Home births 'as safe as hospital ones'

London, Sept 29 (ANI): Having a baby at home with a registered midwife is just as safe as a conventional hospital birth, a new study says.

The study, which looked at 2,889 home births and 4,752 ­hospital births with the same midwives and 5,331 hospital births attended by doctors, showed women who had a planned home birth are less likely to run into serious problems during labour.

They also have a lower risk of needing ­epidural pain relief, forceps delivery or a ­Caesarean, reports The Daily Express.

Dr Patricia Janssen from the University of British Columbia, Canada, who carried out the study, said: "Newborns born after planned home births were at a similar or reduced risk of death, although the likelihood of admission to ­hospital was higher.

"Women ­planning birth at home experienced reduced risk for all obstetric interventions measured, and similar or reduced risk for adverse maternal outcomes."

As for the reason, Janssen said it could be because women who choose home birth are determined not to have those procedures.

She said: "We do not underestimate the degree of self-selection that takes place in a population of women choosing home birth. This self-selection may be an important component of risk management for home birth." (ANI)