Insights from a publicly funded homebirth program

Background

There are high levels of consumer demand for homebirth in Australia, however access is limited due to a wide range of factors, including associated costs of a private midwife and the limited number of publicly funded homebirth models. Homebirth with a qualified midwife, networked into a health system, is a safe option for women with a low-risk pregnancy.

This paper has two aims. The first is to describe the implementation of a publicly funded homebirth service with an employed mentor. The second is to provide the outcomes from a matched cohort of women who received care from the same Midwifery Group Practice [MGP] who gave birth at home, compared with those who gave birth in hospital.

Methods

The retrospective comparative cohort study used routinely collected perinatal data from the hospital’s electronic database (eMaternity) from July 2018 – October 2021. The cohort of interest were women who received care through MGP. They were identically matched by parity, age, Body Mass Index (BMI), spontaneous labour and gestation of 37–42 weeks. A description of the employed midwifery mentor to implement this model of care is also provided.

Findings

100 women gave birth at home during the study period. They were more likely to have a physiological birth (p < 0.001), intact perineum (p < 0.0001), and less likely to have a postpartum haemorrhage (p < 0.0001) compared to the matched cohort of women who birthed in hospital. There were less assisted births and caesarean section births for women who transferred from home to hospital (p < 0.0001). No statistical differences were seen between groups for postpartum haemorrhage, and Apgar score of < 7 at 5 minutes.

Conclusion

This study demonstrated favourable outcomes for women receiving MGP who planned to birth at home compared to those women who chose a hospital birth. This is consistent with the existing literature that place of birth makes a difference. A description of the role of a mentor in supporting the sustainability of a publicly funded homebirth program is provided. Further research is recommended to evaluate the mentor’s role in implementing and sustaining the model.