Dear Penny and other colleagues!

Thank you for this interesting information on rising home birth rates 
and resulting discussion in the Australian media.
In Iceland, where I currently study the outcome of planned home birth, 
the planned home birth rate went up by 50% between 2008 and 2009 and 
increased steadily in the years before and after (our current home birth 
rate is 2%). I'm curious whether midwives in other countries have 
noticed similar leaps in the home birth rate in the last few years, and 
if their country's official registration properly documents home births, 
making distinctions between planned and unplanned home births, and 
between attended home births and freebirths. The Icelandic registration 
does not, resulting in substantial research resources being used to 
"manually" separate the unplanned home births and freebirths from the 
planned home birth group.

Regards,
Berglind Hálfdánsdóttir, doctoral student of Midwifery, The University 
of Iceland

On 2013-02-25 09:18, Penny Haora wrote:
> Homebirth up by 56% - Call for Committee Members - What's On
>
> Dear Colleagues,
>
> I think many will be interested in some of the following info. (local
> and international) from Homebirth Australia. I edited some local
> details out from below, but their website has the full newsletter
> freely available at:
>
> and membership info. should you wish to subscribe. I'm sure they 
> won't
> mind me passing on their details.
>
> Our colleagues at Childbirth Connection (USA) have produced another
> important report (see Media and Reports below).
>
> regards, and best wishes,
> Penny
>
> (PhD Candidate, ANU)
>
> -------------------------
>  Homebirth Australia on behalf of Homebirth Australia
>  Mon 25/02/2013 11:20 AM
>  Penny Haora
>  Homebirth up by 56% - Call for Committee Members - What's On
>
>  		Call for Committee Members - Submissions for South Australia
>  Is this email not displaying correctly?
> .
>
> Latest Australian data shows homebirth rates increased by 56% in one
> year. There were 863 homebirths in 2009 and 1345 in 2010.
>
> In 2010, 294,814 women gave birth to 299,563 babies in Australia. The
> average age of mothers has increased gradually, from 29.2 years in
> 2001 to 30.0 years in 2010. The caesarean section rate has shown an
> upward trend over the last 10 years, increasing from 25.4% nationally
> in 2001 to a peak of 31.6% in 2010.
>
> There were 285,617 women who gave birth in hospitals (96.9%) in 2010.
> A further 6,367 women gave birth in birth centres (2.2%); this
> proportion was highest in South Australia (6.2%) and the Australian
> Capital Territory (5.5%). Planned homebirths and other births, such 
> as
> those occurring unexpectedly before arrival in hospital or in other
> settings, accounted for the smallest proportion of women who gave
> birth (2,763 women, 0.9%) (Table 3.18).
>
> In 2010, there were 1,345 women who gave birth at home, representing
> 0.5% of all women who gave birth. The highest proportions were in
> Victoria, Western Australia and the Northern Territory (0.8%) (Table
> 3.18). It is probable that not all homebirths are reported to the
> perinatal data collections.
>
> In all births in 2010, there were 2,206 fetal deaths reported to the
> NPDC, resulting in a fetal death rate of 7.4 per 1,000 births. There
> were 2,202 fetal deaths in hospitals and other facilities. There were
> 4 fetal deaths at home births in 2010. Of babies born at home 99.7%
> were live born (1350 babies) or a fetal death rate of 2.3 per 1,000
> births.
>
> Friday, 22nd March 2013 - Jasper Hotel Conference Centre, Elizabeth 
> St
> Melbourne
>
> This forum will explore the strengths and limitations of human rights
> and respect frameworks for maternity care reform in Australia. It 
> aims
> to facilitate discussions across the policy, legal and women's health
> communities as well as professional providers and birth consumer
> groups on strategies to advance the dignity, respect, and
> responsibility of birthing women and their carers.
>
> It will build on several recent initiatives:
>
>  	* the European Human Rights conference held in the Hague in June
> 2012,
> 	* the Childbirth and the Law conference in Sydney in October 2012,
> and
> 	* the international initiative, Respectful Maternity Care.
>
> Contact Kerreen Reiger (La Trobe University) on .
>
> On International Women's Day, 8th March 2013, to launch The Face of
> Birth will be launched around the globe. Screenings will be held in
> Australia, Bulgaria, Canada, Croatia, Deutschland, Latvia, Slovakia,
> Nederland, United Kingdom and United States of America. Host a
> screening in your town to celebrate the power of choice in childbirth
> and spread the word about the need to respect and protect a woman's
> right to choose how, where and with whom she gives birth. Host a
> screening in your town or watch the film in your town - . Full list 
> of
> Australian screenings .
>
> A leading Victorian obstetrician says two hospital-run home birthing
> schemes should be extended across the state. Features private midwife
> Joy Johnston, and obstetrician Dr Euan Wallace calling for homebirth
> services to be rolled out across Victoria.
>
> This report summarises the best available research about the impact 
> of
> the health care liability system on maternity care, and policy
> strategies for improved functioning of the liability system in
> maternity care. The liability system is not serving well childbearing
> women and families and providers and payers of maternity care
> services.
>
> 255 home births in 2010 in Western Australia. For women intending to
> give birth at home, 82.7% achieved a birth at home. There were no
> fetal deaths reported at homebirths. For babies born at home with
> midwives in attendance 100% were live born.
>
> AIMS Ireland is opposing their government's plans to make home birth
> as difficult to arrange as possible (and put women at risk by forcing
> midwives to withdraw care in labour). Please spread this around and
> sign.
> See Petition:
>
> Elizabeth Prochaska, UK human rights barrister has launched Birth
> Rights - Birthrights is the UK's only organisation dedicated to
> improving women's experience of pregnancy and childbirth by promoting
> respect for human rights. They believe that all women are entitled to
> respectful maternity care that protects their fundamental rights to
> dignity, autonomy, privacy and equality. Elizabeth visited Australia
> in October to be keynote speaker at Childbirth and the Law Forum
> hosted by Homebirth Australia, Maternity Coalition and the Australian
> College of Midwives. Check out their facebook page also here -
>
> Until next time,
> Homebirth Australia Committee
>
>  Visit our website
>
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>
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