European Court of Human Rights rejects mums’ protest against home birth ban

The European Court of Human Rights in Strasbourg has ruled that the Czech state did not violate the rights of two mothers who complained that Czech legislation did not allow them to give birth in the home with the assistance of a midwife. The court took into consideration, in particular, that there was no European consensus on whether or not to allow home births, and that this question involved the allocation of financial resources, for example for an adequate emergency system for home births. In recent years there has been growing pressure on the Czech authorities to enable home births and some maternity hospitals now offer the possibility for mothers to give birth at the hospital with the help of a midwife and doctors on standby should the need arise.