Letter: Danger of home births, even for the 'healthy'

I READ with interest your article entitled 'A mother's right to make choices' (8 August) because I was what Wendy Savage described as a 'healthy' woman during two complication-free pregnancies. However, this bore no relevance to the deliveries I had: the first required an emergency Caesarean section and after the second I had a postpartum haemorrhage.

Women should have the right to choose but they must be made aware that when complications arise they can be sudden and serious. A trouble- free pregnancy is no guarantee of a trouble-free delivery.

Little mention is made of the progress towards making the hospital more pleasant and relaxed for childbirth. This surely is the ideal - a relaxed, homely atmosphere but with medical expertise close at hand. That way we can minimise the serious consequences for both mother and child when difficulties arise.

Helen Embley

Gillingham, Kent