I had the twins in the UK. There were a lot more options available to me there than I would have had here, because in the UK the hospitals offer homebirth services and women have the right to choose a midwife supported homebirth (free of charge) even against medical advice. This meant I had something to bargain with and was able to choose a low risk midwife unit birth with no doctors. In Australia I would have had the choice of medically managed in a regular labour ward, or at home with a private midwife. In Scotland I had wonderful midwives, no intervention, but within a hospital building which was a lovely compromise for me. And all that free of charge

However postnatally there is not as much support in the UK as they are so short of midwives. The hospital itself was lovely but I am aware I was lucky and sadly that unit is now closed Also because they are so short staffed I felt intensely guilty every time I had to ring for help after the twins were born, which was not something I ever worried about in Australia.