New research has shown that there may be serious risks for the baby when mothers who chose a home birth over are transferred.
The study, to be published in the British Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology (BJOG), shows that while the death rate for home births remained low, if the mother transferred to hospital the risk of losing the baby soared to eight times above average.
The sample for the study were broken up into three groups: planned home births, unplanned home births – when a mother intended to go to hospital but was caught unawares, and a “transferred group” – when women who had planned a homebirth ended up giving birth in hospital.
On average, around 15% of women who have chosen a home birth will be transferred to hospital. Results of the ten year study indicated that the figure is markedly higher for first-time mothers and significantly lower for those who have already had children.
“Essentially women who opt for a home birth face either a very successful, satisfying outcome, or a potentially disastrous one – there isn’t the greyer area that you see with hospital births,” says Professor Philip Steer, the editor of the BJOG.
