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

N.M. Daysal, M. Trandafir, R. van Ewijk

Research output: Contribution to JournalArticleAcademicpeer-review

Abstract

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.
Original languageEnglish
Pages (from-to)28-50
JournalAmerican Economic Journal: Applied Economics
Volume7
Issue number3
DOIs
Publication statusPublished - 2015

Bibliographical note

PT: J; NR: 49; TC: 1; J9: AM ECON J-APPL ECON; PG: 23; GA: CL4VP; UT: WOS:000356954300002

Fingerprint

Dive into the research topics of 'Saving Lives at Birth: The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes'. Together they form a unique fingerprint.

Cite this