Home Births Safe for Most
The above headline is from Feb. 6 2002 online Web MD. Web MD was
reporting on a February 5, 2002 study published in the Canadian
Medical Association Journal. In this study researchers compared the
outcomes of 862 planned home births attended by midwives with those of
planned hospital births attended by either midwives (571) or physicians
(743) during the years 1998 and 1999.
The results of the study showed that women who gave birth at home
attended by a midwife had fewer procedures during labor compared with
women who gave birth in a hospital attended by a physician. The
study also suggests that home births have a lower incidence of infection
and use of drugs for pain. Additionally, women in the home birth
group were less likely to have epidural analgesia, have their labor
induced, or have an episiotomy.
In as far as the overall safety of home births, the researchers
concluded that the number of deaths was similar to that found in other
studies and the difference in death rate between the two groups was too
small to be statistically important. The conclusions of the
researchers as published in the journal were as follows: "Interpretation:
There was no increased maternal or neonatal risk associated with planned
home birth under the care of a regulated midwife. The rates of some
adverse outcomes were too low for us to draw statistical comparisons, and
ongoing evaluation of home birth is warranted. There was no increased
maternal or neonatal risk associated with planned home birth under the
care of a regulated midwife," the authors wrote.
In a commentary article in the same issue, Régis Blais, MD, from the
Université de Montréal, agrees that this "study provides
valuable information about the safety of home birth that should help
expectant parents make their choice of place of birth and caregiver."
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