[Obstetric and neonatal outcomes in a home-like birth centre: a case-control study].

OBJECTIVES

To compare intervention rates associated with labor in low-risk women who began their labor in the "home-like birth centre" and the traditional delivery room.

PATIENTS AND

METHODS

This retrospective study used data that were collected from January 2005 through June 2008, from women admitted to the "home-like birth centre" (n=316) and compared to a group of randomly selected low-risk women admitted to the traditional labor ward (n=890) using the Baysian Information Criterion to select the best predictive model.

RESULTS

Women in the "home-like birth centre" had spontaneous vaginal deliveries more often (88.6% versus 82.8%, P value 0.034) and perineal lesions less often (60.1% versus 62.5%, P value 0.013). The frequency of adverse neonatal outcomes did not differ statistically between the two groups, although mean clamped at birth umbilical arterial pH level was higher in the "home-like birth centre" group. The transfer rate from "home-like birth centre" to traditional labor ward was 31.3%.

DISCUSSION AND

CONCLUSIONS

It appears that women could benefit from "home-like birth centre" care in settings such as the one studied. Larger observational studies are warranted to validate these results.