Obstetric and neonatal outcomes in a home-like birth centre: A case-control study

ObjectivesTo compare intervention rates associated with labor in low-risk women who began their labor in the “home-like birth centre” and the traditional delivery room.Patients and methodsThis retrospective study used data that were collected from January 2005 through June 2008, from women admitted to the “home-like birth centre” (n = 316) and compared to a group of randomly selected low-risk women admitted to the traditional labor ward (n = 890) using the Baysian Information Criterion to select the best predictive model.ResultsWomen in the “home-like birth centre” had spontaneous vaginal deliveries more often (88.6% versus 82.8%, P value 0.034) and perineal lesions less often (60.1% versus 62.5%, P value 0.013). The frequency of adverse neonatal outcomes did not differ statistically between the two groups, although mean clamped at birth umbilical arterial pH level was higher in the “home-like birth centre” group. The transfer rate from “home-like birth centre” to traditional labor ward was 31.3%.Discussion and conclusionsIt appears that women could benefit from “home-like birth centre” care in settings such as the one studied. Larger observational studies are warranted to validate these results.