Home births deliver better value for money

IN the wake of the recent Supreme Court judgment, I am baffled as to why the health boards are denying parents a real choice in the area of home births.

Excluding the rich, women are now being forced into an unnecessarily expensive medicalised procedure in over-crowded hospitals for what, to most healthy women, is a natural process. Most other countries in the Western world actively encourage people towards home births.

This is because birthing can be done at home safely and more economically with the use of professional midwives.

If we followed this lead, we would reduce the cost of births to health boards and increase the value of taxpayers’ money.

As we constantly read of financial problems in the health services, in this instance, at least, can some common sense prevail?

Alan Wyley,

27, Beech Park Ave,

Foxrock,

Dublin 18