India, Oct. 2 -- The national capital has seen a worrying surge in home deliveries without trained medical supervision, raising alarms among public health experts about potential risks to both mothers and newborns. According to the Annual Report on Registration of Births and Deaths in Delhi 2024, 61.40% of home births in 2023-24 were assisted only by relatives, neighbours, or untrained individuals-a sharp jump from virtually none in 2022-23.

Experts warn that such unsupervised births could exacerbate India's ongoing challenge of reducing maternal and infant mortality.

According to medical experts, domiciliary births, or home births, are often chosen to avoid hospital interventions, reduce stress, and provide a more familiar environment ...