Benefits of Homebirth

Benefits of Homebirth Midwifery Care

Excellent Quality of Care

With midwifery, clients enjoy longer prenatal visits, individualized and personal care, one-on-one attention at birth, and continuity of care by having the same attendant for prenatal, birth, and postpartum experiences.

Time to build trust with care provider.

Midwives are trained and capable of handling emergency situations and carry equipment including oxygen, anti-hemorrhagic medications, and IVs.

Much higher client satisfaction with care. Greater feelings of positive and empowered birth, and of control of the birth experience.

Decreased Interventions and Complications

Decreased interventions involving IVs, continuous electronic monitoring, Pitocin, epidural, episiotomy, and the like, all of which introduce extra risk to the normal birth process.

Decreased rate of complications due to fewer interventions and support of physiologic birth.

Decreased rate of Cesareans: less than 5% compared to over 30%. Cesarean birth greatly increases risk of complications and mortality for baby and mother.

Decreased rate of infection: less than half that of hospital birth.

Decreased perinatal mortality.

Opportunity for Choice

Greater involvement of mother and partner with pregnancy choices and birth process. Full informed consent offered for all standard tests and procedures.

Choice of positions for laboring and birth.

Comfortable Birth Environment

At home, the birth environment is familiar, comfortable, quieter, and calm. There is a low level of interference and disruption. These factors help increase maternal relaxation and confidence, reduce stress and fear, facilitate greater levels of natural, hormonal pain relief, and foster greater support of the natural, physiologic process of birth.

Family Centered Care, Bonding and Postpartum Well-Being

Opportunity for immediate bonding with baby and continuous contact, which support early breastfeeding success and attachment.

Greater long-term breastfeeding success.

Easier sibling adjustment.

Decreased rate of postpartum depression.

Family-centered, individualized care.

To read studies that support these statements please see our Homebirth Research page.