'd park.

Sources

This guide is general education that summarizes published research and guidance from groups like the American Academy of Pediatrics, the CDC, and the WHO. It isn’t medical advice, and every child develops on their own timeline. Your pediatrician knows your child; if something feels wrong, call them. In an emergency, call 911.

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