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CHAPTER 15 - Place of birth

Published online by Cambridge University Press:  05 July 2014

By
Leroy Edozien  and
Heather Mellows
Edited by
Tahir Mahmood ,
Philip Owen ,
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran  and
Charnjit Dhillon
Leroy Edozien
Affiliation:
St Mary’s Hospital
Heather Mellows
Affiliation:
Department of Health, London
Tahir Mahmood
Affiliation:
Forth Park Hospital, Kilcaldy
Philip Owen
Affiliation:
Glasgow Royal Infirmary
Sabaratnam Arulkumaran
Affiliation:
St George’s University London
Charnjit Dhillon
Affiliation:
Royal College of Obstetricians and Gynaecologists, London
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Summary

Providers of maternity care have a responsibility to assist the woman and her partner in making an informed choice of place of birth. The options include the home, a midwifery-led maternity unit or a consultant-led hospital delivery suite. With the acknowledgement that healthy mothers have healthy babies that grow into healthy adults, maternity services were included in the National Service Framework (NSF) for Children, Young People and Maternity. Policy considerations regarding place of birth must look beyond studies of perinatal mortality; issues such as selection of women, staffing and cost are also important. Unless future evidence dictates otherwise, home birth is an option that should be open to appropriately selected women who are at low risk of obstetric complications and at low risk of being transferred to hospital having laboured at home.

Keywords

risk assessmentperinatal mortalityplace of birthNational Service Frameworkmidwifery staffing levelscare pathwaysmaternity services
Type
Chapter
Information
Models of Care in Maternity Services , pp. 140 - 149
Publisher: Cambridge University Press
Print publication year: 2010

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