A committee of MPs has concluded that the government is not keeping its promise to give all pregnant women the choice of a home birth.

The Commons health committee said two per cent of babies are born at home, but up to 20 per cent of mothers would prefer this type of delivery.

Forum Response: Nursing and Midwifery Council

A spokesman for NMC told ePolitix.com: "We welcome these reports.

"The hardest thing will be to translate the committee's aspirations into reality as student midwives are not getting the breadth of experience they would wish as there are far fewer home births than used to be the case.

"If their only experiences of birth are hospital-based and many of these are caesarean, that is the picture of normality they see. It will require a culture change above all else."