Homebirth provision in Jersey (FOI)

​​Request

Please could the health department provide answer the following:

1) Why has the maternity service’s homebirth provision been unavailable since the summer?

2) What explicit and proactive actions are the maternity department taking to ensure that women have their legal right to a homebirth service honoured [sic]?

3) Why has so little been done to reinstate the homebirth provision in Jersey?

4) How much money does the provision of a homebirth service cost the department per year?

5) In comparison, what is the annual cost of the management on-call service within the maternity department?

6) What is the c-section rate in Jersey for the year 2024?

7) What is the induction of labour rate in Jersey for the year 2024?

Response

1 

As detailed in a letter to the Chair of the Health and Social Security Scrutiny Panel from the Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services, the maternity service’s homebirth provision has been unavailable since the summer of 2024 due to a combination of factors that have impacted the safe and sustainable delivery of this service:

States Assembly | Letter - Assistant Minister for Health and Social Services to HSSP - Homebirth Suspension - 27.01.25​

As information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

2

Details of actions being taken to reinstate the homebirth service are available on the States Assembly website, as referenced and linked above. As information is available elsewhere, Article 23 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 has been applied.

Whilst there is no specific law in Jersey which enshrines a legal right to a homebirth, the Department supports the right to make a choice, based on risk and availability to provide the service safely. The maternity service is committed to reinstating the homebirth option once it is safe and sustainable to do so. 

3

The question is a request for comment. Freedom of Information is a mechanism to enable access to information held in recorded form by a Scheduled Public Authority, rather than to pose questions requiring comment or opinion. Therefore, Article 3 of the Freedom of Information (Jersey) Law 2011 applies.

As noted in response to Question 2, details of actions being taken to reinstate the homebirth service are available on the States Assembly website, as referenced and linked above. 

4 and 5

The annual cost of providing a homebirth service depends on various factors, including staffing, training, equipment, and operational requirements. Costs vary year-to-year based on these elements, and form part of the department’s broader budget for maternity care.

Costs for the on-call service provision are not broken down by those for homebirths and those for management on-call, and identifying the costs attributable to each would require interrogation and reconciliation of datasets. A Scheduled Public Authority is not required to create or manipulate data for the purpose of responding to Freedom of Information requests. 

Total costs of the on-call provision for 2024 were £27,285. 

6 and 7

Data on induction of labour and caesarean section deliveries are routinely reported in the Health and Care Jersey Advisory Board papers. Monthly and year-to-date data are provided. Board papers are accessible via www.gov.je at the following link:

Health and Care Jersey Services Board

The Caesarean section delivery rate across the whole of 2024 was 49.64%, and the induction of labour rate for the whole year was 26.7%.

Articles applied

Article 3        Meaning of “information held by a public authority”

For the purposes of this Law, information is held by a public authority if –

(a)     it is held by the authority, otherwise than on behalf of another person; or

(b)     it is held by another person on behalf of the authority.

Article 23      Information accessible to applicant by other means

(1)     Information is absolutely exempt information if it is reasonably available to the applicant, otherwise than under this Law, whether or not free of charge.

(2)     A scheduled public authority that refuses an application for information on this ground must make reasonable efforts to inform the applicant where the applicant may obtain the information.