QUESTIONS & ANSWERS:
HOME BIRTH

Is home birth really as safe as birth at a hospital?
For most women with low-risk pregnancies, birth outside the hospital is as safe as—or safer than—hospital birth. The medical attitude of expecting trouble during birth, and the hospital policies that support this attitude, prevent women from giving birth easily and safely in the typical hospital. Routine medical interventions used at hospitals interfere with the natural process of birth and present unnecessary risks that can harm you and your baby. Home is where most women feel safest and comfortable. At home, there are no routine restrictions placed on a laboring woman, which make labor and birth more difficult. At home, you can choose your own caregivers, family and friends to support you, wear your own clothes, sleep in your own bed and eat your own food. Additionally, at home, there are no hospital-borne germs to endanger the health of you and your baby.

Is home birth as safe as birth at a birthing center?
 Home birth with a skilled midwife is just as safe as birth at a birthing center.  In a home birth, the midwife brings the same equipment and personnel as are present at a birthing center.  Although a birthing center offers a home like atmosphere, it is not the woman's home.  Home is where most women feel safest and comfortable.

Does a birth center offer anything different than a home birth?  Many birth centers are homes that have been converted to be used for midwifery care and birth. Otero Birth brings the same equipment and personnel to the privacy of your home, that are present at a birthing center.  We leave your home after the birth as clean as it was before the birth. You can have everything you'd expect at a birthing center, including a water birth, in the comfort of your own home. 

What happens during an emergency at a home birth?
Midwives are qualified to manage both simple and serious complications that may arise during a birth. They can administer oxygen and medications, start IV fluids, repair tears and perform CPR. Midwives also are trained to know when to transfer a woman to a hospital to handle an emergency situation.

How do I know if home birth is the right choice for me?
The choice of home birth is one that you and your midwife should make together after evaluating your overall health, obstetric history, nutritional status, home environment and social support. Once you have done that, it’s a matter of trusting yourself to know what is right for you and your baby.