Abstract
Objective: to assess the feasibility, probable success, and inherent problems of conducting a multi-site, multi-year cohort study of planned home birth in the USA. Design: a prospective cohort study. Setting: 14 states across the USA, representing a variety of regions and settings. Participants: 29 home-birth midwifery practices, representing 44 individual midwives in both large and small, solo and group practices. Data collection: birth outcomes for all women initially enrolled in these home-birth practices. Key conclusion: multi-site studies of evaluating outcomes in small community-based practices are possible if several requirements are met. Implications for practice: understudied birth alternatives can be formally researched within a co-operative network of participating practitioners.
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