Home Births

John Mann
To ask the Secretary of State for Health how many home births there were in each of the last 10 years.

Angela Eagle
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 31 March 2008:

As the National Statistician I have been asked to reply to your question about how many home births there have been in each of the last 10 years. (197338)

The latest year for which figures are available is 2006. The table below shows the number of women who gave birth at home in England and Wales in the years 1997-2006.

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|Number|
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|1997  |14,412|
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|1998  |13,815|
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|1999  |,13,271|
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|2000  |12,803|
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|2001  |12,115|
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|2002  |12,697|
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|2003  |13,590|
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|2004  |14,506|
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|2005  |16,501|
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|2006  |18,100|
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