How far is too far for Birth Center?

Nickiechan · August 2013

We interviewed a Home Birth midwife and we LOVE her... however DH is still a bit hesitate. I think I will be able to get him on board, but the home birth midwife recommend maybe traveling to the closes Birth Center (the center that my favorite midwife in my hospital practice left for) to maybe see if that is a possibility for us to keep DH comfortable... However the Birth Center is one hour and 10 minutes away... is this too far?

Arielle27 · August 2013

For me it would be. My first two births were 'fast and furious'... I could not have dealt with my almost instantaneously active labors in the car for that amount of time... Also, is that taking traffic in mind or without traffic?

aylafsu88 · August 2013

For me it would be. I was comfortable with a 30 minute drive as I wanted to labor at home as long as possible. Dealing with contractions can be difficult and being stuck in a car that long would make it even harder.

SarahinMD · August 2013

We're an hour from our natural birth friendly hospital. We weren't worried with first pregnancy, are a bit more this time, but just plan to leave sooner.

HerbanMom · August 2013

It depends on your comfort level and when you'd be planning to head towards the center while laboring (early labor vs laboring at home) Previously, I've delivered in a hospital which was only 15 minutes from home. The only birth center I could consider is an hour away... on a good day. We are definitely a little nervous, especially if I go into labor during the day we could potentially hit some serious rush hour traffic since it's on the way into the city. I'm just not planning on laboring at home for an extended period of time like I have before.

barnwife · August 2013

Way too far for me. Especially considering it wouldn't be LO1.

A.'s labor (DC2) was fast and furious. From first real, active labor contraction to holding her was 2 hours. (In the preceding 12ish hours I had had about 20 contractions. I had no issues dealing with them. They were short and far apart with less than 2 an hour. I wasn't ready to say "this is it." And then things got serious. And immediately there was no way I could have handled a long car ride. Even getting to the hospital 5 minutes away would have been torture. Thank goodness we plan HB.) There is no way I would have wanted to be in a car for most of it.

So I am preparing for LO3 to be fast as well. I fully realize it could be my longest labor. But a long labor doesn't worry me. A labor faster and more furious than A.'s does.

Short answer: I wouldn't do it, especially for a second (or more) baby.

Nickiechan · August 2013

We are 95% sure we are going to go with a home birth, however the CNM midwife that is we are debating on hiring for our HB recommend maybe checking out this birth center that is an hour and 10 minutes from our house based off of Google.... I think it would be too far as well... I think we may just stick with a HB...

barnwife How long was your labor with LO1? My was 18 hours...

barnwife · August 2013

Nickiechan said:

barnwife How long was your labor with LO1? My was 18 hours...

About 15 hours from first contraction (never had BH) until birth. A lot of that was really easy labor. I ran errands and went to garage sales while in early labor.

robyn2201 · August 2013

That would be to far for me.

This is your second and things could go fast. I had a precipitous birth with DD2, and am seriously considering a HB, with the next one because of this. You have to also take into consideration the fact that you have your DS, and when you go into labor, you will have to wait for someone to come and watch him before leaving for the BC. That could potentially be awhile, and then to add an hour long drive. No way do you want to be in the car that long, while in transition.

Now, obviously you may not have a super short labor with your second, but it's something to consider. I have heard that some providers say, you can expect your labor with your second, to be about half the amount of time as your first.

farmrose · August 2013

The hospital I plan to deliver at is roughly am hour from me. But the other two options are still 30-45 minutes away and not NB friendly. I figure I'll go in a little sooner since its further away versus trying to wait as long as possible just in case. Granted this is my first do take my opinion for what it's worth

JCWhitey · August 2013

Thats how far away mine was. I made it.

DebateThis · August 2013

My hospital is that far away and my midwives and I are all comfortable with it.

wouldntitbenice · August 2013

My first inclination is that's too far. I had a planned hospital birth, but even 20 minutes in the car during hard labor was too much. I was uncomfortable and it slowed down my labor.

Adding to that though, if the other option for your DH to be comfortable is hospital birth, I'd go the birthing center option and leave for the center earlier in labor.

headgear03 · August 2013

I wouldn't. My first labor was 10 1/2) hours which isn't so bad but my second and fourth were four hours long. With my first I didn't even realize it was full blown labor till about and hour before her birth and with my fourth I went from ten minute contractions to three minute contractions. I got to the hospital which is three minutes from my house 40 minutes before the birth. There's no way .

JCWhitey · August 2013

I wanted to expand on my reply a bit. Where I lived was a small, secluded shipping town. About a decade ago the closest hospital (30 miles away) shut down their L&D department. After that every single pregnant woman in that town had to either have a HB or travel an hour to the nearest hospital. Only once in that decade has a mother not made it and had the baby someplace random (it was a gas station). About half a dozen have just gone to the hospital 30 miles away feeling they wouldn't make it, and all but two have been taken by ambulance to the other hospital and made it with time to spare. My point is, it's very rare you won't make it. But if your labor starts and you think it's going too fast then just go to the nearest hospital. If your labor is truly going quickly it won't matter if the hospital isn't NB friendly or not, you'll probably get little resistance! And they can't turn you away if you aren't a patient there. Personally, I would go with the birth center since you need to pick the place you want to be if you have a long labor, not a short one. So don't worry about what you'll do in that scenario, go where you think you will be the most comfortable.

spicysurro · August 2013

I wanted to go to a birth center after my DH was hesitant about home birth as well. Once he realized it was about an hour and a half away, going through downtown which we almost always hit traffic, he started to sway. If your a FTM I wouldnt chance it because you just never know how you'll react and Ive heard having contractions in a car is the worst. So DH finally agreed to a home birth. Its really where you'll be the most comfortable. I just read him some research on how safe a homebirth is for healthy pregnancies and he eventually sided with me. If it makes you nervous or unsure in the first place, you dont want to panic about when you are going to go into labor and if you will get there or not!

NorthernGal248 · September 2013

The birth center I'm going to is about 100 miles away, so about an hour and forty minutes. However, this is the closest to me.

memo9 · September 2013

The hospital I had DD at was an hour away. The birth center we are using is an hour away with no traffic.

There's really nothing closer than that for us. Our local hospital doesn't deliver babies anymore. It was actually part of a baby swap scandal in the 70's. They made a lifetime movie about it.

How far is too far for Birth Center?

Re: How far is too far for Birth Center?

That One Gal From Alaska

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