Tags : pregnancy
Study: Home Birth As Safe As Hospital Birth
Vancouver, British Columbia (AHN) – A new study comparing planned home and hospital births showed that there is not much difference between the two methods in terms of safety. However, the study – which looked into 13,000 births among British Columbian women – likely deepened more the gap between pro-home and pro-hospital birth advocates.
The study, which came out in the Canadian Medical Association Journal last week, covered planned home births attended by registered midwives and planned hospital births which took place from January 2000 to December 2004.
It found out that perinatal death per 1,000 births was only 0.35 percent in planned home births and 0.57 percent among hospital births attended by a midwife and 0.64 percent if attended by a doctor.
The study also found out that infants born at home were less likely to need obstetric interventions such as electronic fetal monitoring, assisted vaginal delivery or adverse maternal outcomes. They were likewise less prone to require resuscitation upon delivery, oxygen therapy beyond 24 hours and less likely to need meconium aspiration compared to babies born in hospitals.
The study, though, far settles the debate.
The Society of Obstetricians and Gynecologists of Canada took a neutral stand and encouraged more research into the safety of both home and hospital deliveries. The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists, which is in favor of hospital births, said home births “places the process of giving birth ahead of the goal of having a healthy baby.” On the opposite end, the Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists in the U.K. favors home births for uncomplicated pregnancies.
The study was led by Dr.Patricia Jannsen, an associate professor at University of British Columbia’s School of Population and Public Health.
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