New stats are out and they’re glowing regarding the amazing benefits of out of hospital birth (home birth especially)! Enjoy this awesome breakdown from my student Lauren Blease who will be joining Mountain Miracles Midwifery, Inc. as a nurse-midwife in the fall! Lauren did her final Master’s project on the safety of home birth and as we always knew, home birth is amazing and incredibly safe for healthy, low risk mamas!
Both home birth and midwifery run birth centers improve outcomes for women in comparison to hospital birth – this is consistent across research! The largest review of studies ever done on home birth/birth center outcomes reveals the differences in outcomes between home birth and birth center.
| Outcomes (compared to hospital) | Home | Birth Center |
| Vaginal Birth | 300% more likely | 200% more likely |
| Cesarean | 33% | 50% |
| Postpartum Hemorrage | 75% | Equal to hospital rates |
| Likelihood of not tearing at all | 15% more likely | Equal to hospital rates |
| Risk of severe tearing | 57% | Equal to hospital rates |
- Women who birth at home are 3x more likely to have a successful vaginal birth, women who birth at a birth center are 2x more likely to have a vaginal birth (compared to hospital).
- Women who birth at home are 1/3 as likely to have a Cesarean, women at a birth center are ½ as likely to have a Cesarean.
- Women who birth at home are 25% less likely to have a postpartum hemorrhage (blood loss >1L), birth center hemorrhage rates are equal to hospital hemorrhage rates.
- Women who birth at home are 15% more likely to not tear at all, and about half as likely to have a severe tear – birth center tear rates are equal to hospital tear rates.
Scarf, V., Rossiter, C., Vedam, S., Dahlen, H. G., Ellwood, D., Forster, D., … & Thornton, C. (2018). Maternal and perinatal outcomes by planned place of birth among women with low-risk pregnancies in high-income countries: A systematic review and meta-analysis. Midwifery.