Maternal and infant mortality rates between hospitals and birth centers
Pregnant women in the United States usually have three choices on where to give birth. They can either choose to go to a birthing center or a hospital or do it at home. In birthing centers and home-births, midwives or nurse-midwives are usually the ones who provide aid to the pregnant woman. While in hospitals, specialists are the ones who take care of the pregnant woman. Even though there are two places to give birth at, 99% of women in the U.S. usually prefer to go to a hospital and be taken care of a specialist, than by a midwife at a birthing center (1).
Giving birth at a U.S. hospital does not mean it is safer than giving birth at a birthing center or at home. According to the study of the American Association of Birth Centers and the American College of Nurse-Midwives, birth centers provide a safe environment to pregnant women. The study involved 15,000 births that occurred in 79 birth centers in 33 states of the U.S. from the years 2007 through 2010 (6). The study also showed that by giving birth at a birth center, the infant, maternal, and c-section rates were lowered.
According to another research of the American Association of Birth Centers, 85% of pregnant women who are considered low-risk can give birth at a birth center but still prefer to give birth at hospitals (5). The research says that women prefer hospitals over birthing centers due to having the mentality of “what if something