Medical Studies & Research Articles

• Canadian Medical Association Journal - Homebirth Vs. Hospital
  Planned home birth attended by a registered midwife was associated with very low and comparable rates of perinatal death and reduced rates of obstetric interventions and other adverse perinatal outcomes compared with planned hospital birth
• National Perinatal Association - Midwifery Position Statement
  PDF download - Position statement on the safety and definition of Midwifery
• National Perinatal Association - Choice of Birth Setting Position Statement
  PDF download - Position statement on the safety of home birth with a certified midwife
• British Medical Journal - Homebirth
  Editorial from the British Medical Journal advocating homebirth with texts affirming safety
• British Medical Journal - North American Homebirths
  Planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention. Homebirth is as safe or safer than hospital birth in most cases
• Citizens for Midwifery - FACT SHEET
  PDF download - Fact Sheet on The Safety of Homebirth
• Global Midwives
  A very helpful collection of homebirth safety information
• World Health Organization - Place of Birth
  From a World Health Organization (WHO) report on Place of Birth: It has never been scientifically proven that the hospital is a safer place than home for a woman who has had an uncomplicated pregnancy to have her baby
• Gentle Birth - WHO Study
  Excerpt from the World Health Organization’s Summary of Research on Place of Birth
• Gentle Birth - Place of Birth
  Home Birth and Out-of-Hospital Birth: Is it Safe?
• Gentle Birth - Exposure to Infection
  The Newborn Immune System: One of the least understood issues of homebirth safety is the low infection risk. The exposure of the newborn to life-threatening infection that occurs in the hospital is a leading cause of death
• Medical Literature Archives
  Homebirth Safety Research Abstracts
• British Medical Journal - Home vs. Hospital
  Home versus hospital deliveries: a prospective study on matched pairs
• British Medical Journal - Homebirth Outcomes
  Outcome of planned home and planned hospital births in low risk pregnancies in the Netherlands
• British Medical Journal - Planned Homebirth
  Prospective regional study of planned home birth
• Wiley Interscience Journals
  Meta-analysis of the safety of home birth A total of nearly 25,000 births from five different countries were studied. The results: There was no difference in survival rates between the babies born at home and those born in the hospital