If all low-risk Australian women had home births in 2017, the C-section rate would have reduced from 13.4% to 2.7%

Wow. Amazing results of a new study looking at predicted hospital resource savings that could have occured if all low-risk women in Australia gave birth at home or in birth centers in 2017.

Study:

The study by Callander EJ et al. (Feb 12, 2021) looked at an administrative data set including 44 498 who gave birth in Queensland, Australia between 01/07/2012 and 30/06/2015.

The data was then re-weighted to represent all Australian women giving birth in 2017

Results:

Home births

The researchers estimated that if all low-risk women gave birth at home in 2017…

• C-section rates would have reduced from 13.4% to 2.7%.
• Saving an estimated 860 fewer inpatient bed days
• 10.1 fewer hours of women’s intensive care unit time per 1000 births.

Birth Centres

The researchers estimated that if all low-risk women gave birth in birth-centres…

• C-section rates would have reduced from 13.4% to 6.7%.
• Saving an estimated 760 inpatient bed days….