Home births...
“Hospitals or dedicated maternity centres are the safest settings for childbirth, but each woman has the right to make a medically informed decision about where to have her delivery. About 10%-15% women in India and about 1% in USA give birth at home. Many of these are unplanned deliveries,” says Dr. Rooma Sinha, Hon Professor & Senior Consultant Gynaecologist, Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Health City. “Appropriate selection of pregnant women and the availability of a certified nurse/midwife/doctor are essential for a planned home birth. They have fewer maternal interventions like labour induction or augmentation, regional analgesia, electronic foetal heart rate monitoring, episiotomy or caesarean delivery. Home birth is associated with higher risk of perinatal death, neonatal seizures and serious neurologic dysfunction,” says Dr Rooma. “Factor that can influence safe home birth is the availability of timely intrapartum transfer of the patient in labour to a maternity centre,” says Dr Rooma.
Home births can be safe for lowrisk pregnancies, but experts maintain that a hospital is still the safest place to give birth even during the COVID-19 pandemic. “About 25%-30% of nulliparous (never given birth to a live baby) and about 5%-10% of multiparous labouring women (who have given birth more than once) will need a specialist intervention due to complications during labour and delivery or childbirth,” adds Dr Rooma.
There are many things to consider when making the decision to deliver a baby at home, including the risk factors for the mother and the proximity of a hospital, should something go wrong, cautions Dr. Bhagya Lakshmi. “Planned home births are associated with double or even triple the risk of infant death or severe injury than births planned at hospitals. It is not safe for all women to give birth at home. For example, women who have had a prior C- section or who are pregnant with multiple children are at greater risk,” she adds.
Hospitals or dedicated maternity centres are the safest settings for childbirth, but each woman has the right to make a medically informed decision about where to have her delivery.
— Dr Rooma Sinha, Senior Consultant Gynaecologist, Laparoscopic & Robotic Surgeon, Apollo Health City