Birth in the United States occurs within a hospital setting for
the vast majority of women, making hospital birth the cultural
norm.1 Recent data, however, indicate that there has been a
small but significant increase in the number of women giving
birth outside the hospital setting: the proportion of US births
that occurred at home increased by 29%, from 27,678 (0.56%
of all US births) in 2004 to 29,650 (0.72%) in 2009.2 Although data related to the characteristics of women who
give birth at home are limited, some trends have been identified. Women who are white (non-Hispanic) and who have
had previous children are more likely to give birth at home.2 Prior research related to the decision to give birth at home in
the United States indicates that women may feel more comfortable in their own surroundings, may feel it is safer, or may
wish to avoid unnecessary medical intervention.3, 4 These reasons are similar to findings from studies in other countries.5-11 This suggests that although access to home birth may be more
limited depending on where a woman lives, reasons for desiring a home birth may be universal. However, women in the
United States who choose home birth may encounter more
challenges associated with their decision to give birth at home
when compared to countries where home birth is more integrated into the maternity system5 and/or where home birth is
more often covered by insurance or publicly funded.7 The purpose of this study was to explore the experiences
of women who chose a home birth and investigate not only the
reasons why these women wanted home birth but also their
experiences related to that decision. The study sought to compare and contrast individual women’s home and hospital birth
experiences. Little is known about why women who have had
a hospital birth make the decision to switch to home birth for a
subsequent birth. Therefore, for this study we purposely chose
women who had previously experienced a hospital birth.