Story Created:
Nov 20, 2008
Story Updated:
Nov 21, 2008
More Utah mothers are choosing to have their babies at home.
And, a report presented to the legislature says very few are having problems.
A local certified nurse/midwife says that's because there are very strict guidelines about which cases midwives accept for home births.
Besides the quality care, midwives also point the lower costs of having a baby at home.
The average midwife delivery price in Utah is about 19-hundred dollars compared to about 85-hundred in the hospital.
But, doctors say that comparison isn't fair, saying that women who have babies at home are the very low risk pregnancies which usually require much less medical attention than higher risk deliveries.
The midwives say there are also many intangible benefits of having a baby at home.
The number of women who started their deliveries with midwives, was up 55-percent last year across the state of Utah.
But, 22 percent of the overall number who used midwives did ultimately have to be transferred to a hospital because of complications.
