Why do women choose planned home births?

If you deliver at home, labor management might differ from what you experience in a hospital setting. During labor at home, your health care provider will periodically — rather than continuously — monitor your temperature, pulse, blood pressure and your baby's heart rate.

You might choose a planned home birth for many reasons, including:

• A desire to give birth without medical intervention, such as pain medication, labor augmentation, labor induction or fetal heart rate monitoring
• A desire to give birth in a comfortable, familiar place surrounded by family
• Dissatisfaction with hospital care
• A desire for freedom and control in the birthing process
• Cultural or religious concerns
• A lack of access to transportation
• Lower cost