Home births considered safe within strictly defined criteria

HOME BIRTHS are safe as long as they happen within strictly defined criteria, a former master of the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, Dublin, said yesterday.

Dr Peter Boylan, now clinical director at the hospital, said, however: “Things can happen very unpredictably and very fast in birth, and that is why obstetricians would have some concerns about them [home births].”

There are about 300 home births per year in the Republic, of a total of 70,000 births. A home birth should only take place after “uncomplicated” pregnancies and where labour is uncomplicated, said Dr Boylan. It was key that the birth was taking place within 30 minutes of a maternity hospital. “Holles Street only extends its home-birth service within a certain distance of the hospital for that reason,” he said.

“The other thing that is important here is that it is operated by midwives who work in the hospital. They are rotating in and out of the hospital and so are keeping their skills up to the latest and highest standards.”

Krysia Lynch, Home Birth Association co-ordinator, said home births were safe as long as strict criteria were adhered to.

Long distances from maternity hospitals were a “big issue for all mums-to-be” since maternity services were being increasingly centralised into large hospitals.

Margaret Hanahoe, coordinator of community midwives at Holles Street, said there have been about 70 home birth bookings a year since 2000. About 45 a year take place in the home.