Study says home births safe

Panned home births attended by registered midwives have similar rates of fetal death and adverse outcomes as compared with hospital births. The study followed 2,889 women in British Columbia who had planned home births between 2000 and 2004. They were compared with 4,752 women who gave birth in a hospital. The fetal death rate was less than one per 1,000 births in both groups. The only difference between the groups is that babies born at home are more likely to be hospitalized, usually because of infant jaundice. Jaundice in hospital-born infants is usually detected and treated before the infant is discharged.

The study is published in the Canadian Medical Assn. Journal. The study "should add confidence to the safety of home birth in a context such as ours in which registered midwives have a baccalaureate degree or equivalent and are an integral part of the healthcare system," the authors, from the University of British Columbia, wrote.