John
04-16-2009, 08:51 AM
The latest research, published in BJOG: An International Journal of Obstetrics, focused on the Netherlands, where around 30 per cent of births take place at home.
Of all births in England and Wales in 2006, 2.7 per cent took place at home, the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. A total of 18,100 were at home, out of a total of 662,915.
The number of home births has been on the rise from an all-time low of 0.9 per cent in 1988 and a major study is currently being carried out into the safety of giving birth in different settings in England and will report by the end of 2010.
Ministers have promised an extra 3,400 midwives by 2012 but the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) says more are needed now.
Louise Silverton, the RCM's deputy general secretary, said the latest research is a "major step forward", but she said the UK model of care is currently geared towards hospital births and needs a fundamental reorganisation to support more women giving birth at home.
Women having their first child were more likely to have poor outcomes, as were those who gave birth a few weeks early, those who were over 35-years-old and women who were not Dutch.
Ms Silverton said: "This is a major step forward in showing that home is as safe as hospital for low risk women giving birth when support services are in place. The Government has guaranteed that women will have a choice of where they give birth by the end of this year, including the choice of a home birth.
"We want to make sure that all women know this option may be open to them, and that it is delivered for those women that want it and who are medically clear to have it. However, to begin providing more home births there has to be a seismic shift in the way maternity services are organised.
"The NHS is simply not set up to meet the potential demand for home births, because we are still in a culture where the vast majority of births are in hospital. There also has to be a major increase in the number of midwives because they are the people who will be in the homes delivering the babies.
"I hope this research will be reassuring to women who may have concerns about home birth, and to critics who have questioned its safety."
Of all births in England and Wales in 2006, 2.7 per cent took place at home, the most recent figures from the Office for National Statistics (ONS) showed. A total of 18,100 were at home, out of a total of 662,915.
The number of home births has been on the rise from an all-time low of 0.9 per cent in 1988 and a major study is currently being carried out into the safety of giving birth in different settings in England and will report by the end of 2010.
Ministers have promised an extra 3,400 midwives by 2012 but the Royal College of Midwives (RCM) says more are needed now.
Louise Silverton, the RCM's deputy general secretary, said the latest research is a "major step forward", but she said the UK model of care is currently geared towards hospital births and needs a fundamental reorganisation to support more women giving birth at home.
Women having their first child were more likely to have poor outcomes, as were those who gave birth a few weeks early, those who were over 35-years-old and women who were not Dutch.
Ms Silverton said: "This is a major step forward in showing that home is as safe as hospital for low risk women giving birth when support services are in place. The Government has guaranteed that women will have a choice of where they give birth by the end of this year, including the choice of a home birth.
"We want to make sure that all women know this option may be open to them, and that it is delivered for those women that want it and who are medically clear to have it. However, to begin providing more home births there has to be a seismic shift in the way maternity services are organised.
"The NHS is simply not set up to meet the potential demand for home births, because we are still in a culture where the vast majority of births are in hospital. There also has to be a major increase in the number of midwives because they are the people who will be in the homes delivering the babies.
"I hope this research will be reassuring to women who may have concerns about home birth, and to critics who have questioned its safety."