LESS THAN TWO in 100 pregnant Irish women want to have a home birth, with the majority wishing to divide antenatal care between a maternity hospital and their GP, according to researchers from UCD and the Coombe Women and Infants University hospital.
The study of 500 women, published in the current issue of the Irish Medical Journal, found that 45 per cent preferred to have their baby delivered in a doctor-led maternity unit. Some 43 per cent of respondents expressed a preference for delivering in a midwife-led centre.
Dr Michael Turner and his co-authors asked women early in pregnancy to rank 10 factors that were important in choosing a model of care.
Safety for the baby and a safe environment for mothers were the most important factors for women when choosing the type of maternity care they wanted. The availability of intensive care for babies and continuity of care from doctors and midwives were also highly rated. A private room and a desire to avoid hospitals were least important to pregnant women.
As part of calls for new models of maternity care and an increase in the availability of choice for all women, both patient and professional advocacy groups have had an opportunity to express their views.
The Review of Maternity and Gynaecology Services in the Greater Dublin Area, for example, has recommended the creation of midwifery-led units adjacent to hospital-based obstetric units. It also recommended that women have the option to have a home birth; the Health Service Executive (HSE) has established a National Taskforce on Home Births.
“However, there has been a dearth of information about what models of maternity care women in Ireland want themselves,” the authors note.
“In Ireland, there is a lack of clinical data on the risks or benefits to either the mother or her baby following a planned home birth, which is in sharp contrast to planned hospital births. Further information is also required nationally as to why women opt for home birth rather than a hospital birth.”
The authors also say they are concerned that there are no agreed clinical criteria nationally to determine which pregnant women are suitable for what model of care.
Meanwhile, in separate research from the Coombe, doctors and clinical nutritionists have found that just 3 per cent of Irish newborns receive a recommended dose of vitamin D supplement, leaving them vulnerable to developing rickets.