The Transition from Home to Hospital Birth in the United States, 1930–1960

Abstract

During the period from 1930 to 1960 the proportion of births in hospitals increased from 36.9 percent (1935) to 88 percent (1950) to 96 percent (1960), as shown in Table 7. Nationwide statistics on the place of birth were not available until 1935. During this period the campaign to hospitalize birth achieved support from obstetricians, public health officials, upper class women and insurance c~mpanies.~~ Also, in 1946, the HillBurton Act provided funds for the construction of hospitals in rural areas, creating the possibility of hospital birth for populations which previously had no choice but to give birth in the home. Many proponents of hospital birth attribute the reduction in obstetric mortality over the past sixty years to the advances in medical care in hospitals. Pear~e~~ wrote in 1976: In 1940 half the deliveries in the United States were carried out at home, and the maternal mortality was 60 per 10,000 live births. In 1975, with over 99 percent of deliveries in hospitals, maternal mortality is less than 3 per 10,000 live births. This is not purely a coincidence.