Women with low risk pregnancies who choose a home birth are less likely to get serious complications than women who plan a hospital birth, according to a new study.

Ths study says, however, that the overall risk of severe problems is small and the risks for low-risk women choosing hospital births is significant only for mums who have previously had a baby.

The Netherlands has the highest level of home births among Western countries.

A team of Dutch researchers examined whether low risk women at the onset of labour who planned a home birth had a higher rate of rare but serious outcomes than those with planned hospital births.

Of the 146,752 women included in the study, nearly two-thirds had a planned home birth and 37% had a planned hospital birth.

For women who had previously given birth the rate of severe outcomes for a home birth was 1 per 1,000 compared to 2.3 per 1,000 for a hospital birth.

Adverse outcomes were less common among home births than among hospital births, but the serious outcomes levels were only significant among women who had previously given birth.

Ths study says the overall risk of severe problems is small and the risks for low-risk women choosing hospital births are significant only for mums who have previously had a baby.

The researchers said their findings may only apply to cases where midwives are well trained to assist at home births, and where transfer of care in emergencies is adequate.

They concluded that low risk women with planned home births at the start of labour had a lower rate of severe acute maternal conditions than those those with a planned hospital birth

The research, carried out by at the University Medical Center in Amsterdam, is published on bmj.com.