At-home births
Wednesday, 02 Apr 2008 12:42
Some home births result in the mother being transferred to a hospital
Babies are more likely to die during birth if their mothers have opted for a home birth but need to be transferred to a hospital during labour, new research suggests.
The study, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, says the chance of the baby dying is significantly higher if the mother required a transfer of care.
Researchers analysed all births in England and Wales between 1994 and 2003, including home births, 'transferred births' (births originally intended to occur at home but transferred to hospital because of arising complications) and unintended home births (births occurring at home but were intended to take place elsewhere, such as a hospital or midwifery unit).
Over the ten-year period a total of 4,991 babies died, known as intrapartum perinatal mortality (IPPM).
The completed home birth group had an IPPM rate of 0.48 per 1,000 births, while the unintended home birth group had an IPPM rate of 1.42 per 1,000 births.
The rate for the transfer group was higher, at 6.05 deaths per 1,000 births.
Writing in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics and Gynaecology, the researchers say that in general the outcome for women booking a home birth was good.
But they warn that the women requiring a transfer of care appeared to have done significantly worse.
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