According to a new study, home births are just as safe as births at a hospital when midwives plan and attend them. The study looked at births in British Columbia, Canada from 200-2004, and found that mothers and babies did just as well at home than at the hospital, and there were even fewer obstetric interventions at home.

The study, led by public health researcher Patricia Janssen, was published in the Canadian Medical Association Journal should reassure people that home births are a viable alternative to giving birth in a hospital.

This is important, because recently there have been more births at the hospital and fewer births at home, due to the mistaken belief that the hospital is safer. Many women would prefer to give birth at home, because it is a more comfortable, familiar environment than the hospital.