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If you approached some random people on the street, and mentioned the phrase "home birth" to them, you'd probably get lots of reactions like, "What, you mean some people still have their babies at home? Do they live on the frontier, far from a hospital? Are they without insurance?"
Not only are home births on the rise, more women are choosing to have their babies at home -- specifically 83 percent of all women who deliver at home, reports an analysis from the National Center for Health Statistics, via NPR.com.
The average person might not understand why an expectant mama would opt against a hospital delivery, but women who've had both hospital and a home birth experiences certainly can:
- No laboring on the car ride to the hospital or worrying about flat tires, snowstorms, or the car breaking down.
- Being able to manage contractions in different positions, including your floor and the bathtub using water pressure. Hospitals often insist on fetal monitor hookups, which restrict freedom of movement.
- Home birth are as safe as hospital births for low-risk women, and insurance covers it.
- No hospital food.
- Just being home.
Montana and Vermont have the highest rates of home birth, while Louisiana and Nebraska have the lowest, according to NPR.
Some of the states with big increase: Alabama, California, Kansas, Kentucky, Maryland, Minnesota, New Hampshire, North Carolina, Ohio, Virginia and Wisconsin.
Where are you delivering your baby?
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Comments (20)
Always at home for me (unless our midwife tells us there is a medical reason to transport). Having a baby isn't a medical emergency. Hospitals are for medical emergencies. But then, I was raised by hippies, attended my siblings' births at home, and really can't imagine going anywhere while in labor. It just seems so wrong.
Unfortunately, as wonderful as it sounds, homebirth is not an option for me because I am too high risk (epilepsy). My kiddo #2 will be delivered in a hospital, however I am hoping to have some more control than I did when I had my daughter. I am going to speak with a midwife (though she cannot see me for my prenatal care), and see what kind of options I have regarding a less "medical" childbirth and a more "natural" childbirth, if I can handle it. (I already know that I can't do any breathing techniques, so that's out.)
This will be my second homebirth- by choice. Having a normal, healthy pregnancy means that I have the option to do what is best for my situation, NOT birthing in a hospital. If things were different, or if an emergency should happen (god forbid) then I would (of course) welcome the hospital option.
i'm delivering in a hospital this time and i delivered my first child on a hospital too, they are both on different locations lol, the first one in upstate Ny and this one in the city =-D
I'm excited for my upcoming homebirth! I had my daughter in the hospital and knew the moment I walked in and had a b*tchy nurse already that I should have just had a homebirth with my midwife!
After having two hospital births, if I had any more they WOULD be born at home. I considered it for this last birth and I definitely should have done it. If you want any control over your body, to push how you want, where you want and when you want, stay home or go to a birthing center.
I used to be more middle ground on this until I had to learn the hard way that way people say is totally true - hospital births ruin births. Only go if you HAVE to.
I'm delivering in a hospital for two reasons. #1 I can't afford to pay for home birth supplies and a midwife up front and then wait for insurance to reimburse and #2 I like the hospital ambiance. It may sound crazy, but we have 3 kids and a dog and a cat and plenty of clutter so getting a chance to go to the nice quiet, clean hospital where there aren't toys to trip on and no one with sticky fingers or furry paws is harrassing me during labor, birth, or recovery.
I have had a hospital birth and a home birth.Despite what the hospital would have you believe, it is is not customizable to the individual and her family, it is not cleaner, it is not safer (save for special circumstances) I would never, ever willingly choose a hospital birth ever again. The difference in care between an impersonal assembly-line, fearful atmosphere of a hospital, and the warmth, confidence, and experience of a homebirth midwife is wider then the Grand Canyon.
I LOVE homebirths! (Although I haven't had any myself...)
I feel like they are so much more lovely than the hospital setting (haven't birthed there, either, lol!).
But helping others in those locations, and knowing the stats-- I still wonder why more women don't investigate homebirths.
It really is a WONDERFUL and safe and happy option.
Wish I'd done it with my babies... :- /
I have a 3 year old who was born by c-section after a failed induction, which I consented to because I simply didn't know any better. Our second child was born at home just five days ago, and after going through that experience, I can say I will NEVER birth in a hospital again unless there are MAJOR complications. I can guarantee that if I'd planned a hospital birth this time around, even if they had "let" me try a VBAC, I would have ended up with another c-section. First of all I went 10 days past my due date, plus I was in labor for almost 48 hours. At home I was able to labor peacefully, in my own space and my own time, and my baby was born when he was totally ready.