Objective: To explore the prevalence of birth satisfaction for childbearing women planning to birth in their home or birth centers in the United States. Examining differences in birth satisfaction of the home and birth centers; and those who birthed in a hospital using the 30-item Birth Satisfaction Scale (BSS) and the 10-item Birth Satisfaction Scale-Revised (BSS-R).Study design: A quantitative survey using the BSS and BSS-R were employed.Additional demographic data were collected using electronic linkages (Qualtrics TM ).Participants: A convenience sample of childbearing women (n=2229) who had planned to birth in their home or birth center from the US (United States) participated.Participants were recruited via professional and personal contacts, primarily their midwives. Results:The total 30-item BSS score mean was 128.98 (SD 16.92) and the 10-item BSS-R mean score was 31.94(SD 6.75). Sub-scale mean scores quantified the quality of care provision, women's personal attributes, and stress experienced during labor. Satisfaction was higher for women with vaginal births compared with caesareans deliveries. In addition, satisfaction was higher for women who had both planned to deliver in a home or a birth center, and who had actually delivered in a home or a birth center.Key conclusions: Total and subscale birth satisfaction scores were positive and high for the overall sample Implications for practice: The BSS and the BSS-R provide a robust tool to quantify women's experiences of childbirth between variables such as birth types, birth settings and providers.

The current study strongly supports the use of the US version of the BSS-R to compare birth satisfaction across different groups of women with theoretical and measurement confidence.

Consistent with the recommendations of the original BSS-R validation study, the current investigation found robust empirical evidence to support the use of both the subscale scoring system and the total score. Researchers and clinicians can therefore select either approach (or both) with confidence.

The purpose of this interpretive study was to investigate planned home births that occurred in Washington State and to provide meaning. A Heideggerian phenomenological approach was chosen to investigate and interview a purposive sample of 9 childbearing women who experienced at least 1 home birth between 2010 and 2014 in Washington State. The results of this study suggest that childbirth education is an essential and valued aspect of birthing. Childbirth educators can use the findings from this investigation as a means to increase their awareness of birthing in the home. This interpretive investigation can give “voice” to the compelling evidence accumulating that is investigating planned home births as a sanctuary to allow physiological and low-intervention births to transpire.