ArticleEClinicalMedicine2019
Perinatal or neonatal mortality among women who intend at the onset of labour to give birth at home compared to women of low obstetrical risk who intend to give birth in hospital: A systematic review and meta-analyses.
Article in EClinicalMedicine, 2019. The graph could read no effect estimate from its abstract, so it casts no vote on the map. Cited by 38 papers, 1 of them a synthesis that pooled it.
What it found
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The abstract states no effect estimate the extractor could read, or names no intervention and outcome on the map, so this paper lights no cell and moves no belief. It is still indexed, cited and linked below.
The trial behind it
Trials whose registry record cites this paper, or whose number appears in the abstract. A trial that started after this paper was published is citing it as background, not reporting it.
Neither the registry nor the abstract names a trial number. If this is a trial report, that itself is worth knowing.
Who cites it
38 citing papers in PubMed, 1 synthesis or guideline pooled it, 124 citations in OpenAlex.
- 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
- The freebirth debate: Respecting autonomy while reflecting on our own practices.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2026Article
- Experiences of Women Who Opt for a Planned Home Birth After a Previous Hospital Birth: A Qualitative Study.Nursing reports (Pavia, Italy) · 2026Article
- Selective nonreporting of 5-min Apgar scores and its safety assessment of out-of-hospital births: a population-based study of United States' birth data, 2016-2023 a population based study.Lancet regional health. Americas · 2026Article
- "The Very Best That It Could Be and a Lot Better Than I Would Have Imagined": Birthing People's Experiences of Transfer From Community to Hospital.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Article
- Facilitators and Barriers to Access to Midwife-Led Birth Settings for Racialized Women in the UK: A Scoping Review.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Article
- The Benefits of Licensed Midwifery and Community Birth Among BIPOC Birthing People in New Mexico.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2025Article
- Perinatal outcomes following nonadherence to guideline-based screening for gestational diabetes: A population-based cohort study.Acta obstetricia et gynecologica Scandinavica · 2025Article
- The meanings attributed by obstetricians to planned home birth.Revista brasileira de enfermagem · 2025Article
- The relationship between ethnicity and place of birth in England: a mixed-methods study.BMC pregnancy and childbirth · 2024Article
- Social support network of Brazilian Amazonian women to subsidise the decision-making power of planned home birth: a qualitative study.BMJ open · 2024Article
- Midwife-Led Versus Obstetrician-Led Perinatal Care for Low-Risk Pregnancy: A Systematic Review and Meta-Analysis of 1.4 Million Pregnancies.Journal of clinical medicine · 2024Review
- Cost minimisation analyses of birth care in low-risk women in Norway: a comparison between planned home birth and birth in a standard obstetric unit.BMC health services research · 2024Article
- Article
- Observational
- Exploring Women's Reasons for Choosing Home Birth with the Help of Their Untrained Family Members: A Qualitative Research.International journal of community based nursing and midwifery · 2023Article
- Planned hospital birth compared with planned home birth for pregnant women at low risk of complications.The Cochrane database of systematic reviews · 2023Review
- A call for critical midwifery studies: Confronting systemic injustice in sexual, reproductive, maternal, and newborn care: Critical Midwifery Collective Writing Group.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2022Article
- Interest in Home Birth During the COVID-19 Pandemic: Analysis of Google Trends Data.Journal of midwifery & women's health · 2022Article
- Are perinatal quality collaboratives collaborating enough? How including all birth settings can drive needed improvement in the United States maternity care system.Birth (Berkeley, Calif.) · 2022Article
Corrections and comments
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Authors and funding
5 authors at 2 institutions in 2 countries.
Funding
No grant is acknowledged in the PubMed record.
Abstract
backgroundMore women are choosing to birth at home in well-resourced countries. Concerns persist that out-of-hospital birth contributes to higher perinatal and neonatal mortality. This systematic review and meta-analyses determines if risk of fetal or neonatal loss differs among low-risk women who begin labour intending to give birth at home compared to low-risk women intending to give birth in hospital.
methodsIn April 2018 we searched five databases from 1990 onward and used R to obtain pooled estimates of effect. We stratified by study design, study settings and parity. The primary outcome is any perinatal or neonatal death after the onset of labour. The study protocol is peer-reviewed, published and registered (PROSPERO No.CRD42013004046).
findingsWe identified 14 studies eligible for meta-analysis including ~ 500,000 intended home births. Among nulliparous women intending a home birth in settings where midwives attending home birth are well-integrated in health services, the odds ratio (OR) of perinatal or neonatal mortality compared to those intending hospital birth was 1.07 (95% Confidence Interval [CI], 0.70 to 1.65); and in less integrated settings 3.17 (95% CI, 0.73 to 13.76). Among multiparous women intending a home birth in well-integrated settings, the estimated OR compared to those intending a hospital birth was 1.08 (95% CI, 0.84 to 1.38); and in less integrated settings was 1.58 (95% CI, 0.50 to 5.03).
interpretationThe risk of perinatal or neonatal mortality was not different when birth was intended at home or in hospital.
fundingPartial funding: Association of Ontario Midwives open peer reviewed grant. RESEARCH IN CONTEXT:
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Registered trials
Read under generation 80e0d062 · epoch 390. Bibliography from PubMed, PubMed Central and OpenAlex; grants from NIH RePORTER; trial links from ClinicalTrials.gov; estimates, votes and beliefs from the OpenQuestion graph.