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 risk of infant death following planned home birth attended by a registered midwife does not differ from that of a planned hospital birth, according to a new study from Canadian Medical Association Journal.

“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.

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.

Not surprisingly, Obstetricians and Gynecologists often question the safety of home birth.   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.

Source
Canadian Medical Association Journal