Home birth revolution stalls as numbers drop by a fifth amid midwife shortage The figures show that overall there were 698,512 babies born in England and Wales last year, down four per cent on the total for 2012, which was the highest since the early 1970s. Overall only just over one in 50 babies were born at home, despite a drive to promote home births. The practice is most common in the South West of England where more 3.2 per cent of babies are born at home, almost three times the proportion seen in the North East. The popularity of home births peaked in 2008 when almost three per cent of babies were born in their parents" home. Signifcantly, while the number of younger mothers opting for a home birth has continued to rise, for those over 30 - now the average age for giving birth - it is down significantly over the last decade. Among those in their late 30s the proportion fell from 3.4 per cent in 2003 to just 2.9 per cent last year and for those over 40 the decline was even greater. Elizabeth Duff, senior policy adviser at the National Childbirth Trust, said the need for NHS trusts to suspend home birth services temporarily because of staff shortages, is creating a "vicious circle" in which would-be mothers choose to go to hospital only because of fears that if they plan a home birth they know it might be cancelled at the last minute. "It is becoming hard [for midwives] to offer women the options that they should be offering because the services are under threat or temporarily suspended a lot of the time," she said. It ends up with midwives simply saying we should be able to offer a home birth but we cannot guarantee that this will be open at the time you go into labour. It tends to lead to women saying I will opt for the hospital because I don't want to be messed about at the last minute. She said that evidence suggests that home births are as safe as hospital births for most women and involve fewer unnecessary interventions - as well as being cheaper for the NHS. NHS managers know the facts but from time to time if you're faced with a workforce of midwives with some off on sick leave, you simply haven't got the workforce percentages you need. There is only one option which is to suspend the outside hospital services because they do have to staff a labour ward. Carmel Lloyd, head of education at the Royal College of Midwives said: "Although there may be a number of reasons why women choose to have a home birth but do not have one, I am concerned that some women may be denied this choice because of midwife shortages. Choice of place of birth is a key part of the Government's policy around maternity services and we need to ensure that the choices women make are honoured and delivered. Real choice is important because a woman has to be happy and comfortable with the environment in which she gives birth. The evidence shows that births in midwife-led units or at home are just as safe, possibly safer, for low risk women. She added: "The fall in home births to women in the older age groups is interesting. The evidence shows that women in these age groups tend to have more complications in pregnancy but this does not mean they cannot or should not have a home birth. Every woman's situation is different and I would encourage these women to discuss the evidence and their options with their midwife.