Home births can increase risks for babies in poor neighbourhoods, according to a new study.
The research, conducted in the Netherlands, investigate the outcomes of home births thought to be low risk and agreed between women and medical professionals.
The researchers found the risk of infant mortality was only increased in the poorer half of the Dutch population.
In the wealthier half of the population, home birth was just as safe as hospital birth.
Researchers from Denmark and from Amsterdam studied the fate of some 356,000 births between 2000 and 2008.
More than 50% of low risk deliveries in the Netherlands take place in the home.
But the researchers say the biggest factor in whether poor families opt for home birth is how close they live to a hospital.
The researchers, led by Meltem Daysal and Mircea Trandafir, of the University of Southern Denmark, and Reyn van Ewijk, of VU University Amsterdam, state: "Home births can lead to higher infant mortality for certain women, even in a country where the health care system is geared toward home births.
"In the context of the Netherlands, these women are those who live in the poorer half of the country and whose decision to deliver in a hospital or at home is affected by how far they live from the nearest hospital."
Saving Lives at Birth: The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes American Economic Journal: Applied Economics 27 July 2015
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