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Childbirth > Types of childbirth > Home Childbirth Home Childbirth, Birth At Home Home birth is childbirth that occurs outside a hospital or birthing center setting, usually in the home of the mother.
Most home births are assisted by midwives, but some home births are physician assisted.
Others have no medical assistance at all. This is known as free-birth or unassisted home birth.
For low-risk pregnancies, a number of studies have shown that planned, assisted homebirths are at least as safe as hospital births.
There are fewer medical interventions, such as cesarean sections, forceps deliveries, episiotomies and administration of pain medication such as epidurals, all of which pose some risk to the lives and health of the mother and baby.
Antibiotic resistant pathogens commonly found in hospitals, such as staph (methicillin-resistant Staphylococcus aureus and others), are less likely to be transferred to the mother or child when the birth takes place at home.
However, in the case of emergencies such as cord prolapse, breathing problems with the infant, or bleeding of the mother, there is less access to life-saving equipment, although properly trained midwives can manage such emergencies until the woman can be transferred to hospital.
There have been no formal studies on unassisted birth. A mother having an unassisted home birth can do so in the environment in which she feels most comfortable.
Many mothers choose a "couple's birth" where the birthing mother and her spouse or partner are the only ones present while she gives birth.
Other children may be sleeping, or busy elsewhere in the house. Advocates of unassisted birth believe that couple's birth is an intimate extension of babymaking.
Proponents of home birth prefer the atmosphere and safety of a home birth. The mother has more control over her surroundings, and can eat and move around, sleep and do anything she pleases
Conversely, some mothers are more comfortable in a hospital setting because they implicitly trust the medical system and because they prefer to be closer to an operating room should an emergency arise.
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