Skip to main content
PMC home page
The BMJ logoLink to The BMJ
. 1996 Nov 23;313(7068):1302–1306. doi: 10.1136/bmj.313.7068.1302

Prospective regional study of planned home births. Home Birth Study Steering Group.

J Davies 1, E Hey 1, W Reid 1, G Young 1
PMCID: PMC2352724  PMID: 8942691

Abstract

OBJECTIVE: To collect data from a cohort of women requesting a home birth and examine the experience and outcome of pregnancy, the indications for hospital transfer, and the attitudes of mothers, midwives, and general practitioners. DESIGN: Follow up study with anonymised postal questionnaires. SETTING: Northern Regional Health Authority area. SUBJECTS: The 256 women resident in the Northern region who expected to deliver in 1993 and whose request for a home birth became known to one of the local supervisors of midwives. Limited cross validating information was also collected retrospectively on all other women delivering a baby outside hospital in 1993. MAIN OUTCOME MEASURES: Rate of and reason for transferred care; maternal, midwifery, and general practitioner views; perinatal outcome. RESULTS: Five women miscarried, leaving 251 in the study. Of these, 142 (57%) delivered at home. There were 17 (7%) caesarean sections but no perinatal deaths. General practitioners had reservations about half of the booking requests. Two thirds of the women thought they had not been offered any option about place of birth, 74 (29%) were referred to hospital for delivery before the onset of labour, and 35 (14%) were referred to hospital during labour. Intrapartum transfers were uneventful, and half the mothers commented spontaneously that they valued having spent even part of their labour at home. CONCLUSIONS: Home birth is valued for its family setting. General practitioners' support is sought and influential but uncommon, possibly because of a lack of understanding of the responsibilities of the midwife and general practitioner.

Full text

PDF

Selected References

These references are in PubMed. This may not be the complete list of references from this article.

  1. Baird A. G., Jewell D., Walker J. J. Management of labour in an isolated rural maternity hospital. BMJ. 1996 Jan 27;312(7025):223–226. doi: 10.1136/bmj.312.7025.223. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  2. Brown D. J. Opinions of general practitioners in Nottinghamshire about provision of intrapartum care. BMJ. 1994 Sep 24;309(6957):777–779. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6957.777. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  3. Chamberlain G., Pearce J. M. The flying squad. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1991 Nov;98(11):1067–1069. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1991.tb15355.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  4. Chapman M. G., Jones M., Spring J. E., De Swiet M., Chamberlain G. V. The use of a birthroom: a randomized controlled trial comparing delivery with that in the labour ward. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1986 Feb;93(2):182–187. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1986.tb07884.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  5. Cunningham J. D. Experiences of Australian mothers who gave birth either at home, at a birth centre, or in hospital labour wards. Soc Sci Med. 1993 Feb;36(4):475–483. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(93)90409-w. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  6. Ford C., Iliffe S., Franklin O. Outcome of planned home births in an inner city practice. BMJ. 1991 Dec 14;303(6816):1517–1519. doi: 10.1136/bmj.303.6816.1517. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  7. Hundley V. A., Cruickshank F. M., Lang G. D., Glazener C. M., Milne J. M., Turner M., Blyth D., Mollison J., Donaldson C. Midwife managed delivery unit: a randomised controlled comparison with consultant led care. BMJ. 1994 Nov 26;309(6966):1400–1404. doi: 10.1136/bmj.309.6966.1400. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  8. MacVicar J., Dobbie G., Owen-Johnstone L., Jagger C., Hopkins M., Kennedy J. Simulated home delivery in hospital: a randomised controlled trial. Br J Obstet Gynaecol. 1993 Apr;100(4):316–323. doi: 10.1111/j.1471-0528.1993.tb12972.x. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  9. Marsh G. N., Cashman H. A., Russell I. T. General practitioner obstetrics in the Northern region in 1983. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Mar 23;290(6472):901–903. doi: 10.1136/bmj.290.6472.901. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  10. Marsh G. N., Channing D. M. Audit of 26 years of obstetrics in general practice. BMJ. 1989 Apr 22;298(6680):1077–1080. doi: 10.1136/bmj.298.6680.1077. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  11. O'Brien M. Home and hospital: a comparison of the experiences of mothers having home and hospital confinements. J R Coll Gen Pract. 1978 Aug;28(193):460–466. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  12. Payne-James J., Silk D. Clinical nutrition support. BMJ. 1990 Jul 7;301(6742):1–2. doi: 10.1136/bmj.301.6742.1. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  13. Prentice A., Walton S. M. Outcome of pregnancies referred to a general practitioner maternity unit in a district hospital. BMJ. 1989 Oct 28;299(6707):1090–1092. doi: 10.1136/bmj.299.6707.1090. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  14. Schneider D. Planned out-of-hospital births, New Jersey, 1978-1980. Soc Sci Med. 1986;23(10):1011–1015. doi: 10.1016/0277-9536(86)90258-3. [DOI] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  15. Shearer J. M. Five year prospective survey of risk of booking for a home birth in Essex. Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1985 Nov 23;291(6507):1478–1480. doi: 10.1136/bmj.291.6507.1478. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  16. Soderstrom B., Stewart P. J., Kaitell C., Chamberlain M. Interest in alternative birthplaces among women in Ottawa-Carleton. CMAJ. 1990 May 1;142(9):963–969. [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]
  17. Young G. Are isolated maternity units run by general practitioners dangerous? Br Med J (Clin Res Ed) 1987 Mar 21;294(6574):744–746. doi: 10.1136/bmj.294.6574.744. [DOI] [PMC free article] [PubMed] [Google Scholar]

Articles from BMJ : British Medical Journal are provided here courtesy of BMJ Publishing Group

RESOURCES