{"id":43263,"date":"2014-03-17T11:43:07","date_gmt":"2014-03-17T15:43:07","guid":{"rendered":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/?p=43263"},"modified":"2020-09-17T10:30:29","modified_gmt":"2020-09-17T14:30:29","slug":"in-cdc-report-declercq-and-colleagues-find-rise-in-out-of-hospital-births","status":"publish","type":"bu-article","link":"https:\/\/www.bu.edu\/sph\/news\/articles\/2014\/in-cdc-report-declercq-and-colleagues-find-rise-in-out-of-hospital-births\/","title":{"rendered":"In CDC Report, Declercq and Colleagues Find Rise in Out-of Hospital Births"},"content":{"rendered":"\n
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March 17, 2014<\/div>\n\t\t\n\t\t\t\t
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The percentage of U.S. women choosing to give birth at home or in a birthing center rather than a hospital has grown by 56 percent in less than a decade, according to a new government report co-authored by a BUSPH researcher.<\/p>\n

Still rare, out-of-hospital births accounted for 1.36 percent of U.S. births in 2012, according to the U.S. Centers for Disease Control and Prevention (CDC) report co-authored by community health sciences Prof. Eugene Declercq<\/a>. A year earlier, 1.26 percent of births occurred away from a hospital, while just 0.87 percent of such deliveries took place in 2004.<\/p>\n

\"Eugene<\/a>
Eugene Declercq<\/figcaption><\/figure>\n

Two-thirds of the out-of-hospital births occurred at home, the CDC team found, while another 29 percent occurred in a birthing center. Another 5 percent occurred in a clinic, doctor’s office or other location.<\/p>\n

The CDC also reports that births outside the hospital carried a lower “risk profile” in 2012, with a smaller proportion of preterm and low birth weight babies than in hospital delivery rooms. Fewer births to teen mothers and fewer multiple births — both tied to greater health risks — occurred outside the hospital.<\/p>\n

Other highlights of the report were:<\/p>\n