A birth partner is someone who can support you during labour and delivery. Having a birth partner to ‘lean on’ during labour and delivery can be helpful (eg by providing emotional and physical support) and has been shown to reduce the need for pain relief.
Your birth partner can be anyone you would like with you during childbirth. For example, a spouse or partner, a family member (eg parent), a close friend or a professional birth partner (eg a doula).
You can choose whether or not you want to be accompanied by a birth partner. You may also choose to have more than one birth partner. Depending on where you are giving birth, you should check how many birth partners you can have with you. For example, hospitals may have policies in place allowing only one birth partner.
However, it’s important to note that a hospital or midwifery unit/birthing centre cannot refuse to allow your chosen birth partner to be with you unless they have a good reason for doing so. For example, a hospital may refuse your choice of birth partner if the person has previously been violent towards doctors or nurses in that hospital.
Hospitals or midwifery units/birthing centres also cannot refuse your reasonable request for more than one birth partner, even if they have a policy allowing only one birth partner. Exceptions to such a policy should be made if you reasonably need the support of more than one birth partner.
The Equality Act 2010 imposes further requirements on healthcare professionals. Specifically, special care must be taken to ensure that anyone with a disability or anyone who speaks a language other than English (including British Sign Language) receives the support they need. This means that anyone offering support to such individuals (eg carers or sign language interpreters) should not be counted as birth partners under the hospital’s or midwifery unit’s/birthing centre’s birth partner policy.
For more information, see the Birthright guidance on birth partners.