Partorire a casa è irresponsabile? Riflessioni morali sulla scelta del luogo del parto

In order to make a judgement on whether homebirth is risky, one needs to examine what may impact on the rates and outcome. There are studies which show that low risk pregnant women who choose homebirth, provided their home is no more than 45 minutes away from the closest Maternity Unit, and that they are assisted by a registered midwife, not only face fewer risks for themselves but they also do not expose their children to a higher risk than hospital birth. However, according to de Crespigny and Savulescu opting for homebirth is always irresponsible when it exposes the child to greater health risks. In this cases, the authors point out that home births could be as dangerous as driving without putting your child's seatbelt on. We state that opting for homebirth can be ethically justified even when it exposes the future child to increased risks and we conclude that behind the authors’ arguments against homebirth there is the prejudice that women are not capable of choosing responsibly on birth.