My Birth Center Tour

That's right. I'm taking ownership. It is MY birth center.

Disclaimer: This will be an unusually long post.

Why did I choose a birth center?
My mom said it's because I am a hippie. I partially agree. There is something about the support that you get from a birth center that you can't get from a medical doctor in a hospital setting. At our tour, we were told that Certified Nurse Midwives (CNM) are trained in the normalcy of pregnancy where as Ob/Gyns would be your go-to when things go wrong. Because of this, the labor induction rate and c-section rate are climbing. Most c-sections occur after hours and on weekends. Coincidence? I think not. Once you receive one intervention, things can spiral out of control very quickly. An induction leads to an epidural and when the clock keeps ticking because your doctor wants you to have the baby so she can go home you get a c-section. I believe in letting your body do what it's supposed to do. I have girl parts so I can give birth. DUH!

What happened at the tour of the birth center?
First of all, you have to RSVP for the tour because the owner who is also a CNM caps the number of patients she will deliver in a month to about 20 because it is a small facility. This is based on the estimated due dates. Chef and I were the first to arrive (he was anxious) and realized we were waiting on 5 other couples to tour the center with us. When everyone arrived we went around the room and introduced ourselves, said what number child we were expecting, what we did for a living and when we would be expecting. After that we watched a pretty awesome video on natural child birth and the owner had prepared an informative powerpoint presentation for us on the philosophies of this particular birth center. She included a list of pain management techniques that included everything from counterpoint massage to sterile water injections on the back. I LOVED IT.

After we did all of the formal stuff it was time to move around and get a good look at the place. The facility is divided into two parts. They believe that you shouldn't have to give birth at the same place you come for your visits as that might stress some people out. So one side of the birth center was only birthing suites and there are only two. Each has a 300 gallon birthing whirlpool with a bed, shower and anything else you might need including surround sound so you can plug your iPod into the dock and listen to some hot beats. Also on this side was the midwives' suite, just in case you are still in early labor and they can sleep while you progress. They NEVER leave you or have a shift change or something lame like that. There will be an RN there at all times as well. There is also a full kitchen on that side because they want you to eat and drink whatever you want during labor (including wine). Try finding a hospital that will let you have more than ice chips. Hungry women in labor can't be any fun.
So on the other side where all of my visits and prenatal stuff will be taken care of there are a few room but everything was so warm and home like. The "exam rooms" had warm leather couches with blankets. They don't do sonograms there but they do have an older machine that was donated that they use just to see the babies from time to time. They also have a boutique where they sell cloth diapers, baby wraps and other stuff. What completed the tour was their lending library where you can check out educational materials just like a library for free! Needless to say, Chef was beyond impressed and couldn't wait to come back the next morning. At the end of our tour we all sat back down while the owner went over a summary of charges for the birth center. She has a wonderful itemized list of how much it would cost to bring this baby into the world. It was broken up into prenatal care and the facilities fee which is how it has to be done when insurance is involved. She explained to us that she can't bill insurance companies until after the baby is born so we would have to essentially pay the balance outside of insurance by the time I am full term. No biggie. She is a small business owner, she needs to get paid too. We also learned that at our first visit a $500 deposit would be due. I was expecting this so I already had it set aside. After everyone left, I made it a point to formally introduce myself and to tell her that I would probably see her the next morning. She then went behind the front desk and gave me all of the forms I would need to have filled out by the next morning so that I wouldn't have to wait 45 minutes filling out paperwork.

What impressed me the most?
Not only would I be receiving awesome and individualized care throughout the pregnancy with each visit being between 45min and an hour. But, after the baby was born they would come to my house to observe me breastfeeding and weigh the baby before and after feeding to see how much the baby was actually getting. Also, there are follow up visits to monitor these things as well.

So you will never see a "real doctor?"
The birth center is partnered with a local OB/GYN just in case of emergencies. I will have to see him at 20 weeks and 37 weeks. At 20weeks he will perform my anatomy scan of the baby to make sure everything is ok physically. At 37 weeks, I will see him to sign off on paperwork that pretty much says I can have my baby outside of a hospital.

What if something goes wrong?
The birth center is also partnered with the hospital less than a mile away. They have had to transfer patients before without issue and the midwives will still be there setting up a home like environment at the hospital.

Overall, how do you feel?
I have never been so confident in a decision probably in my whole life. I really enjoy that I will probably see a different midwife at every appointment (There are only four that work there) because it lets me know that I will be receiving the same care from all of them. I am a patient to all of them, so their care and philosophies has to be uniform or their business will not work. They have delivered over 400 babies in the few short years they have been open.