The number of home births is expected to increase in the U.S. following reports that Meghan, Duchess of Sussex, gave birth to a baby boy Monday at home.
As of Tuesday, Harper's Bazaar reported that Meghan delivered the baby in a hospital, and that the home birth was just a rumor.
Home births have been increasing since the early 2000s. A prime home birth candidate is a woman who has been assessed for a low-risk pregnancy, and is looking for a less invasive option," said Cheryl Gilman, a certified midwife in Kansas City.
"(People) just feel more comfortable and safer in their homes, and just wanting to avoid some standard interventions, like IVs and continuous fetal monitoring," Gilman said.
After Gilman leaves a client's home, most people would not be able to tell she had been there, she said.
Many women also hire doulas, people who work more as labor coaches than as intrical parts of the birthing process. Gilman said she always brings a second person who is certified in CPR and NRP, the Neonatal Resuscitation Program.
