An estimated 75% of Rohingya babies are born in the unsafe and unsanitary makeshift bamboo shelters in which refugees live, according to Save the Children.
Home births in such conditions put the lives of both mother and baby at great risk.
Save the Children is warning that hundreds of mothers and babies in the refugee camps could die this year of entirely preventable causes, if mothers don't get proper maternal healthcare.
Data from Save the Children's Primary Health Care Centre (PHCC) from July 2018 to April 2019 shows that of the expected 400 births in a community of some 20,000 people, only 119 babies were safely delivered in Save the Children's properly-equipped health facility, with the remaining births taking place at home.
Save the Children's assessment comes as the UNFPA (United Nations Population Fund) and CDC (Centre for Disease Control) jointly release new data from the Rohingya refugee camps, which estimates that for every 100,000 live births, 179 mothers die from preventable causes related to pregnancy and childbirth - almost two and half times higher than the worldwide target for maternal mortality of under 70 per 100,000 live births.
Worryingly, The UNFPA/CDC study also found that half of all maternal deaths in the camps happen at home. This means mothers received no emergency care which could have been life-saving.
Save the Children has heard anecdotally that some families don't seek out care during pregnancy complications because they fear sterilization or infanticide based on their experiences in Myanmar and would rather keep the woman at home at all costs.
Health care providers need to earn the trust of this community so that expectant mothers get the care they need when they need it.
Home births put the lives of both mother and baby at serious risk, as unskilled birth attendants are often unable to identify or handle emergencies in time, and are unaware of pre-existing conditions with the mothers such as high blood pressure, diabetes, anaemia and malnutrition, which can lead to complications during delivery. Also, the poor hygiene practices can lead to severe infections for mothers and newborns.
