COVID restrictions see more WA mothers turn to home births in 2020
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Just as the coronavirus pandemic forced cultural hygiene shifts in society, it has also changed how some West Australian mothers choose to give birth.
WA Health statistics reveal the number of women giving birth at home in WA jumped by 62.6 per cent to 304 in 2020. While most still gave birth at hospital – 6965 in private hospitals, 23,773 in public hospitals – those numbers were down from previous years.
Births at private hospitals fell by about 15 per cent, down by 1224, while births at the state’s 16 public hospitals decreased by 5 per cent, down by 1220.