Hospital or home birth? Interview with Sonia Killik
Alexia cleared her own tokophobia and developed a method that has helped women clear theirs for more than 10 years.
Choosing between a hospital and a home birth is one of the key decisions you’ll make in pregnancy. Making choices about your birth can feel overwhelming, and it’s easy to put it off. But once you start getting your head around things, you realise there’s quite a lot to consider, and each decision can make a real difference to how things go. Whatever happens on the day, you’ll live with your decisions, so for the sake of how you feel about your birth afterwards, I’d urge you to spend time getting informed.
Hospital or home birth?
In today’s podcast, I want to help you think through the hospital or home birth dilemma. To help me, I’m going to be joined by Sonia Killik.
Sonia is the author of Birth {f**k yeah!}, which encourages women to take back control of their bodies and their births. The book sets out the options available, from midwives and doulas and home and hospital births to the drugs and interventions in between.
During our chat Sonia draws on the research she did for her book, and on her own experience of pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding. She wants you to have the facts so you can make the decision that’s right for you. The book covers:
- Learn about each birthing method available to you
- how your birth choices affect you and your baby
- Pre and post birth guides and support
- Breastfeeding and formula choices
I have to warn you, Sonia and I are both passionate about helping women make informed choices, and we did have a few rants! But I hope that helps you work out what feels right for you: hospital or home birth.
Sonia came armed with a ton of facts and statistics about birth, and I hope they help you as you choose between a hospital and home birth.
We covered so much, including:
- the difference between a hospital birth and a home birth
- statistics on the level of intervention in hospital births and home births
- statistics on the safety of home birth
- why Sonia feels a clinical or hospital environment isn’t conducive to birth
- important considerations for a hospital or home birth
- the need to consider birth holistically when making your birth choices
- how some birth choices impact you and your baby over the long-term, and why it’s important to bear long-term impact in mind
- insights into how care providers within the hospital environment might be approaching birth
- why aiming for a natural birth doesn’t guarantee one
- why she considers birth to be a conscious journey
- the importance of not judging yourself for how things ultimately pan out, or judging others!
Sonia finished with her advice for preparing for a positive birth:
- Find yourself a good midwife
- Hire a doula
- Educate yourself on birth
- Clear your fears
Not sure I could put it better myself!
About Sonia
Sonia Killik is a metaphysician with a deep love for helping people to heal and to live awesome lives. Before writing full time she managed an NGO where she had the pleasure of bugging big business to change their ways. Her candid and honest approach has made her a popular guest speaker and a frequent contributor to many publications.
Her first book Birth {f**k yeah!} debunks many myths surrounding childbirth and is soon to be followed by Human: What to do about it. When not dancing around her house with her daughter, Sonia can be found night-running with a barely working headlamp.
Find out more about her work and books at soniakillik.com.
Fear Free Childbirth is a publication and is not a substitute for medical or mental-health care. If you’re struggling to cope or in crisis, please contact your GP, midwife or a qualified professional.
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- Birth Imprints: Why You Might Fear a Birth You’ve Never Had, with Nicole Moore - 6th November 2026
- A Healthy Baby Doesn’t Mean the Birth Wasn’t Traumatic: What New Research Shows - 23rd October 2026
Awesome podcast! Am looking forward to reading the book; hoping to take advantage of the $0.99 promotion on Amazon.com but the above link takes me to a $8.99 Kindle/$14.99 paperback price…? I think I’m still within the 7 days (it’s May 3rd)! Maybe I missed something.
Hi Andrea!
I’m so pleased you enjoyed it. Thank you! I’ll let Sonia know and we’ll get back to you asap!
Alexia xx
Yes I tried it as well, and its not at $0.99 on Amazon. Please update us, thank you!
Hi Shereen,
Sonia has just updated the price, so we’re just waiting for the retailer systems to update. I would hope that by tomorrow you’ll be good to buy!
Alexia x
Hi Andrea – the price has now been updated and we’re now waiting for the retailer systems to update the prices. Alexia x
Wonderful, thanks so much for your speedy reply! I’m looking forward to this read 🙂