Free standing birth center - getting comfortable
starrynyt
member
MH and I toured a local birth center and LOVED it. Our preference would be to have the baby there. I had an OB appt today and an ultrasound and told him that we had decided to go with the birth center and my worst fear happened...he completely tried to change my mind. I was kind of expecting it, but not to the extent that he went to the extremes. There's a group of midwives in my OB practice that he was trying to push us towards, but there's still the issue of hospital protocol, being on a time table, etc., and I just love the postpartum practices at the birth center - no separation from baby, etc.
I have of course thought of the "what if's" at a birth center. I'm not worried about the issues that can slowly develop because I feel confident the midwives at the birth center would catch those early enough and their transfer, c-section, and mortality stats are great, but it's more the unpredictable things that can happen in an instant that are now on my mind again. How did you ultimately get comfortable with this? Was it enough for you that these unpredictable things happen in such a small percentage of cases?
If you got this far...thanks! I hate that my OB put some doubt in my mind because I was feeling so confident. Thanks for your insight.
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BFP #1 6.17.10 - natural M/C 5w2d |
Re: Free standing birth center - getting comfortable
I had a home birth and I think having a period of doubt is totally normal, especially in our society where birthing outside the hospital is so unusual. I started worrying about the what if's and all that, but talking to my midwife really helped. She was able to go over a lot of different scenarios with me and that helped.
Plus, when I started really thinking about it, things go wrong in hospitals too. While I was pregnant I heard of two different babies dying during hospital births, so there is risk no matter which way you go. I knew I'd be more comfortable at home and ended up having an amazing birth experience. I'm glad I didn't let my doubts get in the way, but we all have to reach our own conclusions and ultimately do what is best for us.
One thing that eased my mind was asking about the birth center's process for getting to a hospital if necessary. I purposely chose a birth center within a block from a hospital (basically across the street). They could get you into an OR in minutes if they had to. Their back-up OB and her partner were very supportive of the BC MWs- there was mutual respect and trust, not an attitude of "well you should have been in the hospital in the first place." If an ambulance had to be called, the hospital would send an OB and a NICU nurse, NOT EMTs. Those were really the only conditions under which I would be comfortable with an out of hospital birth.
I needed to know that, even though it was statistically unlikely, if something adverse DID happen that there was a plan for a seamless and quick transition to a higher level of care.
BFP #1 6.17.10 - natural M/C 5w2d
BFP #2 8.4.10 - missed M/C, D&C 8w
BFP #3 1.18.11 - natural M/C 5w1d
BFP #4 5.6.11 - 13dpo: hcg 68, p 16.3; 16dpo: hcg 211,
p16.6; 18dpo: hcg 416, p 15.6; 25dpo: hcg 6,007
DS born 1/30/12
BFP #5 4.28.13 - LO due 1/4/14
I had an OB give me a hard time as well, funny enough it was the OB my birthing center sent me too in order to get cleared for a low risk birth! They trusted that he would be supportive, but he tried to talk me out of it even though I was an excellent candidate for home/birthing center birth
I guess it's not uncommon for this to happen. I ended up having a water birth at a birthing center and it was an amazing experience. I was so glad i didn't have to fight for what I wanted to happen in my birth, they just let me take the reins. I don't regret it and am planning on repeating the experience with baby #2
It sounds like it's time to cut the cord with your OB and move to that Birth Center. We recently did just that. We feel in love with a Birth Center and midwives and I let my doctor know we were switching (I will go back to her for my own care and paps afterwards). She wasn't too excited about it, but that's what I expected of an OB practice.
Just get all the info you need on how your center will handle emergency situations or under what circumstances they'd recommend a hospital birth for you. Then you have the answers for all the doubters. Best of all, if you switch now you'll be around people who are supporting your decision.
Best of luck!!!
Most of the "what ifs" at the birth center are easily dealt with by the trained competent midwives that are on staff.
I was comfortable with the idea of my birth center because I had already had a child in a hospital and knew I didn't want to do that again. I discussed home birth (didn't know about the birth center at the time) with my OB. Mistake. She went into a tirade about dead babies and blah blah blah. OBs are trained for the worst case scenarios. Some of the pregnancies that they see are high risk. Midwives at birth centers are trained in normal pregnancy and birth, they don't see high risk pregnancies. They are also trained for the emergencies that might come up, but most of the births they see are totally normal. I think that's why OBs can't fathom delivering outside of a hospital because they are seeing the worst cases on a regular basis.