Others on social media were outraged at what they saw as a breaching of the woman's human rights. Some compared it with Maccas refusing to give fat people a Big Mac. Yet this analogy doesn't work, because this is not just about the mother, but about her baby. Unborn babies have few rights and are left to the mercy of their mothers who, one hopes, would always act in their best interests.
On this issue I am with one poster who sums up: "The woman is a sook. Have a grape juice and get over it".
It just seems so selfish to risk something so precious for the sake of one's own pleasure.
Is a mother's choice over place of birth equally prone to self-centred behaviour?
I was guilty of this with my first child. Seeing the wooden floors and linen hammocks in Parnell Birthcare, I decided that was where I would bring my firstborn into the world, in a haze of lavender, music videos playing on wide-screen TVs.
When labour began, it wasn't sudden concern for my baby that drove me at speed to the hospital, but fear of pain. There were no TVs. The bathrooms were down a corridor. It wasn't Parnell. I didn't care.
A med student, Elizabeth, asked if she could witness the birth. I jumped at her offer - she was my only chance of a companion.
She proved to be my saviour, noticing the baby's distress and calling the obstetrician, who did an emergency delivery with only minutes to get the baby out. Elizabeth brought flowers the next day ... lilies, and that was the happy beginning of my Lily.
If I hadn't been in hospital she might not be here. Or here but not here, as is the case of Charley Hooper, 9, who was born in a birthing unit and is a brain-damaged tetraplegic.
Since then, mum Jenn Hooper has campaigned for more informed birthing options for women through parent support and lobby group Action to Improve Maternity.
Hooper represented the family of Casey Nathan and her baby Kymani. Nathan died after giving birth at Birthcare Huntly and her baby died two days later. The coroner ruled these might have been prevented had the mother received an obstetrician's care in hospital.
Many claim birthing is a natural process and should not be medicalised. For me, having a baby in a non-clinical setting is akin to having your teeth out in a beauty salon. Yet I respect the desire of women to have a birth with little or no medical intervention if they can.
Last year, Tauranga's first birthing centre opened in Bethlehem. This week, Ruth Keber reported that one in four women who have laboured there have transferred to Tauranga Hospital. Some of the reasons given were conditions that were potentially life-threatening to a mother, such as postpartum haemorrhage - one of the main causes of maternal death worldwide, or to the baby, such as respiratory or foetal distress.
You could argue that these conditions could occur in hospital too. And that three in four women birthed well in the birthing centre. But the fact remains that one in four needed a hospital, and even a transfer down the road can mean a delay you wouldn't get in hospital.
Private birthing centres are private businesses. The figures published this week were obtained from the Bay of Plenty District Health Board under the Official Information Act. When the Bay of Plenty Times asked about the transfer rates, Bethlehem Birthing Centre manager Chloe Wright did not comment. But, as Hooper said, for women to make informed choices, it should not be that hard to get data to help them weigh up the pros and cons.
The Royal Australian and NZ College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists recommends standalone birthing units be located, where possible, within or adjacent to a 24-hour hospital facility.
Ninety-five per cent of the 650 families Hooper has represented involved mothers who did not choose to give birth at a hospital.
Whether having a drink while pregnant, or dreaming of a birth in a double bed with an en suite, consequences of choices we make for our lifestyle reasons may have devastating consequences for that little person growing inside.
-Anne-Marie Quill is a reporter at the Bay of Plenty Times.
