Home birth row angers midwives

Friday July 30th, 2010

A row has broken out after a leading medical journal accused mothers choosing home birth of "putting their babies at risk".

The comments in a Lancet editorial angered the Royal College of Midwives.

The Lancet was commenting on recent research showing that mothers benefit from home-births - but that the evidence for babies was mixed.

It says: "While women have the right to choose how and where to give birth, they do not have the right to put their baby at risk."

It says the report in the American Journal of Obstetrics & Gynecology "provides the strongest evidence so far that home birth can, after all, be harmful to newborn babies".

It states: "Home delivery is an option for mothers with uncomplicated pregnancies, provided they are advised of the risks involved, have one-to-one midwife care (that includes good resuscitation skills and accreditation by a local regulatory body), and live in a location that allows quick access to obstetric care."

But Cathy Warwick, RCM general secretary, said she was "deeply disappointed and dismayed" by the comments.

She said the research is "incomplete and methodologically flawed".

Professor Warwick said: "For appropriately selected low risk women, with the right support services in place, home birth in the UK is a safe option for those who choose it. Childbirth is a normal and physiological process not an illness that requires medicalisation."

Tags: Childbirth and Pregnancy | Nursing & Midwifery | UK News | Women’s Health & Gynaecology

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