When breech, twin and post-dates deliveries were taken out, the mortality rate for midwives was not significantly different from that for doctors. Although the data are more than a decade old, they support the premise that outcomes for low-risk home births are comparably good whether attended by physicians or midwives. Read abstract on Medline Back to index 4. Olsen O Afdeling for Social Medicin, Kobenhavns Universitet. All the evidence relevant to Nordic women suggests that it is at least as safe for healthy women to give birth at home as in hospital, and perhaps safer .
Clinical trials show that there are factors about home birth which make births easier.
Despite this, many doctors still assume that hospital is the safest place for all women to give birth. The author considers how obstetricians can be encouraged to base their judgements on empirical evidence rather than 'pre-scientific dogmas'. The researchers looked at data on damage to the perineum for 1068 women who delivered at home with a nurse-midwife in attendance. Note that an episiotomy is equivalent to a second-degree tear, in that it involves a cut through underlying tissue as well as skin. Women having their first babies were more likely to have an intact perineum if they delivered on hands and knees or kneeling, if the perineum was supported in delivery, or if they were 'low socioeconomic status'.