The issue I research relates the changes occurred in home and hospital births during 1990-2009. Chart 1 shows changes in home deliveries for the period from 1990 to 2009. Chart 2 shows the levels of home deliveries in different states in the north western region of United States. The percentage of home and hospital deliveries is shown in the Chart 3. The data presented in the charts is reliable because it derived from scholarly sources of information.
Chart 1 Home Deliveries in the U.S.
As it can be seen from the Chart 1, the percentage of home births is in the downtrend from 1990 to 2005, while the uptrend is observed in the period from 2005 to 2009. It means that the greater number of women had recently decided to give births to their children at home.
Chart 2 Northwestern Out-of-Hospital Births
An increase in out-of-hospital births in Northwestern states of the U.S. is shown on the Chart 2. The increase in out-of-hospital births was observed in the following Northwestern states: Montana, Oregon, and Vermont. The increase in out-of-hospital births in other states was insignificant (1.5%) while in the Northwestern states it increases by 1.91%-2.55%.
Chart 3 presents demographical and social characteristics of women which decided to give births at home. It can be seen from the Chart 3 that the greater percentage of mature women aged 35 and above made decisions to bear children at homes, in the majority of the cases they had the third or higher deliveries, and the majority of them were wedded.
Chart 3 Percentage of Home and Hospital Deliveries
In conclusion, the rise in the levels of home deliveries during the period from 2005 to 2009 comprised mainly of Northwestern states of the U.S. These differences likely resulted from the new laws enacted regarding application of midwifery services and out-of-hospital deliveries.
