Are home births safe?
Statistical studies, such as the Klaus and Kennel study that appeared in JAMA (Kennell J, Klaus M, McGrath S, et al. Continuous Emotional Support during Labor in a US Hospital: A Randomized Controlled Trial. JAMA 1991; 265:2197-201), prove that the single factor that increases the chances for a healthy outcome for both mother and baby is uninterrupted 1:1 care during labor by a skilled caregiver. That situation is guaranteed in a home birth. These days, it s virtually impossible to achieve that level of care in hospitals. At the hospital where I had my practice, about 80% of the delivery room nurses who became pregnant during the years I was practicing there (1980-1990) chose to have home births. A doctor asked one of them, “After all the complications that you see here, how can you choose to have your baby at home?” She said, “It s BECAUSE of what I see here that I m having a home birth!
There is no evidence in the medical literature to support the notion that hospital birth is safer than homebirth for low risk women. Women should birth where they feel safest and most private. If you don’t feel safe giving birth at home then another setting is best for you. The most important decision you make is your choice of provider. If you feel safe with that person and believe you will be listened to and your birth vision honored, then where you have your baby is secondary.
