Bringing another life into the world is the most important thing you will ever do and there is so much to consider during pregnancy, not least where the safest place to give birth might be.

It’s a debate that recently came to the forefront of public minds after new guidance from the National Institute for Health and Care Excellence (NICE) recommended women with low-risk pregnancies give birth at home or a unit under the care of a dedicated midwife team.

After looking at all the data surrounding maternity care, the NICE study said women should have all four possible options available to them: hospital care, midwifery units in hospitals, midwifery units based in the community and at home.

The general consensus was that women should be offered more choice about where to give birth, conceding that labour tends to progress well at home, where women feel relaxed and free to move as they like, in the comfort of familiar surroundings.

For many pregnant women, the idea of giving birth at home provides a more natural and comfortable option, while others want to try a brand new experience, like my colleague Jo Henwood, who opted to have her second child at home.

She said: “I’m no earth mother and didn’t choose a home birth for any emotional or spiritual reason.

“I’d not had the best of times at my local hospital for the birth of my first child so I was just looking for an alternative.

“The plan was to give birth in our bedroom but things moved quite quickly and by the time I got to the top of the stairs, the spare room was the safest haven. There were mirrored wardrobes in there and our fabulous midwife suggested my husband may want to witness the baby’s head appearing. He turned green and asked if she could open the doors to avoid the glorious view.

“Everything went as smoothly as they can in these circumstances and our beautiful baby daughter was born about two hours later. We showed her off to the neighbours from the boxroom window, I bathed in my own clean bath and enjoyed some tea and toast made in my own kitchen. I’ve since been diagnosed with a condition that probably would have meant I should never have had a home birth but hindsight is a wonderful thing.”

Back in the 1960s, one in three women in Britain gave birth at home but medical advances during the following decades meant that expectant mums were increasingly encouraged to give birth in hospital where they had access to consultants, pain relief and emergency care.

Over the past decade there has been a growing middle class resurgence in home births, although in the UK in 2006, only an average of 2.14% of births were at home.

But interestingly, the proportion can vary quite a lot according to where you live. With 3.1%, Wales has the highest percentage, while it is 2.25% in England, 1.12% in Scotland and only 0.38% in Northern Ireland.

Susan Bewley, professor of complex obstetrics at King’s College London, who chaired the group responsible for the guidance said there was no ‘one-size fits all’ model of childbirth that suited all women.

“Some women may prefer to have their baby at home or in a midwife-led unit because they are generally safer – that is their right and they should be supported in that choice,” she said.

“But, if a woman prefers to have a baby in a hospital because it makes her feel ‘safer’, that’s also her right. We’re supporting a calm conversation about what is right for each individual in her circumstances. They may choose any birth setting and they should be supported in those choices as that’s their right.”

When researching this topic, I came across the tragic story of Australian photographer Caroline Lovell.

At just 36, Caroline made headlines for lobbying the Australian government for more state support for women who favoured home births.

In 2009 she told a health inquiry that midwives who assisted with home births needed proper funding and legal protection, in line with other countries and wrote how she was ‘shocked and ashamed’ that home birth couldn’t be a woman’s free choice in low-risk pregnancies.

Caroline was passionate about her beliefs and already mum to one daughter, had spoken of her excitement about welcoming her second at home in January 2012. But tragedy struck when she went into cardiac arrest while giving birth to daughter Zahra.

Although she was rushed to hospital, Caroline died the next day while Zahra survived. She had made arrangements for a private midwife to assist with her delivery, but unknown complications during the birth caused her heart to stop, which made her critically ill.

However, despite Caroline’s tragic story, it is important to remember that having a baby in the UK is generally very safe.

Your midwife will be there to monitor the baby’s heart and your condition regularly through labour, and will advise that you transfer to hospital if there are any concerns about the health of either of you. The aim is to transfer well before a situation even becomes an emergency.

The choice you have about where to have your baby depends entirely on your wishes and any needs for clinical support you might have.

Wherever you choose, the location needs to feel right for you.