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Knesset committee: Don't punish women for home births

The Knesset Committee on the Status of Women has called to "halt discrimination" against women who choose to give birth at home and to give them the same childbirth allotment automatically given to women who deliver in hospitals.

In Tuesday's session, the committee said there was no law prohibiting women from intentionally giving birth at home (with help from a midwife), and therefore the National Insurance Institute (NII) should not penalize those who give birth at home or do not come to a hospital within 24 hours of delivery and spend at least 12 hours there.

"The state has a right to give grants and preferences to those who choose a path preferred by the authorities," said Israel Beytenu MK committee chairwoman  Lia Shemtov. "But it is unfairly using the payment mechanism of the NII to favor some women over others, even though every one has the right to decide where and how she wants to deliver her baby."

As childbirth allotments - NIS 1,489 for the first child, less for subsequent children and much more for multiple births - are given to all mothers and not only the economically disadvantaged, she said, adding: "It is not clear why women who pay for national insurance should not be entitled to the grants."