Satisfaction with a modified form of in-hospital birth center care compared with standard maternity care.

Background: For safety reasons an in-hospital birth center was replaced by a modified form of birth center care with the same medical guidelines and equipment as in standard care. The aim of this study was to investigate women's and men's satisfaction with modified care compared with standard care.

Methods: Women in both groups gave birth from July 2007 to July 2008.

In-hospital birth center with the same medical guidelines as standard care: a comparative study of obstetric interventions and outcomes.

Background: A challenge of obstetric care is to optimize maternal and infant health outcomes and the mother's experience of childbirth with the least possible intervention in the normal process. The aim of this study was to investigate the effects of modified birth center care on obstetric procedures during delivery and on maternal and neonatal outcomes.

Methods: In a cohort study 2,555 women who signed in for birth center care during pregnancy were compared with all 9,382 low-risk women who gave birth in the standard delivery ward in the same hospital from March 2004 to July 2008.