What to Know About Having a Home Birth

According to the CDC, home birth rates have been increasing over the years. But they still represent less than 2% of all US births, per Stat News. Although that sounds like a small rate, it includes tens of thousands of babies. Per the CDC, there were 51,642 home births in 2021 — a 13% increase over the previous year.

Several people have documented their experiences and posted videos online to educate others. The prevalence of home-birth videos on social media has encouraged more people to consider home births. One notable home birth video is that of former Bachelor contestant Bekah Martinez. Bekah shared a YouTube video of her experience giving birth at home to her son Franklin. YouTuber Jessica Mundo also shared her experience of giving birth in her bathtub. And YouTubers Trent & Allie uploaded their experience as well.

Not everybody who gives birth at home may have planned to do that. According to People magazine, in 2019, Bachelor in Paradise star Jade Roper Tolbert had an emergency delivery in her closet when her labor progressed too quickly to get to the hospital. Comedian Seth Meyers also opened up about how his wife gave birth in the lobby of their building.

Anyone who is pregnant may want to have an emergency kit on hand in case they find themselves giving birth some place unexpected. Marketlab sells OB Emergency Delivery Kits for $15. They include supplies like sterile gloves, towels, umbilical cord clamps, and more.

Many home births are overseen by midwives or doulas, but some people don’t want anybody aside from their partner or maybe their loved ones at the birth. According to NBC News, this is known as “freebirth” or “unassisted birth.” Although we know the rates of home births in general, unassisted births are still too rare to have been studied to determine any kind of statistics about them, per the University of Iowa. Doctors do not recommend unassisted home births because labor and delivery can be unpredictable and may require medical intervention.

More from Mom.com: I Have an Infant — These Are 10 Things I Wish I Knew (or Thought Of) Before Giving Birth

For those who wish to explore home birth, one of the major considerations is comfort level. Labor is hard, and it can be scary. Being in a familiar place can make it less stressful. Dr. Robyn Lamar, an OB-GYN, told NPR that someone may be more likely to dilate and handle difficult contractions in a comfortable space. That can potentially lead to a safer and faster delivery. “When you’re on your home turf, and you’re there with your family, it really does change the dynamic,” Lamar said.

On the flip side, Lamar told NPR that “some feel more at ease in the hospital because they know the experts are there. It gives them a lot of security and assurance.” Knowing that in case of emergency, there’s immediate help can be reassuring — especially for anxious first-time moms.

Per Oregon State University, a good candidate for home birth is someone with a low-risk pregnancy. This means that they’re only having one baby, it’s being carried to full term, it’s in a head-down position, and the mother doesn’t have health complications like pre-eclampsia or diabetes. For people who want to have a home birth, living within 15 minutes of a hospital should an emergency occur is best practice.

In addition to having health issues like diabetes or pre-eclampsia, having a breech baby, having multiples (like twins), or having had a C-section in the past are considered higher risks, and parents shouldn’t necessarily explore a home birth in these instances.

NPR reported that between 23% and 37% of first-time moms who try to have a home birth end up needing to go to the hospital. For those who had previously given birth, the hospital transfer rate was 9%.

According to the American Pregnancy Association, it’s time to move to the hospital for emergency care if the person laboring feels too exhausted to continue, they have high blood pressure, the labor is not progressing, there’s premature membrane rupture, the cord prolapses, the baby is in distress, or there’s hemorrhaging.

Per NPR, most transfers for first-time moms occurred because the baby was not moving through the birth canal.

For those who do want to go ahead with a home birth, the American Pregnancy Association also recommends interviewing several people before choosing a midwife to make sure you find one that aligns with your birth plan. Additionally, you can hire a doula and find an OB-GYN to work with. Some midwives have OB-GYNs they already partner with to make things easier. Make sure to line up a pediatrician who can see the baby within a day of birth.

If you need help hiring a midwife, you can use the American College of Nurse-Midwives locator tool. You can use the filters to find the closest practitioners in your area for your desired birth plan — whether that’s a home birth, hospital birth, birth center birth, etc.

If you want to do a home water birth, you might be able to rent a pool from your midwife or rely on them for recommendations. You can also purchase a pool from a specialty company like La Bassine, or even from Amazon, which currently sells a designated birth pool for $130.

Home births are popular not only because they offer a more familiar and relaxed setting than a hospital, but they can also be much cheaper. According to the International Journal of Environmental Research and Public Health, the average home birth in the US costs around $4,650.

By contrast, Forbes reported that hospital costs for pregnancy, delivery, and postpartum care run an average of $18,865. If you have a C-section, it can cost an average of $26,280. Of course, health insurance may cover a large chunk of that. But not everybody has great health coverage — or any coverage at all.

Whatever your perfect birth plan may be, the American Pregnancy Association recommends having a backup plan in place in case of an emergency. Know ahead of time what hospital you will transfer to if you run into issues during a home birth. Make sure the people present know the signs to watch for when it comes to making that call.

We all want to have the perfect delivery experience, but being prepared for the worst can make all the difference if the unexpected happens.