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North Carolina Babies
Birthing Centers?
I'm new here. We're not pregnant yet, but it's been talked about. I probably won't post much for awhile until I am pregnant, but I like knowing as much as I can ahead of time - I don't like to run around trying to gather tons of information at once, I like to take my time with it all so I can understand as much as possible. So, birthing centers, like the one in Chapel Hill - what are your thoughts? Pros? Cons? Cost compared to hospitals? Experiences? If it's too much to write here, you can go ahead and e-mail me at kitty_84210 at msn dot com
TIA! I look forward to spending more time with you all in the future!
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Re: Birthing Centers?
I delivered at the birth center in Chapel Hill. I think I'm the only one here on the Nest who has delivered there, but I know other people (from work and from our birth classes) who delivered there too).
I had a great experience at the birth center and I can't recommend them enough. I really enjoyed seeing midwives instead of an OB. My first appointment with the midwife was an hour, and all subsequent appointments were 30 minutes. I had plenty of time to talk to them and ask questions at each appointment. I always hear how OBs rush you in & out at appointments, and it's definitely not like that at the birth center.
The midwives there will do everything in their power to help you have a natural birth. The midwife who was at my delivery, Sarah, was amazing! She did a great job of helping me to stay calm when I got frustrated (during transition). She also helped me to stretch and kept me from tearing. I delivered a 9 lb baby with no tears.
The cost of the birth is lower than a hospital, I believe. The entire cost was about $5000 (it might be higher now), and I had to pay 20% of that b/c the birth center wasn't in-network with my insurance. They ARE in network with most insurances though.
The only downside about the birth center, for me, was that they discharge you pretty soon after the birth. That's fine (I'd rather recover at home anyway) except that I was having some trouble breastfeeding and I felt like I got the boot a little sooner than I wanted. When I delivered, a lot of other people went into labor and they needed the room. My son was born at 5:35 am, and they were asking us when we would leave at around 3:00. We left our room around 4:00, and stayed in their on-call room for about an hour to get some extra help BFing. Finally we left around 5:00, and I still felt like I hadn't gotten all the help I needed. It wasn't for a lack of trying on their part- probably 4 or 5 different people tried to help me, but I just wasn't getting it. So I ended up hiring an LC to come to our house a few days later and that got us on the right path.
Sorry so long! Here's a link to my birth story if you want to read it: https://forums.ovusoft.com/tm.asp?m=9185547&p=2&tmode=1 I really want to beef it up with more details and when I do, I'll probably put it on the Birth Story board here.
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I have two friends that started labor there and were eventually transferred to the hospital after prolonged labors. The midwife went with them, the had epidurals, but not c-sections and the babies and mamas were super healthy. Both say they would use the birth center again, because they felt the midwives were so capable of telling when something was wrong and easily transferred them to the hospital, stayed with them, etc.
My labor was very natural and I was the only one in the birth center laboring the entire time I was there. We went home 6 hours after my daughter was born, which, in addition to the natural birth, was probably the biggest perk of delivering there. There is no way I wanted to spend the first night of life with my child in a hospital bed in a sterile hospital room!