Home Births Increasing

The increase was driven by white women — 1 in 98 had their babies at home in 2008, the most recent year for which the statistics were available. Only about 1 in 357 black women give birth at home, and just 1 in 500 Hispanic women do.

The increase is notable because doctors groups have been vocal about opposing home births, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has for years warned against home births, arguing they can be unsafe, especially if the mother has high-risk medical conditions, if the attendant is inadequately trained or if there's no quick way to get mother and child to a hospital if something goes awry. However, exactly how unsafe home births are is a matter of medical controversy, with studies offering conflicting conclusions. And some argue that hospitals present their own dangers of infection and sometimes unnecessary medical interventions.

The CDC researchers did find that home births involving medical risks became less common from 2004 to 2008. Home births of infants born prematurely fell by 16 percent, so that by 2008 only 6 percent of all home births involved preterm births. That's less than half the percentage in hospitals.

The study was done by two CDC researchers and a Boston university professor. It was electronically published Friday by a medical journal called Birth: Issues in Perinatal Care.

Source: msnbc.com