A dramatic rise in home births by unlicensed practitioners, as well as in the number of people requesting United States birth certificates for babies born that way, has led a Maryland state agency to issue a statement on health and safety guidelines for women wanting to deliver their children at home.
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Medical Items Needed for an At Home Birth. Photo by Dale Lane.
A dramatic rise in home births by unlicensed practitioners, as well as in the number of people requesting United States birth certificates for babies born that way, has led a Maryland state agency to issue a statement on health and safety guidelines for women wanting to deliver their children at home.
“We haven’t changed the current law. But there’s been an increase in anecdotal reports of births attended by unlicensed people around the state, and it’s a concern,” said Frances Phillips, deputy secretary for public health services in the Department of Health and Mental Hygiene.
In Maryland, home births have increased from 291 in 2001 to 409 in 2010. This represents less than one percent of all live births in the state, but it is a sharp increase. The figures apply to all home births, both planned and by unlicensed practitioners.
Maryland is not the only state to be experiencing a rise in home births attended by unlicensed practitioners. “It’s happening around the country,” she said. “It’s a very small percentage of births. But it’s an uptick we have noticed.”
Phillips attributes the rise partly to a skepticism about traditional medicine. “There appears to a small subset of families that are choosing to reject traditional approaches to delivery, traditional heath care providers,” licensed midwives have told her.
“There is also a belief in some communities that home birth is a way to avoid unnecessary experiences in a hospital and for the newborn, for infant screenings,” Phillips continued, adding that there may be other factors of which she is unaware. “We don’t know what motivates people to make what I see as a risky decision.”
