23 Two groups of women who delivered in hospital were compared in a randomised, controlled trial. The control group received consultant-led care, and mothers laboured in delivery rooms containing resuscitation equipment, monitors, and a delivery bed. The objective was presumably to see if some of the benefits of home birth could be reaped in hospital. The only difference which the researchers found significant was that more mothers in the simulated home birth group were satisfied with the care they received. For many, the benefit comes from being at home, where you feel secure, and where you are in control.
Humans are territorial animals.
We do not know enough yet about the way environment affects the production of hormones necessary for birth. Read abstract on Medline Back to index 2. Abstract on Medline Back to index 3. Effects of breech, twin, and post-dates outcome data on mortality rates. When breech, twin and post-dates deliveries were taken out, the mortality rate for midwives was not significantly different from that for doctors.