Table 3.
Intervention rates for 5418 planned home births attended by certified professional midwives and hospital births in the United States
| Intervention | No (%) of intended home births with certified professional midwives in US, 2000 (n=5418) | Singleton, vertex births at ≥37 weeks gestation in US, 2000*(n=3 360 868) (%) | Survey of singleton births in all risk categories in US, 2000-1†(n=1583) (%) |
|---|---|---|---|
| Electronic fetal monitoring | 520 (9.6) | 84.3 | 93 |
| Intravenous | 454 (8.4) | NR | 85 |
| Artificial rupture of membranes | 272 (5.0) | NR | 67 |
| Epidural | 254 (4.7) | NR | 63 |
| Induction of labour‡ | 519 (9.6) | 21.0 | 44 |
| Stimulation of labour | 498 (9.2) | 18.9 | 53 |
| Episiotomy | 116 (2.1) | 33.0 | 35 |
| Forceps | 57 (1.0) | 2.2 | 3 |
| Vacuum extraction | 32 (0.6) | 5.2 | 7 |
| Caesarean section | 200 (3.7) | 19.0 | 24 |
NR=not reported on birth certificate.
Based on data from birth certificates for all 3 360 868 such births in United States in 2000. Data reported by National Center for Health Statistics.10 This subset of birthing women would generally be low risk, but would include a small percentage of higher risk women who would likely require more medical intervention.
Results from listening to mothers survey, October 2002. Percentages weighted to reflect US population of birthing women, aged 18-44.5 Includes about 20% of women not at low risk who may experience higher intervention rates.
For certified professional midwives 2000 study and listening to mothers survey, both attempted and successful inductions were reported; for US birth certificate data only successful inductions are reported.