Lack of midwives blamed for home births falling to 15-year low

The number of women having a home birth has fallen to a 15-year low, raising concern that some expectant mothers are being denied one due to a shortage of midwives.

Just one in 50 babies in England and Wales were born at home last year according to the National Office of Statistics - the lowest number since 2001.

Childbirth experts say the fall is due to midwives being called in to help in overstretched hospital labour wards when they were meant to be assisting home births.

Under National Institute for Health and Clinical Excellence (NICE) guidelines, women in England and Wales should be able to choose whether to give birth in hospital or at home. Experts are now worried that pregnant women are not being given a range of choices.

Elizabeth Duff, senior policy adviser at the National Childbirth Trust, said: “Staffing and resource issues mean that expectant mothers aren’t always offered the opportunity to have a home birth. Women are being failed as they are being denied choices. We’re concerned that some women aren’t being given the full range of choices.”

Louise Silverton, director for midwifery at the Royal College of Midwives, said: “We do hear anecdotally that women aren’t choosing a home birth because they are worried that the service may not be available because of staff shortages.

“Given that maternity services are very much under pressure and have no spare capacity it’s not at all surprising that there are fewer home births.

“When a woman who has planned to have a home birth rings up to say that she’s in labour, she can be told that they don’t have a midwife for her. That’s no good for anyone as it means that the woman and her partner are anxious and that all the rapport she’s built up with the midwife during the months of antenatal care are lost. That’s a shame. For women that can be very disruptive.”