Table 5.

Prevalence and reasons for home births from urban surveys in India since 2000

Author, year of publication (ref)	Study area and target population/Study design	Sample size and prevalence of home births	Reasons for home births
Rahi et al, 200622	One Urban slum in Delhi, Births recorded during April–June 2005, cross-sectional survey	n=82 births Home births=56.1%	Not reported
Agarwal et al, 200723	One urban slum in Delhi, women who delivered last 1 year, cross-sectional survey	n=82 Home births=31.8%	Lack of awareness for need for check-up (27%) Lack of knowledge about service availability (17%) Long waiting time (22%) None to accompany (15%) Finance (12%) Fear of hospitals (7%) Family objections (2%)
DLHS Fact sheet (2007–2008)14	Delhi state in 2008 using multistage stratified probability sampling	n=9689 households Home births Rural=42.6% Urban=29.9% Total=30.8%	Not reported
Thind et al, 200820	NFHS survey data from Maharashtra, cross sectional survey	n=1510 recent births Home births (overall)=37% Only urban=15.3%	Predisposing factors Religion (Hindu), multiple births and caste
Agarwal et al, 201024	11 slums of Indore, Madhya Pradesh, cross-sectional survey of mothers of infants (2004–2006)	n=312 Home births=56.4%	Not reported
Das et al, 201025	Mumbai slums from 6 municipal wards, survelllance study (2005–2007)	n=10 754 births Home births=10%	Customary (28%), No time to reach hospital (13%), no body to go along (8%), Fear (7%)
Dasgupta et al, 200621	Rural and urban clusters in West Bengal from Birbhum district. Cross-sectional survey, women who delivered in the last 1 year	n=320 Home births (rural and urban combined)=51.88%	Not reported
Khan et al, 200926	Periurban area of Aligarh, Uttar Pradesh	n=92 mother of infants Home births=60%	Tradition (42%) Related to economics (31%)
Hazarika, 200913	NFHS-3 Delhi data, cross-sectional survey, women who delivered 6 months ago	n=2420 (slum dwellers) Home births=22.62%	Not reported

NFHS, National Family Health Survey.