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At-Home Births May Be Risky To Babies

Thu, 01 Jul 2010 06:05:3

Maine, United States (AHN) - Planned home births have been associated in a recent study with an almost tripling of neonatal deaths in the United States.

Researchers with the Maine Medical Center said the most common cause of death was respiratory distress and failed resuscitation.

The researchers analyzed the results of multiple studies from around the world for their study.

About 1 in 200 women in the United States deliver their babies at home, with about 75 percent of these cases considered low-risk, single-baby births that were planned in advanced as home deliveries.

But mothers in these planned pregnancies are less likely to have medical interventions like epidural analgesia, electric fetal heart rate monitoring, episiotomy and cesarean sections.

The study is published in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology.

The editors-in-chief of the journal said in a statement that the report supports the safety of at-home-births for the mother, but raises concerns about the risk to the new-born babies.