Home birth and the Press

Today the National Perinatal Epidemiology Unit released the results of a cohort study between April 2008 and April 2010,  looking at care in labour, delivery and birth outcomes for the mother and baby for 64,000 'low risk' births in England.

It covered 97% of NHS Trusts providing home birth services and nearly 90% of midwifery units took part.

What I find so interesting is how robust academic data can be interrupted in such different ways by our various British newspapers and media.  So while many of the broadsheets offer a balanced and fair coverage some of the tabloids (and those with the highest circulations) choose to focus entirely on picking out and sensationalizing any statistic that potentially generates shock and fear among their readers.

We all know the tactics of the tabloids and are aware of the spin they put on all sorts of stories - but should they really be scaring expectant parents half to death!

It illustrates a core belief of Born - that while we may all hold our own passionate views about maternity issues and how to bring up children,  above all we should try whenever we can to empower parents to become informed about the issues that effect them.

So if you're concerned about the issues raised by the report why not take the time to read the report or its summary

The summary can be found here Birthplace_cohortstudy_q&a

The key finding can be found here Birthplace-key-findings

The report can be found here

Interestingly all the newspapers missquoted an important statistic. The report states:

"For women having a first baby, a planned home birth increases the risk for the baby For women having a first baby, there were 9.3 adverse perinatal outcome events per 1000 planned home births compared with 5.3 per 1000 births for births planned in obstetric units, and this finding was statistically significant."

All the papers quoted this stat as 0.35% not 0.53% probably down to a transposing error on the press release perhaps?

Here are the headings:

FIRST BABY AT HOME 'HIGHER RISK'

Having a home birth carries a slightly higher risk for babies of first time mothers but there is no difference on safety for further deliveries, says a survey

BBC

HOME BIRTH A SAFE CHOICE - STUDY

Mother's first delivery is the only area where risk at home may be slightly higher than in medical setting

The Guardian

HOME AS SAFE AS HOSPITAL FOR SECOND BIRTHS

Study of 65,000 low risk women provides compelling evidence in a long running debate

The Independent

HOME BIRTH RISKS UP FOR NEW MOTHERS

First time mums are three times more likely to lose their baby if they give birth at home researchers have discovered

The Sun

FIRST TIME MOTHERS WHO OPT FOR HOME BIRTH FACE TRIPLE THE RISK OF DEATH OR BRAIN DAMAGE IN CHILD

A major report has also found that traditional maternity units in hospital are the safest place for women to have their first child

Daily Mail