Pregnancy tips Planned Home Births Just As Safe As Hospital

I wouldn't have dreamed of having a home birth just because I was too afraid something would go wrong. However I do know another woman who had her first baby at the age of 44 who did have a home birth. According to this article, as long as the home birth is planned, it can be a safe experience with good outcomes. Read more:

www.sciencedaily.com


The study looked at 2889 home births attended by regulated midwives in British Columbia, Canada, and 4752 planned hospital births attended by the same cohort of midwives compared with 5331 physician-attended births in hospital. Women who planned a home birth had a significantly lower risk of obstetric interventions and adverse outcomes, including augmentation of labour, electronic fetal monitoring, epidural analgesia, assisted vaginal delivery, cesarean section, hemorrhage, and infection.

The safety of home births is under debate. American, Australian and New Zealand Colleges of Obstetricians and Gynecologists oppose home births while the United Kingdom's Royal College of Obstetrics and Gynecology and the Royal College of Midwives are supportive, as are midwife organizations in Canada, Australia and New Zealand. Canada's Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has encouraged further research into the safety of home birth, and this study addresses that directive.

"Women planning birth at home experienced reduced risk for all obstetric interventions measured, and similar or reduced risk for adverse maternal outcomes," writes Dr. Patricia Janssen from the University of British Columbia and coauthors. Newborns born after planned home births were at similar or reduced risk of death, although the likelihood of admission to hospital was higher.