Why we chose a Birthing Center

Short answer: Because I wanted a home birth and Eric wanted a hospital birth.

Not short answer: I'm not a masochist. I'm not even particularly "crunchy." I'm not planning on delaying vaccinations, co-sleeping, or cloth diapering. I am planning on breast feeding, but not past their first birthday at the absolute latest. I am also planning on baby wearing but mostly out of convenience. That way my purse can go in the child seat part of the buggy at the store. I'm probably the last person who you would expect to choose a birthing center.

Last summer, when I was full of nothing but free time and a subscription to Blockbuster, I rented a bunch of documentaries. One was called "The Business of Being Born." It was about giving birth (duh) and how hospitals and doctors tend to treat pregnancy and birth as illnesses and often times will give patients treatments (pitocin was one example) when it might be un-necessary just to "get the process moving."

Now, as an aside, I fully understand that many things can and sometimes do go wrong in pregnancy and that new medical interventions in childbirth have saved many a woman and her baby. I am not downing them.

Ok, so then they presented the idea of home birth with a midwife present. Basically supporting the woman and having the knowledge to be aware if something does go wrong and a hospital is necessary, but letting nature take its course. The one quote that stuck with me was "This is something your body knows how to do." From then on I was sold on a home birth, if possible.

Selling Eric, was something else. I understand where he's coming from. One of the people he loves the most is going through something MAJOR and he wants all the heavy duty equipment right on hand.

So we compromised and went with a birthing center. It is staffed by two midwives, the least experienced of which has performed over 2,000 births. Both midwives have RN degrees as well as additional training and experience in pre-natal care and birth.

Here is why it appeals to us:
- I am low-risk.
- We are within 5 minutes of two excellent hospitals, should anything go wrong.
- Both midwives tend to err on the side of caution. i.e., they don't do VBAC's, twins, or breech births.
- They also agree with our overarching childbirth philosophy: The Most Important Result is Healthy Mother, Healthy Baby.

So we are hoping to be able to deliver in a more home-like setting. But, I'm not going to sweat it too much if baby is breech or something else causes us to change our plans.

Here's the link to the place we're using, if you want to check it out.

http://www.nativiti.com/index.html