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Do you want to experience a dream birth but most likely not at a hospital? Then this post could be for you! Despite the best hospital that you could vote for, when it comes to your personal experience, you might want to ditch the very atmosphere of a hospital. It’s got nothing to do with a luxury suit at a hospital. It has got more to do with less interference, staying out of C-sections, conforming with the hospital norms, and doing all that paperwork! Plus, talk to most women who have birthed at a hospital (given that every woman in modern times would do so). You will figure out that there was no such thing as a great experience. So when it comes to your delivery, why not go solo? Why not try a birth center?
If you opt for a freestanding birth center, it might not be affiliated with a hospital and would not have any doctors, but would have licensed midwives and nurses. You may have fewer policy restrictions. You could enjoy the benefit of customized approach to birth along with the benefits that you could have at a hospital. Does this sound exciting? Well, here are 15 reasons why you could consider birthing at a birth center:
1. You prefer a homebirth with some medical facility
Here’s where birth places come as a perfect blend of a homebirth experience with that of the basic medical facilities of the hospital. However you might also want to ensure that the birth center is in the vicinity of a hospital, just in case something unexpected happens.
2. You prefer a homebirth but are skeptical about your family
Of course, your immediate kin would be there. But not everyone has midwifery experience. Unless you have a certified midwife, nurse, or doctor in the family, you might be taking a bit of a risk. So a birth center might come as a relief to your family.
3. You certainly don’t want an epidural
Epidurals have become a norm at most hospitals. Seeing you in pain can send the medical crew in a panic too. So in giving you an epidural, they are seeking some easy time for themselves too. At a birth center, you won’t expect an epidural. You could get some help on a birthing ball or a birthing tub to ease the pain.
4. Do you really need that fetal monitoring device while in labor
Most hospitals might have the equipment running while you are writhing in pain. But you would barely be interested in looking at the screen. The use of ultrasound during pregnancy has limited use owing to the concerns around the safety levels. Why use it during labor?
5. Do you need to be induced at all
For some reason, hospitals don’t want to wait beyond your due date. Apparently one can wait up to two weeks after your due date. So if you don’t get into labor on your due date, the doctors decide to induce you. Another thing you should be wary about is that the use of Pitocin during induction can greatly increase the chance of a C-section. You might additionally need an epidural if induced because the contractions resulting from induction are much more painful and stronger than the natural contractions. If your labor has not progressed fast or if the dilation has stalled at six to seven cm, then you are quite likely to have a Pitocin too.
6. The thought of a hospital makes you feel sick
If you are one of those women who has a phobia or aversion to hospitals (and the smells of hospitals), then birthing in one might not be the best choice.
7. You don’t want a C-section
You can expect the least chances of a C-section while birthing at a birth center. For some reasons, doctors at hospitals don’t like to wait.
8. A birth center will not break your waters forcibly
Breaking water forcibly because it might speed the delivery also means that it will increase the pains. No wonder, with the waters breaking, your baby is ramming against the dilated cervix increasing the pain. You will give into the use of an epidural.
9. You want to have the advantage of a water birth
Most birth centers can provide you with a birthing tub.
10. Natural is better for you
You might as well want to choose a birthing center in the lap of nature’s luxury than the cold, sterile, and less appealing hospital for your labor. It’s good to feel peaceful than getting into anxiety in a hospital.
11. Eating a drinking during labor is possible at birth centers
If this is something you are looking at, then hospital is not the place. Eating and drinking are forbidden at hospitals because you might have the chance of being wheeled in for a C-section.
12. You don’t want forceps delivery
A birth center would not implement the practice of using forceps to deliver the baby. Forceps could accidentally injure your baby. Instead, you might want to rely on skilled midwives at birth centers who know how to deliver a difficult baby without using forceps.
13. Birthing in different positions
Unlike at hospitals where birthing in squatting or standing positions is unthinkable, midwives at a birthing center might give you the ease of birthing in these gravity-defying positions that reduces the stress on your and your baby as well.
14. You want to avoid screening tests on your newborn
Hospitals have routine screening tests for genetic disorders. It might require heel prick and draw out blood for the test. It is painful not only for the baby but also for you to watch your newborn wail.
15. You don’t want that ointment in your newborn’s eyes
Quite a few hospitals apply eye ointments on newborns to prevent eye infections. But the reality is that it might blur with their vision and the bonding process with the mother. Secondly, if your newborn child does develop an eye infection in a few days after birth, one or two drops of breastmilk colostrum can clear up the eyes immediately.
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