Who plans a home birth in the uk and who achieves a home birth Seminar

Abstract
In the UK, a very small percentage of women give birth at home, and those who do are not a random sub-set of the population of childbearing women. Previous research has described the bivariate associations between place of birth and factors such as age, parity, ethnic group and social class. However, no UK research has used statistical modelling to identify the factors which retained an association with planning/having a home birth once the others were held constant. Using NHS maternity records from the North West Thames area in the 1990s, this analysis uses binary logistic regression modelling to identify factors which had an independent association with planned and actual place of birth. The results indicate that, to some extent, a woman's likelihood of planning/having a home birth depended on where she lived as well as on factors such as parity and pregnancy risk status. The results also contribute to the debate about whether certain population sub-groups were less likely to want home birth, or whether they were more likely to be denied the option.