Karen Hawkins of Bridgton, Maine, spent her younger years raising all sorts of animals. Before she was old enough to have children of her own, she was watching those animals give birth, and the experience left a definite impression. "I always said I was going to have my babies birthed at home," Hawkins says. "I determined that if animals were able to have their many babies without assistance at all in most cases, there was no reason I should have to go to a hospital to have mine."

The idea of birthing babies at home is not a new one. For centuries, birth took place in the familiar surroundings of home and at the hands of family members and neighbor women.

While this is still the case in many areas of the world, the scientific community and social trends of the United States eventually determined that childbirth would be safer under the watchful eye of medical technology.

Current research is now testing this belief. "There are many good studies showing outcomes with home birth comparable or better than hospital birth outcomes in similar populations," says Kate Brethauer, a home birth midwife, in Oregon, Wis. As a result, there is a heightened awareness of home birth as a viable alternative in childbirth.

For many people, the idea of home birth conjures up images of rural America and crude lifestyles. Today, this image couldn't be further from the truth. Home birth clients come from all walks of life.

"I've seen tremendous variability in my home birth clients," says Karen Kohls, a certified doula in Madison, Wis. "Young, old, knowing tons about birth, knowing nothing about birth, confident, frightened; you name it, I've seen it." she says. "[There are] middle class professionals who come to home birth after learning about hospital birth, old hippie types that never even considered hospital birth, young folks that never considered hospital birth and lots of permanent student types, too."

Content on this site is not a substitute for professional medical or healthcare advice, diagnosis or treatment, and may not be used for such purposes. Always seek the advice of your physician or other qualified health provider with any questions you may have regarding a medical question or condition. Reliance on information presented on this site is at your own risk. This site contains the opinions and views of other users. Given the interactive nature of this site, we cannot endorse, guarantee, or be responsible for the accuracy, efficacy, or veracity of any content generated by our users.