Cost minimisation analyses of birth care in low-risk women in Norway: a comparison between planned home birth and birth in a standard obstetric unit.

Background: Evidence exists that planned home births for low-risk women in settings in which they have access to hospital transfer if needed are safe. The costs of planned home births, compared to low-risk births in obstetric units, are not clear. The aim of this study was to compare costs associated with hospital births versus home births under different home birth organizations.

Outcomes of planned home births and planned hospital births in low-risk women in Norway between 1990 and 2007: a retrospective cohort study.

Background: The safety of planned home births remains controversial in Western countries. The aim of the present study was to compare outcomes in women who planned, and were selected to, home birth at the onset of labor with women who planned for a hospital birth.

Methods: Data from 1631 planned home births between 1990 and 2007 were compared with a random sample of 16,310 low-risk women with planned hospital births.