INTEREST IN ALTERNATIVE BIRTH SETTINGS IN FINLAND

Background. The aim of this study was to examine the extent of wishes for and realised choices of alternative and conventional birth care in Finland based on survey and registry data. Methods. A population-base d national survey to 3000 women of reproductive age and 400 men aged 1 8-24 and 40-44 in Finland and a cross-sectional analysis of all childb irths in 1990-1995 based on the National Medical Birth Registry (n=390 , 943). Results. In the survey 69% of women and 66% of men chose conve ntional hospital birth as their preferred alternative. An early discha rge birth was chosen by 14% of women and 18% of men and home birth by 6% of women and 3% of men. Childless respondents were more likely than parents to choose an alternative other than conventional hospital bir th, yet 16% of mothers and 14% of fathers would choose either home bir th or early discharge from hospital in a future birth. The expressed i nterest in alternatives to conventional hospital care was far greater than what occurs in reality: in the MBR data 99% of births were conven tional hospital births, 0.01% were planned homebirths and 0.9% early d ischarge births. Conclusions. The study shows a discrepancy between ex pressed interests and actually realised choices of birth settings. The majority of female and male survey respondents would choose conventio nal hospital care for birth. However, the fact that even some women wh o had earlier birth experience preferred some form of alternative to t he conventional hospital birth should be taken as a sign of women want ing choices in birth care.