Homebirth Resources from BIB

As a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM), Birth In Balance's founder Jasmine Bay has met the standards for certification set by the North American Registry of Midwives (NARM) and is qualified to provide the Midwives Model of Care— our guideline and touchstone in every aspect of the Birth In Balance Practice.

NARM is an international certification agency whose mission is to establish and administer certification for the credential "Certified Professional Midwife" (CPM). CPM certification validates entry-level knowledge, skills, and experience vital to responsible midwifery practice. This international certification process encompasses multiple educational routes of entry including apprenticeship, self-study, private midwifery schools, college- and university- based midwifery programs, and nurse-midwifery.

Created in 1987 by the Midwives' Alliance of North America (MANA), NARM is committed to identifying standards and practices that reflect the excellence and diversity of the independent midwifery community in order to set the standard for North American midwifery.

Please contact us for further information about our services and credentials or to address your questions or concerns about homebirth. Contact »

Is BIB Homebirth Safe?

The following are among the most reliable and accurate results of accredited scientific research that has been done in recent years on the safety of planned homebirth with licensed professionals in comparisson to hospital births:

T. A. Wiegers, research fellow. MJNC Keirse, professor. J van der Zee, director. GAH Berghs, research fellow

"The outcome of planned home births is at least as good as that of planned hospital births in women at low risk receiving midwifery care..."
-Outcome of planned home and planned hospital births in low risk pregnancies: prospective study in midwifery practices in the Netherlands [pub. BMJ 23 November 1996; 313: 1309-1313]

Janssen PA, Holt VL, Myers SJ

"The practice of licensed non nurse-midwives, whose training meets standards set by international professional organizations, may be as safe as that of physicians in hospital and certified nurse-midwives in and out of hospital."
-Licensed midwife-attended, out-of-hospital births in Washington State: are they safe? [pub. Birth 1994 Sep. 21(3):141-8]

Olsen O, Department of Social Medicine, University of Copenhagen, Denmark

"Perinatal mortality was not significantly different between the planned home and planned hospital groups, but the planned home birth group had fewer low Apgar scores, and fewer severe maternal lacerations. There was less medical intervention in the planned home birth group: fewer inductions, fewer episiotomies, fewer assisted deliveries, and fewer caesareans. Olsen concluded: 'Home birth is an acceptable alternative to hospital confinement for selected pregnant women, and leads to reduced medical interventions.'"
-Meta-analysis of the safety of home birth [pub. Birth, 24(1):4-13; discussion 14-6 1997 Mar.]