Home   News   What we offer you   Quotes   Facts & Figures   Links   Contact Us	Facts and Figures Thames Valley Independent Midwives Since January 1998 123 women have passed through our care, some of them more than once! 103 of these women birthed at home (83% of the total), of whom 73 used a waterpool during labour, and 52 birthed their babies under water. Of those who birthed at home, 67 had intact perineums or tiny first degree tears, and out of the remainder only 4 tears required stitches. We did not perform any episiotomies. 22 women (17% of the total) required transfer to hospital, not all of them in labour. Of those who transferred, 6 had normal vaginal births in hospital. 12 women delivered by caesarean section, 4 by ventouse extraction. Two thirds of the women who had a caesarean section could be classified as "high risk" at booking. 51 of the women we cared for during this time (41% of the total) would have been classified within the NHS as high obstetric risk. This does not include first-time mothers, who are automatically classified within the NHS as high risk for a home birth. 20 of these women had had a previous caesarean section. Out of all the "high risk" women, 37 (72%) had a normal vaginal birth with us at home. The others transferred to hospital, where 4 had an unassisted vaginal birth, 2 had a ventouse delivery, and the remaining 8 had a caesarean section. All these mothers and babies recovered well after the birth. Over 90% of the women were fully breastfeeding their babies when we discharged them from our care, and most went on to breastfeed for at least six months. Seven women decided not to breastfeed from the beginning, and four more had switched to bottlefeeding before discharge from our care. Birth Practise Statistics from Jan 1998 - Dec 2002 The following table demonstrates that between January 1998 and December 2002 we looked after 123 women, all for planned home births.     Percent /123 Percent Total Births 123 100   Primagravidae 36 29.27   Multiparae 87 70.73       100.00   High Risk 45 36.59 /45 VBACs 18 14.63 40.00 40 or over 11 8.94 24.44 Medical risk 13 10.57 28.89 Obstretric risk 23 18.70 51.11         Home dry birth 56 45.53   Home waterbirth 45 36.59   Total Home Births 101 82.12   Hospital Transfer 21 17.07   Hospital spontaneous 6     Ventouse 4 3.25   C/S 11 8.94           Breastfeeding       Fully at 2 months 113 91.87   Fully at discharge 118 95.93           3 weeks or less 3 2.44