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Home versus hospital birth.

O Olsen¹, M D Jewell

¹The Nordic Cochrane Centre, Rigshospitalet, Blegdamsvej 9, dept. 7112, Copenhagen, Denmark, DK-2100 O. o.olsen@cochrane.dk

The Cochrane Database of Systematic Reviews

|May 5, 2000

Summary

Planned home birth appears safe with fewer interventions than hospital birth, but more research is needed. This review found insufficient evidence to definitively recommend either option for low-risk pregnancies.

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Area of Science:

Obstetrics and Gynecology
Maternal Health
Evidence-Based Midwifery

Background:

Observational studies suggest planned home birth is safe and associated with fewer interventions compared to planned hospital birth.
This contrasts with limited evidence from randomized trials regarding maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Purpose of the Study:

To evaluate the effects of planned home birth versus planned hospital birth on intervention rates, complications, and morbidity.
To synthesize findings from randomized controlled trials (RCTs) comparing planned home birth with planned hospital birth.

Main Methods:

Searched Cochrane Pregnancy and Childbirth Group trials register and Cochrane Controlled Trials Register up to September 1999.
Included controlled trials comparing planned hospital birth with planned home birth for selected low-risk women attended by experienced practitioners with hospital backup.
Assessed trial quality, extracted data, and contacted study authors for additional information.

Main Results:

Only one small trial with 11 women met the inclusion criteria.
The included trial was of reasonable quality but lacked sufficient statistical power to draw definitive conclusions.
Data on interventions, complications, and morbidity were limited due to the small sample size.

Conclusions:

There is currently insufficient robust evidence from randomized trials to favor either planned home birth or planned hospital birth for low-risk pregnant women.
Further high-quality randomized controlled trials are necessary to provide conclusive evidence on the safety and outcomes of planned home birth versus hospital birth.

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