Home births are on the rise

The Centers For Disease Control And Prevention Found That Home Births In The United States Have Increased By 20% Over The Last Four Years. Keep Reading For More Home Birth Statistics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that home births in the United States have increased by 20% over the last four years. Keep reading for more home birth statistics.

The Centers for Disease Control and Prevention found that home births in the United States have increased by 20% over the last four years. While that's a decent increase, only 1% of births actually occur at home. The 20% increase occurred between 2004 and 2008. Interestingly, they had declined between 1990 and 2004. The number of home births varies widely across racial groups:

Caucasian women: 1 in 98 had a home birth in 2008
African American women: 1 in 357 had a home birth in 2008
Hispanic women: 1 in 500 had a home birth in 2008

More statistics:

Overall, 1 in 143 women had a home birth in 2008
27 states had a "significant increase" in home births between 2004 and 2008
States with the most home births: Vermont, Montana and Oregon -- approximately 1 in 50 births is a home birth
The percentage of doctors involved in home births decreased by 38% between 2004 and 2008

According to the study, "The increase is notable because doctors groups have been increasingly vocal about opposing home births, The American College of Obstetricians and Gynecologists has for years warned against home births, arguing they can be unsafe, especially if the mother has high-risk medical conditions, if the attendant is inadequately trained or if there's no quick way to get mother and child to a hospital if something goes awry." Interestingly, the research found that only 6% of home births were preterm, while the number of hospital births that were preterm was almost twice that figure.