Even amid a pandemic, hospitals are the safest place to give birth, pediatricians say

More women are giving birth at home, but in a policy statement this morning, the American Academy of Pediatrics stressed that hospitals and accredited birth centers are the safest places to give birth in the U.S. According to the statement, which updates recommendations from 2013, home births are associated with higher rates of infant mortality and complications. Still, home births have grown more common, with the biggest increase coming among white women, more than 2% of whom give birth at home. The policy statement does not address the coronavirus pandemic, but lead author Kristi Watterberg said that hospitals still remain the best place for a birth and noted that the pandemic could delay emergency transport to a hospital should complications arise during a home birth.