Idaho Midwifery Council

"Outcomes of planned home births with certified professional midwives: large prospective study in North America." Kenneth C Johnson, senior epidemiologist, Betty-Anne Daviss, project manager. BMJ 2005;330;1416 (June 18)

This large study was based on statistics compiled by CPM's in the US and Canada during the year 2000. Included are data from more than 5000 births.

The claim of US medical professionals that "home birth is dangerous" is not supported by this study. Rather, the study concluded that "planned home birth for low risk women in North America using certified professional midwives was associated with lower rates of medical intervention but similar intrapartum and neonatal mortality to that of low risk hospital births in the United States."

In addition, over 97% of the birthing women reported that "they were extremely or very satisfied" with the care they received.

          This article is worth reading! The full text may be viewed at the British Medical Journal web site:

                http://bmj.bmjjournals.com/cgi/content/full/330/7505/1416?ehom