Saving Lives at Birth: The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes

• 成果类型: Article
• 署名作者: Daysal, N. Meltem; Trandafir, Mircea; van Ewijk, Reyn
• 署名单位: University of Southern Denmark; IZA Institute Labor Economics; Johannes Gutenberg University of Mainz; Vrije Universiteit Amsterdam
• 刊物名称: AMERICAN ECONOMIC JOURNAL-APPLIED ECONOMICS
• ISSN/ISSBN: 1945-7782
• DOI: 10.1257/app.20120359
• 发表日期: 2015
• 页码: 28-50
• 关键词: planned hospital births; perinatal-mortality; technological-change; population; care; midwifery; australia; HEALTH; women

摘要

Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother's residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains.