The decision about where to have your baby is an important one. You do have choices, you are not limited to the closest location, but these do depend on your individual needs.

Your midwife will talk through your options with you. Together you will make a final plan for your birth towards the end of your pregnancy, usually around 36 weeks.

Wherever you choose to have your baby, the place should feel right for you and you can change your mind at any time during your pregnancy.

Read about choosing your birth location on the NHS website, including advantages and considerations of each type of location. There is also a helpful list of questions you can ask your midwife to help you make a decision.

You may also wish to read this leaflet from the NHS on your choices for where to have your baby.

Find out more about all of the Gloucestershire birth locations.

On this page…

Birth Units are run by midwives and are usually designed to feel more comfortable and homely than a delivery suite.

The NHS website provides information on the advantages and considerations of giving birth in a birth unit.

There are three birth units available in Gloucestershire:

Gloucester Birth Unit

Gloucester Birth Unit is based at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital.

In the event that you need help from a doctor, need emergency assistance or would like an epidural, the hospital’s delivery suite is easily accessible on the floor below.


Facilities available include:

  • Two birthing pool rooms
  • Six en-suite ‘home-from-home’ birthing rooms, all equipped to support active, natural labour
  • Aromatherapy service
  • One-to-one midwife care
  • Close to delivery suite if needed.
  • Close to maternity ward for antenatal and postnatal care



Parking at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital is controlled and monitored through a private company, Indigo. You will need to pay for parking either by purchasing a ticket from one of the machines in the visitors parking area, or prior to leaving if you are parked in the multi-story car park. You can find further information about the hospital locations and parking on the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website.

There are short-stay drop-off points near the entrances.

If you are in labour, for your safety and convenience please use the emergency entrance (glass doors). Use the call bell for the department you require situated to your left. Staff will release the door. On entering the Women’s Centre, the lifts are on your left hand side. At all other times, use the main hospital entrance.

Find out more about Gloucester Birth Unit

Aveta Birth Centre, Cheltenham – currently closed for births

Aveta Birth Centre is based at Cheltenham General Hospital. It is currently closed for births.

Aveta is also home to community midwives and an antenatal clinic, so care can be provided throughout your pregnancy.


Facilities available include:

  • Two birthing pool rooms
  • Five en-suite, ‘home-from-home’ birthing rooms, all equipped to support active, natural labour
  • Aromatherapy service
  • Facility for partners to stay overnight
  • One-to-one midwife care
  • On site antenatal clinic



Parking at Cheltenham General Hospital is controlled and monitored through a private company, Indigo. You will need to pay for parking either by purchasing a ticket from one of the machines in the visitors parking area prior to leaving. You can find further information about the hospital locations and parking on the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website.

There are short-stay drop-off points near the entrance to St Paul’s Wing (where Aveta is located).

Find out more about Cheltenham Aveta Birth Unit

Stroud Maternity Unit

Stroud Maternity Unit is a small midwife-led centre that’s home to about 300 births each year.


Facilities available include:

  • Two birthing pool rooms
  • Two single en-suite ‘home-from-home’ rooms , all equipped to support active, natural labour
  • Aromatherapy service
  • Facility for partners to stay overnight
  • One-to-one midwife care
  • Six postnatal beds (currently closed – Maternity services update: May 2023 (gloshospitals.nhs.uk))



Parking at Stroud Maternity Hospital is free of charge. You can find further information about the hospital locations and parking on the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website.

Find out more about Stroud Maternity Unit

The Delivery Suite is a consultant-led facility based at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital in the Women’s Centre. Whether you are receiving consultant-led care and will need the help of a doctor to deliver your baby, or you would like the option of an epidural as pain relief during labour, the Delivery Suite is equipped to meet your needs.

On the Delivery Suite, you will be offered the full range of pain relief options, depending on your birth plan. Once you’ve had your baby, you’ll move to the maternity ward.


Facilities available include:

  • 12 en-suite delivery rooms
  • One room with a birthing pool
  • Mobile monitoring to support active, natural labour
  • Theatres, recovery and high dependency rooms
  • Aromatherapy service
  • Access to Neonatal support



Parking at Gloucestershire Royal Hospital is controlled and monitored through a private company, Indigo. You will need to pay for parking either by purchasing a ticket from one of the machines in the visitors parking area, or prior to leaving if you are parked in the multi-story car park. You can find further information about the hospital locations and parking on the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website.

There are short-stay drop-off points near the entrances.

If you are in labour, for your safety and convenience please use the emergency entrance (glass doors). Use the call bell for the department you require situated to your left. Staff will release the door. On entering the Women’s Centre, the lifts are on your left hand side. At all other times, use the main hospital entrance.

Watch a virtual tour and find out more about the Delivery Suite

In England, approximately one in 50 babies is born at home. For many women, giving birth to their baby in familiar surroundings, supported by family and with the added reassurance of home comforts is very important.

If your pregnancy is considered to be suitable for midwifery-led care and you are fit and healthy, research shows a home birth is just as safe as a hospital birth for your second or subsequent baby.

Our midwives can help you decide if a home birth is right for you and, if you wish, can help you deliver your baby in your own home.

They will provide all the equipment you need for a home birth, including some types of pain relief. If you need any help or your labour is not progressing as well as it should, your midwife will arrange for you to be transferred to hospital.

Find out more about home birth via the Gloucestershire Hospitals NHS Foundation Trust website.

The NHS website provides information of the advantages and considerations of giving birth at home.