A home birth is when someone delivers outside the hospital or birth center.
Safer Home Birth Requires Educated, Regulated Midwives
Some out-of-hospital birth scenarios are higher risk than others, as is shown in the chart below. The Risk Ratio (RR) is calculated from neonatal mortality rates (NNM) with respect to hospital midwives (RR=1).
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During COVID-19: Is Home Birth Better than Hospital Birth?
Even now: Home birth is not safer than hospital birth.
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Is Planned Home Birth Safe?
A planned home birth takes place at home or in a residence rather than in a hospital.
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Home-Birth Apgar Scores Too Good to Be True?
A newborn baby's Apgar score provides a quick summary of the health of the child a minute after it's born and again at five minutes. Possible scores range from a low of zero to a high of 10.
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Homebirth Midwives and the Art of Letting Go
Homebirth midwives “value the art of letting go.” Letting go of what, exactly? The lives of babies born at homebirths.
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CPM Blows Whistle on Illegal Home Birth Practices
A former CPM, Leigh Fransen, has bravely stepped forward to blow the whistle on the illegal practices of homebirth midwives in the United States.
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5 Minutes to the Hospital
Let’s be clear: "5 minutes to the hospital" does not exist. Even if a woman actually does live within a couple miles of a hospital, there’s more to it than that.
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Incomplete Data and Deception in Homebirths
One of the issues in the discussion of homebirths is that data are shown incompletely. If you want to participate in a reasonable discussion of any subject, it is crucial that you consider all facts, not just the ones you choose. ... read more »
Allie Sakowicz, Blogger
As a doula and future perinatologist, I have seen childbirth from a variety of perspectives. Though my passion for obstetrics has never wavered, my view on it is ever-evolving.
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Homebirth on the Prairie
Homebirth story as told by comedian Patton Oswalt.
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Top Reasons to Choose a Hospital Birth
So many reasons to deliver the baby in the hospital.
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Experts Remain Divided on Safety of Home Births
Some people childbirth think an act so natural as giving birth can be accomplished safely at home, without medical intervention.
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Setting Makes Home Deliveries More Risky, Not Midwives
Dr. Grunebaum advises patients invite a midwife into the hospital delivery room so a
woman can have both the comfort of a familiar birthing companion and the necessary medical staff and equipment.
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Low APGAR Scores for Infants Born Outside of a Hospital
According to research published in the October 2013 edition of the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology, women seeking to give birth outside of the hospital should be warned of increased risk of low APGAR scores and increased risk of seizures.
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Perinatal Outcomes Associated with Planned Home Births in the US
According to an oral presentation presented at 32nd annual meeting of the Society for Maternal-Fetal Medicine, more women are choosing home births today than ever before, but information regarding the safety of home births is non-conclusive.
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Home Birth Petition for Safe Deliveries
Anyone who has looked into state midwifery laws in the U.S. has come to the same alarming conclusion: in many states, homebirth midwives are virtually unregulated.
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Make Home Birth Safer
We are a citizen-led coalition of home birth families, midwives, doctors & advocates who have come together to work toward a better, safer homebirth system.
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Ask an Honest Midwife: Is a Homebirth in a Big City Safe?
Although I am now retired from the practice of midwifery, I am here to answer your questions about home birth, birth centers, natural birth, and anything else you ever wanted to ask a "crunchy" midwife. Feel free to send in your questions.
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Maryland and North Carolina May Legalize Dangerous Midwives
The midwifery bills under consideration in Maryland and North Carolina would make it legal for direct-entry midwives to attend homebirths.
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Will My Midwife Be Disappointed if I Need a C-Section?
I’m so sorry about the way your midwife has failed to stay connected with you! I am sure that hurts right now when you need support the most. I hope that I can help you understand that you should not take this personally.
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How To Naturally Treat Swelling and Protein in Urine
Dear Honest Midwife, I'm at 33 weeks with my first baby and planning a home birth. Lately I've been having serious swelling. My midwife checked my urine and says I'm spilling protein. She put me on a high protein diet and told me to take alfalfa tablets.
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Danielle Repp, Blogger
My philosophy of childbirth is ever evolving. For me, I believe birth is a natural, normal process and I choose to avoid intervention unless it is necessary.
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Our Home Birth Story
Our first birth was in a hospital and it ended in a cesarean section after almost three hours of pushing with a “sunny side up” baby. The second time, we were excited that we could afford a home birth with midwives.
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A very intense out-of-hospital birth story
During one of my checks I noticed that her baby’s heartbeat was only in the 90s when it should have been between 120-160. I went to tell the midwife, who came in and listened as well.
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My home birth was so much easier than my hospital birth!
Dear Honest Midwife, ... read more »
I was a homebirther! How can I now plan a hospital birth?
I have struggled with the truth about home birth for years, and I realized it was like a religion to me. I knew all the "correct" answers to give to explain away problems with homebirthing. Within my small circle of friends, I learned of many scary situations and complications that happened during home births.
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My Feelings on Homebirth
I very much believe in a woman’s right to choose where she gives birth. However, to me, it’s just not worth the small risk of a catastrophic complication occurring that could have been managed in the hospital setting but that is deadly at home without an operating room and full medical team.
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Homebirth Hasn't Been Safe for a Long Time
I am a mom and a physicist, and at one time I attempted to give birth at a birth center. But I wouldn’t make that choice again, because I’ve since learned about the risks to my baby.
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Another Home VBAC Death
I’ve recently learned of yet another baby dying during a home birth. This was a planned, midwife-attended home VBAC (also known as HBAC, home birth after cesarean).
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To Vax or Not to Vax: that is the Question
Similar to my home birth journey is my vaccine journey. I was once opposed to childhood vaccinations, then realized I had been sucked into misinformation about vaccine safety.
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5 Reasons We Decided Against Home Birth
When we were pregnant with our first baby, we wanted to give birth at home. It’s a long story, but here are my top 5 reasons we ended up choosing hospital birth.
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Making Your Hospital Room More Like Home
A reader on the babyMed Facebook page asked ... read more »
Interview with the New York Times
I think the film The Business of Being Born is a dangerous piece of propaganda full of misinformation; it adds to the heaping pile of nonsense that makes women feel bad about themselves for not giving birth a certain way.
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