Home births delivering highest numbers in 40 years

Out-of-hospital births, including those at home and in birthing centers, have continued to climb — and continue to be controversial.

In 2012, the last year for which the Centers for Disease Control has complete data, nearly 54,000 babies were born at home, the highest number since 1975. But the women who chose home birth say they often are considered odd and are criticized for putting their children in danger.

“I knew who I could and couldn’t tell,” said Jamie Schmidt, an Ohio woman who opted to give birth to her third child at home, “but I still caught wind of people talking about it like I was a crazy hippie birthing on the front porch, hosing it off and going back to bed.”

http://www.startribune.com/home-births-delivering-highest-numbers-in-40-years/333350641/