New home birth slump

Released on 08/12/2009

Press Release 

New national statistics - home birth figures remain static across UK

Across the UK in 2008, 21, 211 (2.7%) of all births (787,032) took place at home, compared with 20,548 (2.68%) in 2007. This shows no rise in the home birth rate. In England 18,933 women (2.8%) had a home birth, from 665,779 births. Wales has the highest proportion of women having home births, 1,314 (3.7%) from 35,256 births. In Scotland, 881 women (1.5%) had a home birth, from 60,366 births. And in Northern Ireland, 83 women (0.3%) had home births from 25,631 births.  

Mary Newburn, Head of Research & Information, NCT (National Childbirth Trust), says; 

“The NCT is very disappointed to see a lack of movement in the number of women giving birth at home, stalling the upward trend. It’s a blow for mothers-to-be. The Government’s Maternity Matters guarantee to allow every woman in England the choice of a home birth, birth centre birth or hospital birth by the end of 2009 is still far from being met. And choice throughout the rest of the UK is faring no better. In order to live up to the policy commitments, much more must be done. 

Research for the NCT’s Location, location, location campaign found that women’s access to a home birth service varied greatly between different areas, and the vast majority of women did not have reasonable access to a home birth around the UK.

In many areas community midwifery services are not being developed to increase access to home births and birth centres, and women are not being given balanced information to make well-informed choices. Low midwifery staffing levels mean home birth is either not being offered, or withdrawn at short notice. Every trust and board should ensure that choice of place of birth is available to all women. 

We call on Governments across the UK to deliver on policy commitments for choice. It is vital there are enough midwives, and that they are able to do what they do best – support women. We encourage anyone concerned about the lack of choice in their area to visit the NCT campaign webpage www.nct.org.uk/choice. By taking action, we can demand that the choice guarantee is met, even if this achievement is later than promised.”   

Local administrative areas with highest and lowest home birth rates include:- 

	HIGHEST	LOWEST
England	South Hamms – 13.6%	Alnwick 0.0%
Scotland	East Lothian – 5.0%	Eilean Siar – 0.4%
Wales	Bridgend – 9.5%	Merthyr Tydfil – 1.3%

  New data provided by the Office of National Statistics, The General Register Office for Scotland and the Northern Ireland Statistics and Research Agency. Statistics analysed by BirthChoiceUK - available at www.BirthChoiceUK.com/HomeBirthRates.htm 

ENDS
Notes to Editors

1. Home birth statistics; Studies show that for women at low risk of developing complications, home births are as safe as hospital births, and are much more likely to be straightforward, without medical intervention. One study on home birth compared the outcomes of 4,600 women who planned home birth with 3,300 equivalent women who planned a hospital birth.  

a)     Women who planned a hospital birth were twice as likely to have a forceps or ventouse delivery, or a caesarean delivery, as those who planned a home birth;

b)     Women who planned a home birth were much less likely to use drugs during labour than women planning a hospital birth, suggesting that labour was less painful or easier to cope with:- 

• 53% of women who planned a home birth used Entonox, compared to 72% for planned hospital birth;
• 8% of women planning a home birth used pethidine compared to 30% for planned hospital birth;
• 3% of women planning a home birth had an epidural (all transferred to hospital)compared to 11% for planned hospital birth.

 2. To find out more about the NCT’s Location, location, location campaign and each of the birth choices available to women in the UK, visit www.nct.org.uk/choice.  

3. A full breakdown of the latest home birth statistics are only available from www.BirthChoiceUK.com  BirthChoiceUK is an independent voluntary organisation dedicated to helping women choose where to have their baby through information provided by way of a website. The website includes maternity statistics produced by the NHS Information Centre and fully referenced résumés of the research relating to choices in childbirth.