“Recognizing the evidence that births to healthy mothers, who are not considered at medical risk after comprehensive screening by trained professionals, can occur safely in various settings, including out-of-hospital birth centers and homes. ...Therefore, APHA supports efforts to increase access to out-of-hospital maternity care services...” - American Public Health Association, “Increasing Access to Out-of-Hospital Maternity Care Services through State-Regulated and Nationally-Certified Direct-Entry Midwives (Policy Statement)”. American Journal of Public Health, Vol 92, No. 3, March 2002.
“Several methodologically sound observational studies have compared the outcomes of planned home-births (irrespective of the eventual place of birth) with planned hospital-births for women with similar characteristics. A meta-analysis of these studies showed no maternal mortality, and no statistically significant differences in perinatal mortality risk in either direction.” - Murray Enkin, et al, A Guide to Effective Care in Pregnancy and Childbirth. Oxford University Press, 2000.
“It is safe to say that a woman should give birth in a place where feels is safe, and at the most peripheral level at which appropriate care is feasible and safe. For a low-risk pregnant woman this can be at home, at a small maternity clinic or birth centre, in town or perhaps at the maternity unit of a larger hospital. However, it must be a place where all the attention and care are focused on her needs and safety, as close to home and her own culture as possible." - Maternal and Newborn Health/Safe Motherhood Unit of the World Health Organization, Care in Normal Birth: A practical guide. World Health Organization, 1996.
“Excellent outcomes with much lower intervention rates are achieved at home births. This may be because the overuse of interventions in hospital births introduces risks or the home environment promotes problem-free labors.” - Henci Goer, Obstetric Myths versus Research Realities: A Guide to the Medical Literature. Bergin & Garvey, 1995.
“This study supports previous research indicating that planned home birth with qualified care providers can be a safe alternative for healthy lower risk women.” Anderson RE, Murphy PA. “Outcomes Of 11,788 Planned Home Births Attended By Certified Nurse-Midwives. A Retrospective Descriptive Study.” - Journal of Nurse Midwifery, 1995 Nov-Dec;40(6):483-92. (Abst)
Recommended Reading:
The Thinking Woman's Guide to a Better Birth by Henci Goer
Ina May's Guide to Childbirth by Ina May Gaskin
Pregnancy, Childbirth and the Newborn, by Simkin Whalley and Keppler
Rediscovering Birth by Sheila Kitzinger
Active Birth by Janet Balaskas
Mothering Magazine's Having a Baby Naturally by Peggy O'Mara
Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper
Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin
Born in the USA, Marsden Wagner
PUSHED, The Painful Truth about Childbirth and Modern Maternity Care by Jennifer Block
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