Is Homebirth Safe?
Q: Is home birth safe?
A: When people ask this question, they are usually asking, "Can having a baby at home be as safe as having a baby in a hospital?" The answer is yes, even more so. Study after study has shown that midwife-assisted births have a lower mortality rate than physician-assisted births in comparable cases.
"Scientists calculate childbirth success rates by examining infant mortality per 1,000 births. Since the 1970s, the United States has had approximately 10 infant deaths per 1,000 hospital births. The mortality rate for planned and supervised homebirth is approximately 5 per 1,000 births. There is no conclusive evidence that hospital births are safer for either the mother or the newborn, and many insurance companies cover a percentage of midwifery service charges.
"Emergency situations can and do arise in home births, just as they do in hospital settings. Sonograms and blood tests can diagnose potential problems in the mother or the unborn child that might require hospitalization or the intervention of a knowledgeable physician.
"However, if a woman delivers her baby in a U.S. hospital, she has a one-in-four chance of receiving a Caesarean section. This statistic has prompted the World Health Organization to advocate that the United States return to a midwifery-based system of prenatal care, labor and delivery. If 95 percent of births are normal, then why do 25 percent result in surgery? -- Reno News and Review Cover Story May 9, 2002
More Information
* The Safety of Homebirth. List of citations compiled by Michael J. Stark, Ph.D. for the Maryland Friends of Midwives. Cites from various sources indicate research outcomes that point to the safety of birth at home under the care of midwives.
* The World Health Organization has affirmed its support for the midwifery model of care. "A study conducted in the province of Gelderland, compared the "obstetric result" of home births and hospital births. The results suggested that for primiparous women with a low-risk pregnancy a home birth was as safe as a hospital birth. For low-risk multiparous women the result of a home birth was significantly better than the result of a hospital birth (Wiegers et al 1996). There was no evidence that this system of care for pregnant women can be improved by increasing medicalization of birth (Buitendijk 1993)."
"In conclusion, normal birth, provided it is low-risk, only needs close observation by a trained and skilled birth attendant in order to detect early signs of complications. It needs no intervention but encouragement, support and a little tender loving care." Care in Normal Birth
*How Safe Is That Hospital, Anyway?.
* Homebirth--A Reasonable Option
Posted by Betsy Melancon at July 6, 2003 11:38 AM