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Saving Lives at Birth: The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes

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  • N. Meltem Daysal
  • Mircea Trandafir
  • Reyn van Ewijk

Abstract

Many developed countries have recently experienced sharp increases in home birth rates. This paper investigates the impact of home births on the health of low-risk newborns using data from the Netherlands, the only developed country where home births are widespread. To account for endogeneity in location of birth, we exploit the exogenous variation in distance from a mother's residence to the closest hospital. We find that giving birth in a hospital leads to substantial reductions in newborn mortality. We provide suggestive evidence that proximity to medical technologies may be an important channel contributing to these health gains. (JEL I11, I12, J13, J16)

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  • N. Meltem Daysal & Mircea Trandafir & Reyn van Ewijk, 2015. "Saving Lives at Birth: The Impact of Home Births on Infant Outcomes," American Economic Journal: Applied Economics, American Economic Association, vol. 7(3), pages 28-50, July.
    • Handle: RePEc:aea:aejapp:v:7:y:2015:i:3:p:28-50
    Note: DOI: 10.1257/app.20120359
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    2. Daysal, N. Meltem & Trandafir, Mircea & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2016. "Heterogeneous Effects of Medical Interventions on the Health of Low-Risk Newborns," IZA Discussion Papers 9810, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    3. Douglas Almond & Janet Currie & Valentina Duque, 2018. "Childhood Circumstances and Adult Outcomes: Act II," Journal of Economic Literature, American Economic Association, vol. 56(4), pages 1360-1446, December.
    4. Daysal, N. Meltem & Trandafir, Mircea & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2013. "Returns to Childbirth Technologies: Evidence from Preterm Births," IZA Discussion Papers 7834, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA).
    5. Paola Bertoli & Veronica Grembi, 2017. "The life‐saving effect of hospital proximity," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 26(S2), pages 78-91, September.
    6. Patricia I. Ritter & Ricardo A. Sanchez, 2023. "The effects of an epidemic on prenatal investments, childhood mortality and health of surviving children," Journal of Population Economics, Springer;European Society for Population Economics, vol. 36(1), pages 505-544, January.
    7. Kronborg, Hanne & Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2016. "Care around birth, infant and mother health and maternal health investments – Evidence from a nurse strike," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 150(C), pages 201-211.
    8. Daysal, N. Meltem & Trandafir, Mircea & van Ewijk, Reyn, 2019. "Low-risk isn’t no-risk: Perinatal treatments and the health of low-income newborns," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 64(C), pages 55-67.
    9. Wyeth Pullyblank, Ryan & Laudicella, Mauro & Rose Olsen, Kim, 2020. "Cost and quality impacts of treatment loci for type 2 diabetes patients with moderate disease severity: Hospital- vs. GP-basedmonitoring," DaCHE discussion papers 2020:1, University of Southern Denmark, Dache - Danish Centre for Health Economics.
    10. N. Meltem Daysal & Marianne Simonsen & Mircea Trandafir & Sanni Breining, 2022. "Spillover Effects of Early-Life Medical Interventions," The Review of Economics and Statistics, MIT Press, vol. 104(1), pages 1-16, March.
    11. N. Meltem Daysal & Jonas Cuzulan Hirani, 2021. "Early-life medical care and human capital accumulation," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 217-217, September.
    12. David Mmopelwa, 2019. "Prenatal care utilization and infant health in Botswana," Discussion Papers 2019-09, University of Nottingham, CREDIT.
    13. Neha Agarwal & Anaka Aiyar & Andrew Bergmann & Joseph Cummins & Jingyan Guo & Vaishali Jain, 2024. "Caste Differences in Child Growth: Disentangling Endowment and Investment Effects," Working Papers 202401, University of California at Riverside, Department of Economics.
    14. Kumar, Rahul & Maity, Bipasha, 2022. "Cultural norms and women’s health: Implications of the practice of menstrual restrictions in Nepal," World Development Perspectives, Elsevier, vol. 27(C).
    15. Renard, Yohan, 2022. "From fees to free: User fee removal, maternal health care utilization and child health in Zambia," World Development, Elsevier, vol. 156(C).
    16. Hope Corman & Dhaval Dave & Nancy E. Reichman, 2018. "Evolution of the Infant Health Production Function," Southern Economic Journal, John Wiley & Sons, vol. 85(1), pages 6-47, July.
    17. Okeke, Edward N. & Chari, A.V., 2018. "Health care at birth and infant mortality: Evidence from nighttime deliveries in Nigeria," Social Science & Medicine, Elsevier, vol. 196(C), pages 86-95.
    18. Lazuka, Volha, 2019. "It’s a long walk: Lasting effects of maternity ward openings on labour market performance," Lund Papers in Economic History 187, Lund University, Department of Economic History.
    19. Okeke, Edward N. & Abubakar, Isa S., 2020. "Healthcare at the beginning of life and child survival: Evidence from a cash transfer experiment in Nigeria," Journal of Development Economics, Elsevier, vol. 143(C).
    20. Friedman, Willa & Keats, Anthony & Mutua, Martin Kavao, 2022. "Disruptions to healthcare quality and early child health outcomes: Evidence from health-worker strikes in Kenya," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 86(C).
    21. Grépin, Karen A. & Habyarimana, James & Jack, William, 2019. "Cash on delivery: Results of a randomized experiment to promote maternal health care in Kenya," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 65(C), pages 15-30.
    22. David B. Audretsch, 2015. "Knowledge spillovers and future jobs," IZA World of Labor, Institute of Labor Economics (IZA), pages 218-218, December.
    23. Edward N. Okeke, 2021. "Money and my mind: Maternal cash transfers and mental health," Health Economics, John Wiley & Sons, Ltd., vol. 30(11), pages 2879-2904, November.
    24. Sievertsen, Hans Henrik & Wüst, Miriam, 2017. "Discharge on the day of birth, parental response and health and schooling outcomes," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 55(C), pages 121-138.
    25. Maibom, Jonas & Sievertsen, Hans H. & Simonsen, Marianne & Wüst, Miriam, 2021. "Maternity ward crowding, procedure use, and child health," Journal of Health Economics, Elsevier, vol. 75(C).

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    More about this item

    JEL classification:

    • I11 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Analysis of Health Care Markets
    • I12 - Health, Education, and Welfare - - Health - - - Health Behavior
    • J13 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Fertility; Family Planning; Child Care; Children; Youth
    • J16 - Labor and Demographic Economics - - Demographic Economics - - - Economics of Gender; Non-labor Discrimination

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