It is a claim that brings controversy, but we have for the first time scientific foundation that supports that Home birth is as safe as in the hospital.
The University of Alicante together with Educer publish the first research on the safety of home birth in Spain, according to which analyzing the data of births collected by the INE in the last fifteen years, there have been no statistically significant differences in relation to infant mortality between single deliveries assisted at term at home and deliveries of the same characteristics attended in hospitals.
Mortality rate of births in health centers VS home births
Birth data between 1995 and 2009 (latest available data) that met three basic safety conditions were analyzed: one baby (excluding twins and other multiple births), term born (between weeks 37 and 42) and with healthcare.
Births were then classified, according to the place where they occurred, at home or in the hospital, those born at term were selected and cases of babies born dead or died within 24 hours after delivery were counted.
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When analyzing the data, the rate of perinatal deaths thrown for the births in health centers is 1.60 per thousand birthswhile in the home deliveries it's practically the same, of 1,57.
Home births in recent years
The graph above shows the evolution of home births from 1985 to 2009 With data collected by the INE (National Institute of Statistics) we see how year after year they have been decreasing with a turning point in the mid-nineties, when it stabilizes until today.
The inflection point coincides with the beginning of the publication of the first assistance protocols of the Spanish Society of Gynecology and Obstetrics (SEGO) which, with its various updates, have served as a reference to Spanish health centers in childbirth care.
To consider
The study is a great step for home birth to stop being seen as an extravagance and to be considered as a safe option, an alternative for low-risk pregnant women who prefer a different, more intimate and humanized way of giving birth.
Even so, although the study figures do not pose a significant difference between one site and another, there are certain things that must be taken into account about the study, related to three other security conditions that must deliver home deliveries.
It is not known the percentage of home deliveries that have been planned and the one that doesn't. Because there are deliveries that may have occurred at home unexpectedly without professional assistance throughout the process or in much of the process of delivery, or that the assistance has not been provided by a specialized professional.
You cannot verify that pregnancy monitoring It has been adequate to rule out any risk situation or pathology of the mother or the baby.
Finally, it was not possible to verify whether there was possibility of transfer to a hospital in less than 45 minutes before any unforeseen event.
Conclusion
The study of the University of Alicante and Educer It is of great relevance and it is in line with other major studies carried out in countries such as the United Kingdom, Canada and the Netherlands, where home birth is a common practice.
It is even in the same line of the controversial meta-analysis published in 2010 according to which home birth triples the neonatal death compared to hospital delivery, which included deliveries without health care, no differences were found between low-risk deliveries assisted by a health professional at home or in health centers.
Looking back, you can see that in the last 15 years no more babies have died from home births than from births in health centers having health care. In fact, the death of a baby from a full-term pregnancy occurred with healthcare, both in the hospital and at home, is an exceptional event.
Therefore, it can be said objectively that Home birth is as safe as in the hospital. To think that couples who opt for home birth are putting their baby's health at risk, when basic safety conditions are met, It has no scientific basis.
