• View ecochildsplay’s profile on Facebook
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Twitter
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Instagram
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Pinterest
  • View Jennifer Lance’s profile on LinkedIn
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on YouTube
  • View ecochildsplay’s profile on Google+

Eco Child's Play

Live a greener, healthier life!

  • Environment
  • Pregnancy
  • Food & Recipes
  • Health News
  • Parenting
  • Green Toys
  • Beauty & Beauty Products
  • Green Home & Cleaning
  • Contact

Home Births Increase by 20% Even in States Where Illegal


According to a new study by the Centers for Disease Control (CDC), the rate of home births has increased across the United States, especially amongst caucasian women. By examining birth certificates, the CDC found an increase of 20% of both planned and unplanned births at home between 2004-2008.

Newsy explains:

“More women are choosing to give birth from the comfort of their own home. The CDC researched birth certificates for more than 4 million babies. They found that more than 28,000 babies were born at home in 2008. That’s a jump of 20 percent — the highest since 1990.”(Health Key)

Medscape further reports:

According to the researchers, from 1989 to 2004, the percentage of home births remained lower than 1 in every 140 births, declining slowly from 0.69 of all births in 1989 to 0.56 in 2004. However, in 2005, the US rate of home births increased notably for the first time since 1989, to 0.59%, a figure that remained steady in 2006…

According to the researchers, among non-Hispanic white women, for whom greater than 1% of births occur at home, the increase was 28%, which may have driven the overall increase.

Furthermore, the risk profile for home births has been lowered: The percentage of home births of infants who are born preterm or at low birthweight has decreased substantially, as has the percentage of home births that occur to teen and unmarried mothers…

The investigators also found that the percentage of home births delivered by certified nurse-midwives or certified midwives increased by 22%: from 15.8% of home births in 2004 to 19.2% of home births in 2008. By contrast, the percentage of home births delivered by physicians dropped from 8.7% in 2004 to 5.4% in 2008, a decline of 38%.

“The decline in the percentage of home births delivered by physicians may be an indication of an improved risk profile, as most physician-delivered home births are unplanned,” the authors note.

Both of my children were born at home.  Our midwives, who were certified, asked that we report these births as “accidental” home births when applying for birth certificates.  Even though many states certify midwives, there are still grey areas, especially considering midwives don’t carry malpractice insurance.  Thus, I do not think the CDC report can accurately assess planned versus unplanned home births given my own little lie to the county.

I suspect the states with the greatest number of home births (Montana, Vermont, Oregon, Alaska, Pennsylvania, and Wisconsin) result from laws that protect midwifery and offer licensure producing a greater number of home birth midwives, however, the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA) legal chart does not entirely support my supposition.  For example, direct entry midwifery is illegal in Pennsylvania, yet they are one of the top states.  Despite legal concerns, families and midwives are willing to take this risk.

  • Twitter
  • Email
  • Pinterest
  • Print
  • Facebook
  • LinkedIn
  • More
  • WhatsApp
  • Tumblr
  • Reddit
  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter

Subscribe!

« 4 Warning Signs of a Bad Babysitter Every Parent Should Know
Hank D and the Bee: Solar+Wind=____ »

Comments

  1. Ellen says

    December 19, 2011 at 9:51 pm

    We had three hospital births, and I can tell you the sanitation protocol was frightful; we learned much differently as Girl Scouts candy striping at Riverside Hospital in Columbus, Ohio.

    Reply
    • Jennifer Lance says

      December 20, 2011 at 7:11 am

      I was born at Riverside Hospital!

      Reply

Leave a Reply Cancel reply

Your email address will not be published. Required fields are marked *

Recipe Rating




This site uses Akismet to reduce spam. Learn how your comment data is processed.

Search Content

  • Email
  • Facebook
  • Instagram
  • Pinterest
  • Twitter


About Eco Child’s Play

Our ethos is to provide news, information, and opinions on natural, green parenting to help your family live a greener, healthier life! Additionally, we offer personal consulting services to help you achieve your green living goals.

Jennifer is a vegetarian, yoga teacher, gardener, hiker, teacher, and mother that has been living off-the-grid for over 20 years.

Contact Eco Child’s Play

Plants Over Plastics! Repurpose Compostable Home Products

Convenient Plastic Container Free Dropps Laundry & Dishwashing Pods

More from the archives!

Crafting Calm: Projects for creativity and contemplation

The Preemptive Strike on Breastfeeding

Campaign for Commercial-Free Childhood: Shut down HappyMeal.com!

Earth Day: Gary Snyder’s poetry

World Water Day: 2900 gallons of water for one pair of jeans!

cbd salve joy organics

CBD Products that Actually Deliver: Joy Organics

wama hemp underwear

The Most Comfortable Underwear is Made of Hemp: WAMA Review

Information

  • About & Contact
  • Archive
  • Blog
  • Consulting Services
  • Disclaimer, Disclosure, & Sponsored Posts
  • Privacy Policy

Reduce, Reuse, Recycle Play Activity

Do-It-Yourself: How to Make and Can Organic Strawberry Jam

Kid-Friendly Organic Grains: Fast Cooking Quinoa

social skills more important than kindergarten academics

Stanford Danish Study: Delayed Kindergarten Results in Greater Self-Control

Doctor Recommends Avoiding Flu Shot, Taking Vitamin D Instead

Popular Categories

  • Breastfeeding
  • Health News
  • Natural Childbirth
  • Parenting
  • Education
  • Product Review
  • Green Toys

Get our posts via email

Please stay in touch!

You might also like to read…

Easy Oil-Free Potato Chippies

Easy Oil-Free Potato Chippies

My Small Town Could Become The Solar Energy Capitol

Earth Day 2010: Lockheed Martin Recommends Green Kids Books…huh?

Hank D and the Bee: Hank Your Clothes Out to Dry

Outdoor Fun with Tetherball

Copyright © 2023 · Divine theme by Restored 316

Copyright © 2023 · Divine Theme On Genesis Framework · WordPress · Log in

loading Cancel
Post was not sent - check your email addresses!
Email check failed, please try again
Sorry, your blog cannot share posts by email.