Medicine and Health Sciences Commons^™

Misconceptions Surrounding The Safety Of Home Birth And Hospital Birth, Misty D. Richard

LSU Master's Theses

Much debate surrounds the topic of women choosing to deliver their infants at home with the services of a midwife. The outcomes of women beginning labor at home, ultimately delivering at home, and the infants born at home were studied in order to determine the safety of home birth among expectant women choosing to be attended by a midwife licensed to practice by the state of Louisiana. Trends associated with those choosing home birth and the frequency of home birth were also analyzed. The study was conducted using retrospective records of clients accepted during the study years 1986-2000. During the …