SALT LAKE CITY (ABC 4 News) –New research shows more women in the U.S. are choosing to give birth at home. The National Center for Health Statistics shows a rise of 20% between 2004, and 2008, the most recent years studied.
Less than 1% of births happen at home, but researchers say the numbers are clearly rising. The choice could be financially driven. The total cost of a homebirth is about a third of a hospital delivery, but researchers say women are not making a financial decision; they are making a choice to bring their children into the world with low-intervention.
The Gross family, the Jessop's, and the Weaver family all have something in common. They all had their children at home. Kelsey Weaver says she wanted the birth experience on her own terms. "I really love that I have choices"
Kelsey Weaver is among thousands of other Utah women who make the home birth choice every year. Suzanne Smith is a certified Midwife at Better Birth. She and the other midwives at Better Birth deliver about 200 babies annually at home and at their birthing centers. Weaver says her patients are looking for an alternative to a clinical setting. "Primarily they want control, they have ideas about how they want their birth to be they care about what kind of experience it is and they don't feel in other settings that they have enough control to make that happen”
One to two percent of Utah babies are born at home. The Beehive State has historically surpassed the national average; in fact, Utah is in the top ten states for homebirth. But Smith says having babies at home is not for everyone. "These are women, of course, of low risk. We wouldn't want this for someone of high risk but for a normal healthy woman having a baby they just want to do it naturally."
Naturally, meaning no pain medication. 'The biggest fear is the pain because they are not getting an epidural, but there are many good ways to manage that."
Malissa Jessop gave birth to all five of her children at home and says it is comfortable. “Comfortable, no machines, where I could just listen to my body and do what my body needed to do." She says there was also no fear of complications. “I trust Suzanne. I felt if there was a need to have something else happen, she would say so and we would do what needed to happen.”
Certified midwives are trained to spot an emergency, and Smith says if one happens patients are transferred to hospitals. “It’s very rare that we do have an emergency. When we do, we are trained to recognize it, stabilize the mother and baby, and we are fortunate to have hospitals close by.” She says of the 200 labor and deliveries at Better Birth about ten percent of patients are transferred to hospitals. Smith says however, it’s not emergencies that send the there it’s simply a failure to for labor to progress. “This is not the setting for someone with complications.”
Jessop says despite vast changes in homebirth since the early days of midwifery, people still question the choice. "People say do they still do that? Is it legal?"
Susan Gross has three children and she says regardless of what people may say, it was the right choice for her. She gave birth to her oldest daughter in the hospital, her son was born in a birthing center and her ten month old baby daughter was born at home.
"Homebirth is awesome. I would never choose any other way."
Smith says most women who practice midwifery in Utah are certified and have at least a four year degree plus midwife certification. She has a Masters degree in midwifery.
The Utah Medical Association’s spokesperson Michelle McComber today said it is the Association’s policy is to honor a woman's right to choose. The UMA cautions women there is a risk. They also say it is important to find a provider with training, and that any woman outside of a normal pregnancy should be seeing a physician. McComber says a backup plan is essential in case of emergency.
