Risk of Cesarean
Studies with Certified Nurse Midwives and Certified Professional Midwives have found that intended home and birth center births for low-risk women have significantly lower cesarean rates than do comparable low-risk women in hospitals with equally low infant mortality.
Studies of Low Risk Healthy Women in Home, Birth Center, and Hospital Birth Settings
Cesarean Section Rate
Certified Nurse Midwives in Freestanding Birth Centers: Nationwide 11,814 births (Rooks et al. 1989)
4.4%
Certified Nurse Midwives in Home Birth Practices: Nationwide 11,788 births (Anderson and Murphy 1995)
3.0%
Home Births with Certified Professional Midwives: Nationwide 5,418 births (Johnson and Daviss 2005)
3.7%
Low-Risk Hospital Births: California 806,402 births (Schlenzka 1999)
22.9%
Low-Risk Hospital Births Nationally in 2000: 3,360,868 births (Johnson and Daviss 2005 from National Vital Statistics)
19.0%
C-Sections