Having delivered thousands of babies, we can tell you from the bottom of our hearts that birthing a baby is one of the most beautiful and natural functions that our bodies allow us to do. Fortunately, most births do go smoothly, and we end up with a healthy mom and baby. But we’ve also been in situations where the outcome may not have been so positive if our patient was not in a hospital setting to deliver expeditiously in order to save the mom and or their baby.
Yes, we have had a few of our patients leave our practice to have a home birth with a Certified Nurse Midwife or come to us for prenatal care with intention to birth at home at the end of their pregnancy journey. We are asked by these moms if we would deliver their babies at home. And I think that if we had that crystal ball that showed us that their deliveries would go smoothly without complications, I think I would consider doing home births for our patients. Unfortunately, that crystal ball does not exist.
The Huffington Post recently published an article titled “British Study: Half of All Pregnant Women Could Give Birth At Home Safely.” Maybe. But why would we not try to deliver all moms in the safest place possible?
The article states that there are more complications with first births, with which we whole-heartedly agree. I often say to first time moms, ”You have to work for this one, but next time around, it’ll be a lot faster and easier.” Do I think it’s just as safe to deliver at home as in a hospital? No, I don’t. The article states that among those first-time mothers attempting a home birth, there are “9.3 adverse events per 1,000 births including babies with brain damage due to labor problems and stillbirth” compared to “5.3 adverse events per 1,000 births for those planning a hospital birth.”
In my mind, maybe in absolute numbers this may not be a huge difference, but we are talking about babies, someone’s child. And if we can save those four extra human lives by birthing in a hospital or birth center, why would we not do that? I would for even just the one baby’s life we could potentially save. For our low risk patients who would like as natural a delivery as possible in a comfortable setting, we try our best to give them that home experience with dimmed lights, music, labor tubs, and intermittent fetal monitoring. We welcome the support of their doulas, or birth assistants.
We do agree, that in the end, it is absolutely every woman’s right to deliver where she desires. And should a woman decide to have a home birth, we agree with the recommendations made by the American College of OB/GYN. Home birth should only be considered for women considered low risk. Also important is to be certain you are nearby a hospital facility in case an unforeseen complication does arise. There are certain situations in which you should not consider having a home birth as it is not safe: multiples (i.e. twins, etc), breech or other malpresenations of the baby, postterm, prior cesarean births, and medical conditions like high blood pressure or diabetes.
However and wherever you decide to birth your child, we wish you the very best!
