Births: by place of delivery, 1961 to 1997: Social Trends 30
Births: by place of delivery, 1961 to 1997: Social Trends 30
In 1997 there were 726 thousand live births in the United Kingdom (See table ST30101, Births and deaths, 1901 to 2021), the majority of which took place in hospital. The proportion of births delivered at home has declined over the last 30 or so years. In 1960, one in three births in England and Wales was at home compared with only around one in 50 in 1997. There has, however, been a slight increase in recent years in the popularity of home births following the move to a more flexible service based on the needs of mothers and babies. During the late 1980s only around 1 per cent of births were at home compared with 2.3 per cent in 1997.
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