Dr. John's Health Matters

Aug 31, 2009 (Cbc.ca)—Giving birth at home with a registered midwife can be as safe as a hospital birth for the infant and the mom, according to a Canadian study released Monday.

Midwives provide round-the-clock care for women during pregnancy, childbirth and postpartum in hospitals, birthing centres and at the homes of women.

The rate of deaths was about two per 1,000 for planned home births involving midwives as well as deliveries in hospitals involving either midwives or doctors, the researchers found.

“Women planning birth at home experienced reduced risk for all obstetric interventions measured, and similar or reduced risk for adverse maternal outcomes,” such as electronic fetal monitoring and postpartum hemorrhage, Dr. Patricia Janssen from the University of British Columbia and her co-authors wrote in the Canadian Medical Association Journal.

For full article, see link above.