ArticleBMJ open2019
Maternal and perinatal outcomes by planned place of birth in Australia 2000 - 2012: a linked population data study.
Article in BMJ open, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 19 papers, 2 of them syntheses that pooled it.
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Who cites it
19 citing papers in PubMed, 2 syntheses or guidelines pooled it, 58 citations in OpenAlex.
- The quantification of midwifery research: Limiting midwifery knowledge.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2022Pooled it
- Women's experiences of decision-making and informed choice about pregnancy and birth care: a systematic review and meta-synthesis of qualitative research.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Pooled it
- Maternal positions adopted during the expulsive second stage of labour in homebirth: a cross-sectional study in a rural Northern Nigerian community.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2026Article
- Midwifery Care: An Evolutionary Concept Analysis.Nursing open · 2025Review
- Maternal and neonatal outcomes of childbirth care in a Freestanding Birth Centre.Revista latino-americana de enfermagem · 2025Observational
- [Monitoring and evaluation indicators of Freestanding Birth Centers: results of the study Births in Brazilian Birthing Centers].Cadernos de saude publica · 2025Article
- The depth structure of a good birth: reconfiguring the environment in a high-risk labour ward birth and creating sanctuary behind a screen.Frontiers in global women's health · 2025Article
- Severe adverse maternal and neonatal outcomes according to the planned birth setting being midwife-led birth centers or obstetric-led units.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2024Article
- Factors influencing referral to maternity models of care in Australian general practice.PloS one · 2024Article
- Midwife-led birthing centres in four countries: a case study.BMC health services research · 2023Article
- Article
- Ten years of a publicly funded homebirth service in Victoria: Maternal and neonatal outcomes.The Australian & New Zealand journal of obstetrics & gynaecology · 2022Article
- Expanding certified professional midwife services during the COVID-19 pandemic.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2022Article
- Model of care and chance of spontaneous vaginal birth: a prospective, multicenter matched-pair analysis from North Rhine-Westphalia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Optimal outcome factors in maternity and newborn care for inpatient (hospital maternity ward-HMW) and outpatient deliveries (outhospital maternity clinics -OMC).BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2021Article
- Modelling the cost of place of birth: a pathway analysis.BMC health services research · 2021Article
- The opportunity costs of birth in Australia: Hospital resource savings for a post-COVID-19 era.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2021Article
- Birthing outside the system: the motivation behind the choice to freebirth or have a homebirth with risk factors in Australia.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2020Article
- Mapping the trajectories for women and their babies from births planned at home, in a birth centre or in a hospital in New South Wales, Australia, between 2000 and 2012.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2019Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
12 authors at 7 institutions in 4 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
objectiveTo compare perinatal and maternal outcomes for Australian women with uncomplicated pregnancies according to planned place of birth, that is, in hospital labour wards, birth centres or at home.
designA population-based retrospective design, linking and analysing routinely collected electronic data. Analysis comprised χ
settingAll eight Australian states and territories.
participantsWomen with uncomplicated pregnancies who gave birth between 2000 and 2012 to a singleton baby in cephalic presentation at between 37 and 41 completed weeks' gestation. Of the 1 251 420 births, 1 171 703 (93.6%) were planned in hospital labour wards, 71 505 (5.7%) in birth centres and 8212 (0.7%) at home.
main outcome measuresMode of birth, normal labour and birth, interventions and procedures during labour and birth, maternal complications, admission to special care/high dependency or intensive care units (mother or infant) and perinatal mortality (intrapartum stillbirth and neonatal death).
resultsCompared with planned hospital births, the odds of normal labour and birth were over twice as high in planned birth centre births (adjusted OR (AOR) 2.72; 99% CI 2.63 to 2.81) and nearly six times as high in planned home births (AOR 5.91; 99% CI 5.15 to 6.78). There were no statistically significant differences in the proportion of intrapartum stillbirths, early or late neonatal deaths between the three planned places of birth.
conclusionsThis is the first Australia-wide study to examine outcomes by planned place of birth. For healthy women in Australia having an uncomplicated pregnancy, planned births in birth centres or at home are associated with positive maternal outcomes although the number of homebirths was small overall. There were no significant differences in the perinatal mortality rate, although the absolute numbers of deaths were very small and therefore firm conclusions cannot be drawn about perinatal mortality outcomes.
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