Hi all,
I just responded to someone on another page and realized that many of you are probably having similar worries since the American homebirth study hit the newspapers.
So I thought I will post my answer here once more.
This study has given homebirth such bad press but it is really important to look at the actual data.
The study used a lot of American data and America has totally different issues than we do in the UK.
Firstly, midwives are trained to a lesser standard in the US and secondly, the distances to hospital can be huge.
This is very important when we see that the outcomes for babies were poorer when they had breathing problems at birth. Midwives in the UK carry Resuscitation equipment, are trained to use it and can maintain a baby during a transfer to hospital.
The evidence is still very clear for the UK that homebirth for women without pre existing medical conditions is not only a safe option but also has better outcomes for mother and baby.
The wonderful thing in the UK is that we can always transfer to hospital if the need arises, without having to fill out paperwork when we come to hospital before anyone will give medical help. The data shows clearly that women who have planned a homebirth have less medical intervention, less likelyhood of instrumental birth and Caesarean, the babies are less likely to have to go to Special Care and the postnatal health of mothers is better.
The amazing fact is that even women who had to transfer to hospital still had better outcomes than the women in the planned hospital birth group.
Hope this is useful to you all.
Anja - Independent Midwife