Call the midwife! Kate is keen on home birth
KATE MIDDLETON, pregnant with her third child, is said to be keen on the idea of a home birth.
Britain’s Duchess of Cambridge previously sought permission from aides for second baby, Princess Charlotte, to be delivered in Kensington Palace, but decided against it after taking advice.
However, after the births of George and his sister proved to be problem-free, a source said Kate will be on much stronger ground this time.
It would spare her the ordeal of facing hundreds of paparazzi, as she had to do straight after leaving the maternity unit with George and Charlotte, and allow her children to meet their sibling in the privacy of their own home.
A well-placed informant said: ‘The Duchess knew it wasn’t possible for her first baby to be born at home, but she asked for a home birth for the second. Officials and doctors thought it too risky. There was concern and in the end she decided against it.’
Kate, 35, thought to be less than 12 weeks pregnant, has been suffering extreme morning sickness, as she did with both her other pregnancies. It caused her to miss George’s first day of school this week.
If she gets the go-ahead for a home birth this time, she will be reverting to royal tradition. The Queen had her four children at Buckingham Palace, and Queen Victoria was born at Kensington Palace in 1819.
Kate’s children were born in the Lindo Wing of St Mary’s Hospital, Paddington, where the £5,000-a-night suites have the latest technology and access to the full hospital next door in the event of an emergency.
The Duchess’s wish for a home birth last time was taken so seriously that the route from Kensington to the hospital was timed in case of any scare.
The source adds that the royal couple ‘decided not to take the risk last time’. A spokesman for the couple declined to comment.
Told it was too risky on last pregnancy