A home birth is a birth that takes place in a residence rather than in a hospital or a birthing center. They may be attended by a midwife, or lay attendant with experience in managing home births. Home birth was, until the advent of modern medicine, the de facto method of delivery. The term was coined in the middle of the 19th century as births began to take place in hospitals. Since the beginning of the 20th century, home birth rates have fallen in most developed countries, generally to less than 1% of all births. Infant and mother mortality rates have also dropped drastically over the same time period.