Two experts released a published study in the American Journal of Obstetrics and Gynecology stating water births should always be avoided if possible, according to NBC News.
Australian obstetrician Dr. Lachlan de Crespigny and Oxford University ethics professor Julian Savulescu warn parents who "wish to return to the past" and deliver their child through a water birth procedure about the problematic issues which can arise during birth, NBC News reported.
The main listed in the report published on Wednesday is the limited resources available to the mother and child if any complications do arise, the researchers said, according to NBC News.
"Having a home birth may be like not putting your child's car seat belt on," the researchers wrote in the paper. "Most children will be unharmed. Some trips are very safe. And wearing a seatbelt will not remove all risk of injury or death... But on balance it is much safer with a seat belt."
According to a study published last fall in the Journal, babies who are born at home are 10 times more likely to be stillborn compared to babies born in hospitals, NBC News reported. Neonatal seizures or serious neurological dysfunction is also four times more likely.
The researchers claim doctors and midwives do not properly advertise the dangers in giving birth at home, according to NBC News. Crespigny and Savulescu also added medical literature on the subject is sparse.
In the United States, less than 1 percent of women give birth at home instead of the hospital, causing the birth rate to increase by nearly a third from 2004 to 2009, NBC News reported.
The Center for Disease Control and Prevention said women 35 or older, or women who have already given birth, are more likely to try a home birth, according to NBC News.
In the United Kingdom and some European countries, home birth are still very common even though it is still a small amount compared to hospital births, NBC News reported.
