Kartemquin Films

“Over the last half century maternity care has moved from community-based provision to hospital-based services, and there are real questions about where the gains and losses have been,” said one participant. Given the current rising birth rate, which is increasing by about 2% year-on-year – obstetric units were said to be “bursting at the seams”, the roundtable heard – and if women were just as safe at home or in a midwifery unit, and they preferred to be there, it made no sense for the assumption to continue that hospital was where they “ought” to be cared for during pregnancy and birth.

Despite recent research which shows home births can be just as safe as those in hospitals, many mothers-to-be in England are not offered a choice
FILMS: The Chicago Maternity Center Story, Marco

“Over the last half century maternity care has moved from community-based provision to hospital-based services, and there are real questions about where the gains and losses have been,” said one participant. Given the current rising birth rate, which is increasing by about 2% year-on-year – obstetric units were said to be “bursting at the seams”, the roundtable heard – and if women were just as safe at home or in a midwifery unit, and they preferred to be there, it made no sense for the assumption to continue that hospital was where they “ought” to be cared for during pregnancy and birth.

Despite recent research which shows home births can be just as safe as those in hospitals, many mothers-to-be in England are not offered a choice

FILMS: The Chicago Maternity Center Story, Marco

Source: Guardian