Homebirth is generally frowned upon by physicians. Considered crude and outdated in a time when obstetric care is almost universally accessible, homebirth has been discouraged by many obstetricians and pediatricians. Despite this medical warning, it is still being performed in rare instances, comprising less than 1 percent of all deliveries in the country, and a majority of them aren’t attended by doctors but by midwives.
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To help standardize and regulate the process of home delivery, the American Academy of Pediatrics (AAP) formulated the following guidelines and published it in its official journal, Pediatrics:
• There should be at least one person who will be held accountable for tending to the newborn.
• A phone line should be kept handy to provide for immediate communication in cases of untoward emergency.
• The healthcare professional in charge should also check the weather situation, just in case delivery complications may arise and the mother and newborn need to be transferred to a hospital.
• Standard post-delivery procedures routinely done in hospitals should also be performed in home deliveries, such as temperature monitoring and regulation, vitamin K administration, and heel-prick newborn screening tests, among others.
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For the AAP, it is important to ensure that the delivery care being given is the same regardless of the setting. “No matter where a baby is born, they deserve the same standard of care,” said Dr. Kristi Watterberg, lead author of the revised AAP guidelines. “It’s our best shot for the best outcomes for babies and moms.”
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