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QuickStats: Percentage of Births That Were Home Births, by Maternal Race/Ethnicity — United States, 1990–2009*

The figure hows the percentage of births that were home births, by maternal race/ethnicity, in the United States during 1990-2009. In 2009, a total of 29,650 home births occurred in the United States, accounting for <1% of all U.S. births. After a gradual decline during 1990-2004, the percentage of home births increased by 29%, from 0.56% of births in 2004 to 0.72% in 2009. Nearly all of the total increase in home births from 2004 to 2009 was attributed to a 36% increase in home births among non-Hispanic white women. In 2009, approximately one out of every 140 births in the United States overall was a home birth; for non-Hispanic white women, approximately one out of every 90 births was a home birth.

* Race/ethnicity data exclude data from New Hampshire during 1990–1992 and Oklahoma in 1990 because these states did not report Hispanic ethnicity on birth certificates for those years.

In 2009, a total of 29,650 home births occurred in the United States, accounting for <1% of all U.S. births. After a gradual decline during 1990–2004, the percentage of home births increased by 29%, from 0.56% of births in 2004 to 0.72% in 2009. Nearly all of the total increase in home births from 2004 to 2009 was attributed to a 36% increase in home births among non-Hispanic white women. In 2009, approximately one out of every 140 births in the United States overall was a home birth; for non-Hispanic white women, approximately one out of every 90 births was a home birth.

Source: MacDorman MF, Mathews TJ, Declercq E. Home births in the United States, 1990–2009. NCHS data brief no. 84. Hyattsville, MD: US Department of Health and Human Services, CDC, National Center for Health Statistics; 2012.

Alternate Text: The figure above shows the percentage of births that were home births, by maternal race/ethnicity, in the United States during 1990-2009. In 2009, a total of 29,650 home births occurred in the United States, accounting for <1% of all U.S. births. After a gradual decline during 1990-2004, the percentage of home births increased by 29%, from 0.56% of births in 2004 to 0.72% in 2009. Nearly all of the total increase in home births from 2004 to 2009 was attributed to a 36% increase in home births among non-Hispanic white women. In 2009, approximately one out of every 140 births in the United States overall was a home birth; for non-Hispanic white women, approximately one out of every 90 births was a home birth.


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