Science / Medicine : Study Finds Birth Centers Safe

Special clinics for giving birth appear to provide a safe alternative to hospitals for healthy women with normal pregnancies, researchers from the Columbia University School of Public Health reported last week in the New England Journal of Medicine. They studied nearly 12,000 women who delivered infants at 84 birth centers nationwide.

In addition, women who give birth at the centers appear less likely to undergo Cesarean sections, which are costly surgical deliveries that have more complications.

There are about 132 free-standing birth centers in the United States, she said. About 20,000 of the estimated 3.5 million births each year in the United States currently take place in these facilities.

Researchers found death rates of mothers and babies were similar to those found in studies of women who gave birth at university and community hospitals. The overall Cesarean rate in the birth centers was 4.4%--about half the rate previous studies have found among women at low risk for having complications.