To the Editor: The New South Wales Coroner has recently determined that a woman’s decision to deliver at home without supervision (free birth) cost her baby her life.1 A South Australian coroner found that three fatal homebirths would not have occurred if the babies had been born in hospital.2 These avoidable tragedies are distressing, but fetuses have few ethical or legal rights; maternal autonomy includes the right to risk perinatal death.
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- 1. Johnson S; Australian Associated Press. Baby died after cord entanglement: coroner. News.com.au 2012; 2 Aug. http://www.news. com.au/breaking-news/national/baby-died-after-cord-entanglement-coroner/story-e6frfku9-1226410986230 (accessed Nov 2012).
- 2. Keller C. South Australian Coroner wants crackdown on midwives and homebirths. The Advertiser (Adelaide) 2012; 6 Jun. http://www. adelaidenow.com.au/news/south-australia/south-australian-coroner-wants-crackdown-on-midwives-and-homebirths/story-e6frea83-1226386012581 (accessed Jul 2012).
- 3. Birthplace in England Collaborative Group. Perinatal and maternal outcomes by planned place of birth for healthy women with low risk pregnancies: the Birthplace in England national prospective cohort study. BMJ 2011; 343: d7400. doi: 10.1136/bmj.d7400.
- 4. de Costa C, Robson S. Real cost of birth. MJA Insight 2012; 3 Jul. http://www.mjainsight.com. au/view?post=caroline-de-costa-stephen-robson-real-cost-of-birth&post_id=9796&cat =comment (accessed Jul 2012).
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