Outcomes of planned home birth: an integrative review.

Current evidence indicates the critical importance of several factors that contribute to improved perinatal outcomes: a facilitating environment at the place of birth, skilled birth attendance, and the continuum of perinatal care for women and newborns. This level of care is often referred to as "first-level" care, and is most readily provided in birthing centers and primary level health facilities. However, there is a body of evidence that has been compiled over the past several decades that addresses the safety of planned home birth, under circumstances that emulate these elements of "first-level" care.