A recent report from the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) shows that home births are gaining in popularity and all-in-all, home births have risen 20% in recent years. Still, many pregnant women and their partners are concerned that home births may not be as safe as a hospital birth, likely because home birth myths regularly circulate in the media and parenting circles. This happens because, when a home birth goes bad, the media is all over it, blaming midwives and the home setting. However, all is not well on the hospital front – it’s just that the media usually ignores the much more common hospital errors. Keep reading to see some common myths about home births.
Loading ...MYTH 1: Home births are more dangerous than hospital births.
FACT: Honestly, it’s hard to compare home birth and hospital birth statistics perfectly because there’s so many more hospital births than home births. Home births are on the rise, but still, fewer than 1% of U.S. babies are born at home. That said, the largest study of home birth to date shows that if you’re having a low-risk pregnancy, a home birth is just as safe as a hospital birth. Another large home birth study shows that the newborn death rate is just 1.7 deaths per 1000 planned home births. Better yet, ZERO mothers died during this large study.
Its important to remember that some statistics are very misleading. Countries are responsible for providing their own infant mortality rates. Some countries don’t include premature births so they can rank higher.
Its also important to gather information from sources who are indifferent. A big problem with the information available on homebirth is that the vast majority of it is from homebirth advocates with an agenda.
Its not that I think homebirths should never happen, I just hate it when perfectly acceptable options are sold using BS.