Historically speaking, home birth was were the vast majority of babies were born prior to the 1900s. As recently as the 19040s, home birth comprised 44% of the births in the United States. This number had dropped to about 1% by 1969. This is were the number stayed for many years. In a recent look at the data, the CDC found that the number of home births has been on the rise in recent years, since about 2004 - by about 29%.
While the absolute number is still low, 29,650 births in 2009, this increase is notable. About 1 in 90 births to non-hispanic white women are home births. There are also more women who are over 35, married and low risk giving birth at home. They feel that this means that women are being screened to accept only low risk women in the home birth setting.
Of the home births only 5% were attended by physicians, 33% were listed as other, this could be mother, father, friend, emergency medical personnel, etc. This leaves 62% of home births being attended by midwives. (19% certified nurse midwives and 43% other midwives (including certified professional midwives, direct entry midwives, etc.) This compares to 92% of births in a hospital being attended by physicians, with about 7% attended by midwives.
While they tried to look briefly at why women were choosing home birth, let's face it, birth certificate data doesn't ask you why you chose where you gave birth. The reasons most moms choose home birth are varied and complex. Some reasons that mothers give for choosing home birth include:
- Believe it's safer for mom and baby (tied to no over use of technology)
- Lower intervention and cesarean rates
- Preferred the care of midwives
- Wanted to be in own environment
- About 1/3 the cost of a hospital birth
The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists (ACOG) says that when decided on a home birth a mother should make sure that she is a good candidate for home birth (e.g. low risk), that she should choose a doctor or midwife who is qualified and has ready "access to consultation" and the ability to transport to a hospital in a timely manner should the need arise.
Do you know someone who has had a home birth?
Related:
Sources
American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists. Committee Opinion: Planned Home Birth. Number 476. February 2011.
MacDorman MF, Mathews TJ, Declercq E. Home births in the United States, 1990- 2009. NCHS data brief, no 84. Hyattsville, MD: National Center for Health Statistics. 2012.
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Home Birth on the Rise originally appeared on About.com Pregnancy & Childbirth on Thursday, January 26th, 2012 at 12:00:43.
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