Women expecting babies in Wales in the new year are being reminded that it may be possible to give birth at home if they are not high-risk patients.

Welsh Assembly Health Minister Jane Hutt has said that women with normal pregnancies should be able to consider home as an appropriate alternative to hospital for giving birth.

Having a baby is a life-changing experience for all involved Health Minister Jane Hutt

Midwives played a key role in providing support and could help all women to have "a positive birth experience," she said.

"I am sure that having the comforts of your own home surrounding you would help to relax many mothers when they are giving birth," she said.

In June this year Jane Hutt launched Delivering the Future in Wales, a blueprint for the maternity service in Wales over the next 10 years.

The aim is to use the full potential of midwives and other health professionals to develop an effective maternity service - one which provides a safe and positive experience for women and families as well as a rewarding career for midwives.

Home births can be a comforting experience

"Recommendations and an action plan for implementing Delivering the Future in Wales have been developed based upon the principle that birth is not a patient episode but an event of great social and emotional significance," Mrs Hutt said.

"Having a baby is a life-changing experience for all involved, and everyone from expectant mothers and fathers to brothers and sisters all need help and support not only throughout the pregnancy but also once the baby has been born."

To help encourage the number of home births, an all-Wales home birth reference group has been set up.

The group consists of midwives from each NHS Trust in Wales, midwifery teachers, and the Royal College of Midwives.

'Daunting time'

Areas being focussed on include developing guidelines for support and training; sharing and adopting examples of best practice across Wales; and producing an all-Wales information leaflet.

"I know that birth can be a daunting time for all parents but I hope that with guidance and help more mothers will consider home births as an preferred option for delivering their babies."

Home births have long been a subject dividing the medical profession.

Last year, some midwives claimed women across the UK were missing out on home births because of the negative views of many GPs.

A survey by the National Childbirth Trust quizzed 167 heads of midwifery and found that half thought their local GPs did not present home births for low-risk pregnancies as positively as they did hospital births.

Mothers are to be given more support

Some of those questioned even suggested GPs were neglecting to discuss the advantages of home births properly with mothers-to-be and then were reluctant to support the women who opted for it.

In the UK only about 2.6% of births take place at home each year.

Brenda Phipps, chief executive of the NCT, said the survey revealed that women needed better information about home births.

"We believe that women do not receive enough information about home birth from health professionals to be able to make an informed choice.

'Women's needs'

"Nationally, one woman in five wants to know more about home birth, but only around one baby in 50 is actually born at home.

"We want to see a move towards more flexible, midwife-led maternity services, based around the needs of women."

Frances Day-Stirk, from the Royal College of Midwives, said although they were not necessarily advocating home births they did feel it was important all women are given the full range of choices.

And she said midwives, as well as GPs, had a role in ensuring their patients' were fully informed.

"I think as midwives we have a big role to play in presenting this information."

But GP Dr Peter Holden, of the British Medical Association, said he was surprised that midwives were pushing a positive image of home births when they had too few staff to deliver the service.

"I think that most GPs present both sides of the argument equally.

"I am not against women having an informed choice, but it must be a fully informed choice and at the moment the midwives do not have the resources.

"If you are in labour in hospital you need one midwife, but if you give birth at home then you need two midwives."