Birth before arrival - is there anything to be afraid of?

Over the past centuries maternal and neonatal morbidity and mortality has fallen dramatically. This is mainly due to the fact that we achieved a lot in the field of medicine in a very short amount of time. Evidence, mostly from Europe but also from US, suggested that home birth can be relatively safe provided the appropriate conditions are met. The question is "What if something goes wrong?" How to increase patient safety in the case of birth before arrival (BBA) or it may not be associated with any increased risk? Our study review nowadays available articles and describes rates, obstetrical characteristics and perinatal and maternal outcome of unplanned out-of-hospital deliveries.