Is home birth safe?
The largest, most solid scientific studies conducted on this subject have consistently revealed that planned home birth with trained midwives is a safe, satisfying, and cost effective option for women with low-risk pregnancies. The most recent of these studies examined the outcomes of over 5,000 home births. The study paired the outcomes of all the women who chose planned home births with CPMs in the year 2000 with a similar number of women who planned to have their babies in the hospital. The results showed that the outcomes of the births were the same in both groups as far as healthy mothers and babies, but that these safe outcomes were achieved with far fewer interventions than those women who chose to be cared for by doctors in hospitals. For example, the rate of cesarean section was only 4.3% among mothers who chose home birth compared to a rate of 30% in the hospital group. You can read the full text of the study here. More home birth safety resources.
