Birthing center pro-con

Re: Birthing center pro-con

• marriedinaugust member

  July 2014

  Most birthing centers align with the natural philosophy. Also one of the reasons their csection rates are lower is they only take low risk patients and they don't offer epidurals. We had an amazing natural hospital birth with our first but recently moved so we sought out a birthing center so we didn't have to look for an OB/hospital that aligned with our natural views.
  
  I am talking about free standing birth centers with midwives not the birth centers that are within some hospitals. I have no experience with those.

  

  
  

  
  

  

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• aboodtobe member

  July 2014 edited July 2014

  I completely agree with @marriedinaugust that most birth centers only take low risk patients. What you'll want to do is to ask these exact same questions for your intended birth center. Our local birth center is not a free standing one and had just as high of a c-section rate as our local hospital. However, it did have other benefits that our local hospital did not. 

  
  

  My suggestion is to try to get your OB/GYN care at your birth center before you conceive. That way you can get a feel for the place, establish a relationship with your care provider, and get your questions answered. 

  
  

  Good luck!

  

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• FrodaBaggins member

  July 2014

  There is a freestanding birth center in our area that gets amazing reviews. Midwives handle all your pre and post natal care. The biggest pro I could see about it was not just that I would be more likely to have the birth I want/envision, but that it was only $8000 all-in! However, insurance would not go for it. Even though it would actually be cheaper for them. *sigh* But I do hear women in my city talking about how great birth centers like this are. I think you'd be able to get what you're looking for from one!

  Southern California

  Together for six years, married for five

  BFP 12/06/13 - EDD 8/11/14 

  BABY BOY born 8/14/14!

  
  

  

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• catsinawindow member

  July 2014 edited July 2014

  Here were my pros/cons for choosing a freestanding birth center over a hospital (and I just had a wonderful un-medicated birth at the center last month!)  

  
  

  Pros:

  Personalized care from a wonderful group of midwives

  Ability to labor in a birthing tub

  Less push for interventions/ better statistics regarding use of interventions

  More comfortable, home-like atmosphere

  Getting to go home after 4-12 hours (I stayed 5 hours after the birth)

  Lower co-pay

  Not having to deal with waiting rooms, triage, etc.

  Not needing to fight for several points on my birth plan (they were standard procedure at the birth center, but not the hospital).

  Being able to say that I had my daughter in the "Forest Room" and seeing her name on the wall 

  :P

  
  

  Cons:

  In the slim chance that something tragic would happen having to deal with the "what ifs" of being out of hospital (even though I know, statistically, birth centers are just as safe, if not safer than hospital birth).

  Dealing with the disappointment of a non-emergent hospital transfer either during or before labor (this was a big deal for me because I was at a higher risk of having issues than most due to my history of pre-eclampsia)

  Not having someone cooking me 3 meals a day while I'm recovering in the hospital (although, for me, this was totally not worth the annoyance of a hosptial stay).

  
  

  For me, the pros definately outweighed the cons.  And I had a beautiful, unmedicated birth at the birth center with my daughter.  I am so, so glad that I chose the birth center.

  
  

  
  

  

  BFP#2:  EDD 2/11/14, MMC confirmed 7/15/13 (growth stopped at 6 weeks), D&C @ 12 weeks 7/25/13
  

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• duckie23 member

  July 2014

  I'm a patient at a birth center that's literally right across the street from a hospital. Since they are part of the same network, I'll go there for my ultrasounds, and the birth center does have some rules they need to follow to keep to stay open (transfer if traces of meconium are found when water breaks, inducing labor if the water breaks but labor hasn't begun for 16 days, etc.)

  
  

  What's nice, though is that they only do natural births, no pitocin, epidurals, etc. They have big comfortable bedroom-like birthing room and bath tubs. They don't use electronic fetal monitoring, and they let you and your baby leave when you're ready (no mandatory overnight stay). 

  
  

  If you find a birth center you're interested in, set up an appointment to specifically ask them what's allowed/not allowed and when/how they would transfer to a hospital.

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