Publicly funded homebirth in australia: A review of maternal and neonatal outcomes over 6 years

Catling-Paull, C; Coddington, RL; Foureur, MJ; Homer, CSE

Publicly funded homebirth in australia: A review of maternal and neonatal outcomes over 6 years

Catling-Paull, C

Coddington, RL

Foureur, MJ

Homer, CSE

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Publication Type:: Journal Article
Citation:: Medical Journal of Australia, 2013, 198 (11), pp. 616 - 620
Issue Date:: 2013-06-17

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Field	Value	Language
dc.contributor.author	Catling-Paull, C https://orcid.org/0000-0001-7352-2879	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Coddington, RL https://orcid.org/0000-0003-2438-382X	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Foureur, MJ https://orcid.org/0000-0002-0454-0165	en_US
dc.contributor.author	Homer, CSE https://orcid.org/0000-0002-7454-3011	en_US
dc.date.available	2013-04-26	en_US
dc.date.issued	2013-06-17	en_US
dc.identifier.citation	Medical Journal of Australia, 2013, 198 (11), pp. 616 - 620	en_US
dc.identifier.issn	0025-729X	en_US
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23932
dc.identifier.uri	http://hdl.handle.net/10453/35242
dc.description.abstract	Objective: To report maternal and neonatal outcomes for Australian women planning a publicly funded homebirth from 2005 to 2010. Design, setting and subjects: Retrospective analysis of data on women who planned a homebirth and on their babies. Data for 2005-2010 (or from the commencement of a program to 2010) were requested from the 12 publicly funded homebirth programs in place at the time. Main outcome measures: Maternal outcomes (mortality; place and mode of birth; perineal trauma; type of management of the third stage of labour; postpartum haemorrhage; transfer to hospital); and neonatal outcomes (early mortality; Apgar score at 5 minutes; birthweight; breastfeeding initially and at 6 weeks; significant morbidity; transfer to hospital; admission to a special care nursery). Results: Nine publicly funded homebirth programs in Australia provided data accounting for 97% of births in these programs during the period studied. Of the 1807 women who intended to give birth at home at the onset of labour, 1521 (84%) did so. 315 (17%) were transferred to hospital during labour or within one week of giving birth. The rate of stillbirth and early neonatal death was 3.3 per 1000 births; when deaths because of expected fetal anomalies were excluded it was 1.7 per 1000 births. The rate of normal vaginal birth was 90%. Conclusion: This study provides the first national evaluation of a significant proportion of women choosing publicly funded homebirth in Australia; however, the sample size does not have sufficient power to draw a conclusion about safety. More research is warranted into the safety of alternative places of birth within Australia.	en_US
dc.relation	http://purl.org/au-research/grants/nhmrc/GNT1022422
dc.relation.ispartof	Medical Journal of Australia	en_US
dc.relation.isbasedon	10.5694/mja12.11665	en_US
dc.subject.classification	General & Internal Medicine	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Humans	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Postpartum Hemorrhage	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Birth Weight	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Apgar Score	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Pregnancy Outcome	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Hospitalization	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Home Childbirth	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Infant Mortality	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Retrospective Studies	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Pregnancy	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Adult	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Infant, Newborn	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Financing, Government	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Australia	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Female	en_US
dc.subject.mesh	Obstetric Labor Complications	en_US
dc.title	Publicly funded homebirth in australia: A review of maternal and neonatal outcomes over 6 years	en_US
dc.type	Journal Article
utslib.citation.volume	11	en_US
utslib.citation.volume	198	en_US
utslib.for	1117 Public Health and Health Services	en_US
utslib.for	1110 Nursing	en_US
utslib.for	11 Medical and Health Sciences	en_US
utslib.for	17 Psychology and Cognitive Sciences	en_US
pubs.embargo.period	Not known	en_US
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Faculty of Health/Midwifery
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Provost
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Provost/Jumbunna
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - CHSP - Health Services and Practice
pubs.organisational-group	/University of Technology Sydney/Strength - WHO CC
utslib.copyright.status	open_access
pubs.issue	11	en_US
pubs.publication-status	Published	en_US
pubs.volume	198	en_US

Abstract:

Objective: To report maternal and neonatal outcomes for Australian women planning a publicly funded homebirth from 2005 to 2010. Design, setting and subjects: Retrospective analysis of data on women who planned a homebirth and on their babies. Data for 2005-2010 (or from the commencement of a program to 2010) were requested from the 12 publicly funded homebirth programs in place at the time. Main outcome measures: Maternal outcomes (mortality; place and mode of birth; perineal trauma; type of management of the third stage of labour; postpartum haemorrhage; transfer to hospital); and neonatal outcomes (early mortality; Apgar score at 5 minutes; birthweight; breastfeeding initially and at 6 weeks; significant morbidity; transfer to hospital; admission to a special care nursery). Results: Nine publicly funded homebirth programs in Australia provided data accounting for 97% of births in these programs during the period studied. Of the 1807 women who intended to give birth at home at the onset of labour, 1521 (84%) did so. 315 (17%) were transferred to hospital during labour or within one week of giving birth. The rate of stillbirth and early neonatal death was 3.3 per 1000 births; when deaths because of expected fetal anomalies were excluded it was 1.7 per 1000 births. The rate of normal vaginal birth was 90%. Conclusion: This study provides the first national evaluation of a significant proportion of women choosing publicly funded homebirth in Australia; however, the sample size does not have sufficient power to draw a conclusion about safety. More research is warranted into the safety of alternative places of birth within Australia.

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http://hdl.handle.net/10453/23932