"Give birth at home? Are you crazy???"

This is what you will probably hear if you tell your family and friends you are considering a home birth. Home birth may actually be the most sane way to bring a child into this world! For most people, the safest place to give birth is not the hospital. If you look at how the United States stacks up against other countries in the world with regards to childbirth safety, you would expect to find us at perhaps number 1 or 2. Maybe even somewhere in the top 5. Nope, not even close. The U.S. currently ranks 28th in the world for infant mortality, and 16th in the world for maternal mortality. That's right; the wealthiest, "most advanced" country in the world is not even in the top 15 countries world-wide. The countries with the lowest infant and maternal mortality rates are the countries where it is the midwives who deliver the majority of the babies, and also the countries where home birth is common.

The World Health Organization says, "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. Studies of planned home births in developed countries with women who have had uncomplicated pregnancies have shown sickness and death rates for mother and baby equal to or better than hospital birth statistics for women with uncomplicated pregnancies."

Take a closer look at home birth and see if it is right for you and your family. Look at the facts and make up your own mind about where you should birth your baby.

Midwifery Today - Homebirth Choice
Is Homebirth For You?
Homebirth Web Ring
The Safety of Homebirth