I have been asked to reply.
The information requested falls within the responsibility of the National Statistician, who has been asked to reply.
Letter from Karen Dunnell, dated 16 April 2007:
As National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your recent Parliamentary Question about the number and proportion of deliveries that were home births in each year since 1995. (126162)
The latest year for which we have data is 2005. The attached table shows the number and percentage of maternities that took place at home in England and Wales in each year between 1995 and 2005.
Number of maternities at home total Percentage of maternities taking place at home 1995 12,487 642,404 1.9 1996 13,460 643,862 2.1 1997 14,412 637,001 2.3 1998 13,815 629,926 2.2 1999 13,271 615,994 2.2 2000 12,803 598,580 2.1 2001 12,115 588,868 2.1 2002 12,697 590,453 2.2 2003 13,590 615,787 2.2 2004 14,506 633,728 2.3 2005 16,501 639,627 2.6 Source: Birth Statistics, Series FM1 no. 24 to 34.