THE HOME Birth Association of Ireland has welcomed the support of the Minister for Health James Reilly for more home births in Ireland. However the group has said remarks made by master of the Rotunda Dr Sam Coulter-Smith were motivated by the protection of obstetricians.
Last week Dr Reilly told The Irish Times he believed women should be offered the choice of having their babies at home.
Dr Coulter-Smith said home births were not the preferred option and needed appropriate governance.
Fewer than 0.5 per cent of births in Ireland are planned home deliveries. Five hospitals, including the National Maternity Hospital at Holles Street, Dublin, offer limited home birth services to women who are considered low risk.
Home births are also supervised by self-employed community midwives.
Dr Krysia Lynch, co-ordinator of the Home Birth Association, said independent midwives were paid €2,400 by the Health Service Executive for each birth, “a bargain compared to the costs of a hospital”.
They are also fully governed by terms of practice set down by the HSE’s senior risk assessors, she said. All home births also have to be approved in advance by an obstetrician in a hospital setting and by the local director of public health nursing.
“To state they are not adequately governed is ridiculous and particularly irritating to a lot of people,” she said.
Dr Lynch said maternity care in Ireland was a “turf war” and that negative comments about home births were aimed at protecting obstetricians.
Dr Lynch also said the medical model of maternity care had been accepted “hook, line and sinker” in Ireland.
“Other models need to be investigated and validated,” she said.
She called on the Minister to formally recognise home birth as a valid model of community care and to promote home birth as a safe option for low-risk mothers.
