Research shows that a planned home birth is an acceptable and safe alternative to a planned hospital birth for some pregnant women. The introduction of an enhanced clinical governance system and structures with the availability of 18 new policies, procedures and guidelines (PPGs) is a significant step towards building assurance for women, Self Employed Community Midwives (SECMs) and for the Irish health service, and to demonstrate all that is excellent in our health services. Two Clinical Professional Seminars were delivered to ninety-eight SECMs and key professional stakeholders, by the HSE in December 2016, Athlone and Cork. The two clinical professional seminars were accredited by the Nursing & Midwifery Board of Ireland (NMBI) and focused on the delivery of a safe, quality service through partnership working.

A database of legislation, codes of practice, standards, guidance and judicial decisions relevant to home births, and an audit tool, developed in collaboration with the Department of Nursing, Midwifery & Health Systems UCD, will be launched in April 2017. The application of the audit tool will support the building of a body of assurance for women, SECMs and the HSE.
The PPGs will be piloted by the SECMs during 2017. A dedicated email address cgg@hse.ie has been provided to receive feedback during the pilot stage of the PPGs.
The 18 evidence based PPGs are accessible online.