A recent US study has revealed worrying statistics relating to the safety of home births. The analysis concluded that death rates for babies in planned home births were double those in planned hospital births, although the overall risk remained very low at 0.2%. The research has been published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology.
Neonatal deaths occurring within the home birth group were predominantly attributed to respiratory problems during birth and failed attempts at resuscitation. In contrast, there is a school of thought that the lack of medical intervention that comes with a home birth may account for the lesser occurrence of tears or lacerations, post partum haemorrhage and infection.
Given the move towards offering expectant mothers greater choice when preparing a birth plan, they need to be advised properly and if they wish to have a home birth, they need to take into account that the birth may not go to plan and that it may become necessary to have access to obstetric care should an emergency develop.
The number of homebirths in the UK is very low with rates varying quite considerably across the developed world. In the Netherlands approximately a third of women have home births, whilst in the US this is only one in 200 women.
For further information contact: Alison Johnson