BirthWise Maternity Care, LC

Bringing Birth Home    

Excerpt from the Citizens for Midwifery press release about the CPM study

The study shows that if you aren't a high risk mom carrying twins, having a premature baby or baby coming bottom first, all of which can be judged ahead of time, your chance of having a healthy normal safe delivery are the same whether you plan a home or hospital birth. However, if you choose the home birth, intervention rates will be one-tenth to one-half of what they would be in hospital, compared with figures of the same time period from the National Health Institute of the United States.

The study is groundbreaking because former studies have been criticized for not being big enough, for not being able to distinguish between planned or unplanned births, and for being retrospective (considering only old records as opposed to requiring health professionals to register births they were going to do and then have to account for all outcomes). As well, more than 500 mothers were phoned to verify whether what the midwives said at the births actually happened.

The study suggests that legislators and policy makers should pay attention to the fact that this study supports the American Public Health Association resolution to increase out of hospital births attended by direct entry midwives.

The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists still opposes home birth. The The Society of Gynaecologists and Obstetricians of Canada (SOGC) has written a statement acknowledging that women have the right to choose their place of birth.

— Citizens for Midwifery Press Release, sent by Susan Hodges, President; June 16, 2005, 706-549-7023. To join Citizens for Midwifery's Grassroots Network List: www.cfmidwifery.org; scroll to the bottom of the page and enter your e-mail address.