Found this link to this article on one of the forums that I belong to.

Here

Outcomes of planned home birth with registered midwife versus planned hospital birth with midwife or physician

Thanx for posting the link to this article. Wish homebirth and etc would catch on.

I had my son in a planned home birth 13 years ago. It was a wonderful experience and one that I would do again if I ever wanted more kids. I'm 43 – so I'm not having them again….

Anyhoo, my midwife was amazing. The experience was great. I've always wondered why we treat something natural like child birth as an illness. Certainly home birth isn't for everyone – especially people with complications, older first-time mothers, etc., but it is an experience that was the right choice for me.

Thanx for your response and etc. Yay for you and hoping to do the same. At the same time I'm torn on the doing the same as you because I'm for both places. Also, I'm all for free standing birth center birth as well.

Ya know, (and I preface this by saying I don't have children and don't plan to at 46) you have to wonder why there aren't more birth centers that specialize in birth and newborn/mother care. I think I would prefer to give birth in a comfortable setting like my own home, but might have misgivings if there were going to be known complications with the birth.

There did seem to be less instances in this study of complications with home birth rather than hospitals.

When I was pregnant and chose my midwife, I actually had the option of either home birth or going to her birthing center. The birthing center was gorgeous. It was on a lake and had a huge tub for water births – it was decorated like a home and not like a medical facility. For a while, I wasn't sure I had the courage to stay at home to have my first (and only) baby – so the birthing center was a front runner in my plan. After I had ultimately decided on my home, I was glad I did. Once those pains started coming, I didn't have to get in the car and go anywhere. She came to me – which was wonderful.