Obstetric care must change if Netherlands is to regain reputation for safe childbirth

Some confusion in translation resulted in an error in the full text (online) version of this News article by Tony Sheldon published in February (BMJ 2008;336:239 doi: 10.1136/bmj.39472.657384.DB). In the third paragraph from the end, we wrongly said: “Although women who choose home births are deemed to be at low risk of complications, 51% are referred to hospital during labour because of difficulties in managing pain or a lack of progress with the delivery.” In fact, the 51% refers to women who have not given birth before and who then choose a home birth. In the original research on which this assertion is based, 51% of women who had not given birth before and who were supposed to give birth at home were referred during labour because of complications; the corresponding referral figure for women who had given birth before was 17%.