G A Hoff

Having babies at home: is it safe? Is it ethical?

Home births entail a definite small risk, of unknown magnitude. Hospital births entail a wider range of risks, whose magnitude may be large but is also unknown. The morality of home births should be decided on a case-by-case basis, according to these priorities: safety of the mother, safety of the fetus, benefit to the fetus, potential benefit to the mother.