In The Baltimore Sun today there is an article about home births by midwives or certified nurses.  It seems that many women are interested in the home birth option. The medical community is concerned about safety. Here are some things you should know.

1. The midwife you choose must have a certified nursing license.

2. The midwife must collaborate with an ob/gyn.

3. Home births are all about the natural process. In a hospital there is equipment like a baby monitor machine which can detect problems with the baby early on.

4. Midwives cannot do c-sections.

5. If a problem develops during a home birth, there may not be enough time to get to a hospital.

6. Home births are generally for those women who are other wise healthy and are not high risk.

7. Make sure that your midwife has insurance in the event that something does wrong during delivery.

Unfortunately, while many home births are successful and provide great satisfaction to mothers, I have seen situations which went horribly wrong and injury to the baby could have been prevented if the birth took place in the hospital.  If you or a loved one has had an issue with a home birth please call us toll free at 1-800-299-HURT. Or you can fill out the contact form on this page or on any page on the website. We have a contact button on the side of each page. If you click on that button a contact form will appear and you can fill it out and hit send to get it to Mark or me.