Hi all,

Bob brought home a torn out sheet from a journal called "Journal Watch",
January 15, 1997.  The title of this tidbit is "Home Birth:  Safe under the
right circumstances".  It cites four studies -- 2 British, 1 Dutch & 1 Swiss.
 Conclusion:  While none of the studies were randomized (this could probably
never happen), the support the safety of home births in low-risk women who
choose to have them.  One of the British studies noted that out of 1733
planned home deliveries that actually took place at home, perinatal mortality
was 1.7 per 1000 live births, vs 4.8 for all planned home deliveries
(regardless of actual site), and 9.7 for all births in the region.  the
bottom line on the Dutch study which reveiwed prospective data from 1836 low
risk pg women, they found that for primips, a "wide range of labor, neonatal,
and maternal outcomes were no different from thsoe with hospital birth.  For
multips, overall birth outcome was significantly better at home than in the
hospital."

And as an aside, on the same page, "C/Sections for fetal distress are more
common at night." The article, Hueston WJ et al.  Variations in Cesarean
deliery for fetal distress, J Fam Prat 1996, Nov 43:461-7, suggests taht
physicians interpret the fetal monintor strips more aggressively late at
night; reasons may include fatigue or reduced backup staff.  also may result
from increased use of fetal monitoring at night."

Jan Barger