[Home birth: opinion of French women and perinatal risk. Results of the French overseas departments 2000 survey].
OBJECTIVE
This study has two objectives: firstly, to find out what are the women's views about home birth, and secondly to perform a review of the perinatal risk associated with home birth.


METHODS
A questionnaire was sent to 121 women in three maternity hospitals and a Medline search was performed using the following keywords: home delivery, hospital delivery, risk factor, perinatal transfer.


RESULTS
Fifty two percent of these women think that home delivery "should or could be offered" (group I), 22% think that it "should never be offered" (group II); finally 26% "do not know" whether it should or not be offered (group III). The level of maternity care, educational standards, nationality, parity, annual income, age, location of the place of residence, do not modify the rate of women belonging to group I. Thirty four percent of women who have heard about complications happening during delivery think that home delivery "should never be offered" while 13% of women who have never heard of complications during delivery stated that it should never be offered (p = 0.024). Even if it is not significant the number of women belonging to group II increases with educational standards and maternal age. Most women believed that hospital delivery is safer, more restful, that pain relief is better, but also stated that it is more impersonal than home delivery.


CONCLUSIONS
In this study more than one out of two women believed that home delivery "should or could be offered". Nevertheless, 22% stated that home delivery "should never be offered". The level of opposition to home delivery seems to increase with the level of information about potential obstetrical complications. A study should be designed to confirm this statement. The analysis of perinatal risks related to home delivery shows that two conditions should be fulfilled in order to allow home delivery: a careful selection, with validated risk factor, to eliminate high risk pregnancies, and clear and complete information on the small but real risk of perinatal transfer.
Dupuis
O
O
Service de gynécologie-obstétrique, hôpital Edouard-Herriot, 5, place d'Arsonval, 69003 Lyon, France. olivier.dupuis@chu-lyon.fr
de Tayrac
R
R
Poilpot
S
S
Minand
S
S
Fernandez
H
H
Frydman
R
R
Levardon
M
M
Madelenat
P
P
D003710:Demography; D005260:Female; D005602:France / Q000208:ethnology; D006700:Home Childbirth; D006761:Hospitals; D006801:Humans; D007231:Infant, Newborn; D007744:Obstetric Labor Complications; D017060:Patient Satisfaction; D011247:Pregnancy; D012307:Risk Factors; D011795:Surveys and Questionnaires; D014187:Transportation of Patients