Women's preference for place of birth

Collaborative survey of perinatal loss in planned and unplanned home births. Northern Region Perinatal Mortality Survey Coordinating Group

OBJECTIVE

To document the outcome of planned and unplanned births outside hospital.

DESIGN

Confidential review of every pregnancy ending in stillbirth or neonatal death in which plans had been made for home delivery, irrespective of where delivery eventually occurred. The review was part of a sustained collaborative survey of all perinatal deaths.

SETTING

Northern Regional Health Authority area.

SUBJECTS

All 558,691 registered births to women normally resident in the former Northern Regional Health Authority area during 1981-94.

MAIN OUTCOME MEASURE

Perinatal death.

RESULTS

The estimated perinatal mortality during 1981-94 among women booked for a home birth was 14 deaths in 2888 births. This was less than half that among all women in the region. Only three of the 14 women delivered outside hospital. Independent review suggested that two of the 14 deaths might have been averted by different management. Both births occurred in hospital, and in only one was management before admission of the mother judged inappropriate. Perinatal loss to the 64 women who booked for hospital delivery but delivered outside and to the 67 women who delivered outside hospital without ever making arrangements to receive professional care during labour accounted for the high perinatal mortality (134 deaths in 3466 deliveries) among all births outside hospital.

CONCLUSIONS

The perinatal hazard associated with planned home birth in the few women who exercised this option (< 1%) was low and mostly unavoidable. Health authorities purchasing maternity care need to address the much greater hazard associated with unplanned delivery outside hospital.

Outcome in low risk pregnancies

AIMS

To determine the obstetric and neonatal outcomes of a cohort of very low risk pregnancies in hospital, that would be suitable for home delivery.

METHODS

A retrospective analysis was undertaken of computerised records covering five years from July 1988 to August 1993 of 32424 pregnant women who delivered at the North Staffordshire Maternity Hospital, Stoke on Trent, during that period.

RESULTS

Of 32424 deliveries, only 1314 (4%) fulfilled our criteria for being low risk. Sixty seven (5.1%) of the low risk group had an operative delivery, with Caesarean section accounting for 32 (2.4%) cases, 16 (23.9%) babies were resuscitated and three were intubated. A normal vaginal delivery occurred in 1245 women, but a paediatrician attended 122 births (9.22%), assisted ventilation was provided in 65 cases (5.2%), and five babies were intubated (0.4%). Fourteen babies in total were admitted to the neonatal unit and one died.

CONCLUSIONS

These results suggest that at least 5% of women suitable for delivery at home will require transfer in labour. Midwives attending home births must be skilled in bag and mask resuscitation as only rarely will an urgent intubation be required. The British Paediatric Association Working Party report on neonatal resuscitation suggests a need for resuscitation in only 0.2% of low risk deliveries: but these findings suggest that the need is greater.