Numbers Show Home Births On The Rise

CLARKSTON (WWJ) - The U.S. government is reporting a dramatic increase in the number of home births. The latest numbers show home births increased 29 percent from 2004 to 2009.

Most home births involved women who are 35 and married and have previous children.

But Michigan home birth midwife Wendy Pinter, based in Clarkston, said she's seen a lot of older and younger moms who want to have their babies at home.

"Sometimes we will have older women who are just experienced and just don't want to be part of that because they're skeptical," she said. "And I do also have a lot of younger women, though, that are having their first babies and they just never pictured doing it in the hospital."

Pinter said some people choose to give birth at home for financial reasons.

"In my practice people pay on a sliding scale fee. So, they might pay between $1,900 and $2,900 for all of their prenatal care and the birth, which is pretty affordable," Pinter said.

Pinter said she has attended hundreds of home births and has seen only one or two cases where medical emergencies forced a trip to the hospital.

Still, the CDC reports at home births still make up less than 1-percent of all births in the U.S.