The experts at the National Health Service in the UK have changed their birthing guidelines to suggest that low-risk women avoid hospital births.
Low-risk pregnancies make up about 45% of all pregnancies. Low-risk women who deliver under a midwife’s care demonstrated lower rates of many different complications, including episiotomy, caesarean sections and instrumental birth, compared to counterparts who delivered at hospitals.
The recommendation is a change from NHS guidelines that were released in 2007, and reflects the growing awareness that natural birth under midwife care is not only a good option for mothers, but often the best option.
The guidelines compared four options for delivery – hospital birth, hospital-attached midwifery unit, freestanding midwifery unit, and home birth. The freestanding midwifery unit, like Austin Area Birthing Center, consistently led to better outcomes for mothers than the other three options.
