The Friday Question: What Are The Natural Birthing Options In Your Area?

8 Responses for "The Friday Question: What Are The Natural Birthing Options In Your Area?"

1. Rachel January 29th, 2010 at 7:33 am 1

   I am 37 weeks pregnant, and when I first got pregnant we tried to find natural childbirth in the area. All I could find were a few midwives that work at one of the local hospitals or some that work with specific doctors, but our insurance limited us from being able to use any of them. Talk about a bummer! So, the best I can do is hope I can make it through the labor without any pain intervention. At least the hospital we are using has a tub I can sit in while I labor!

2. Holly January 30th, 2010 at 4:59 am 2

   In our location in PA, there is a birth center, but it is nearly an hour away and many new mom’s don’t feel comfortable with that distance. So they opt for the hospital instead. There are a few wonderful homebirth midwives in the area, which is wonderful. I’m not sure if insurance covers their fees though. Many OBGYN offices in the area have CNM on staff, but many do not guarantee that you will be able to access them when in labor. It’s changing, but slowly.

3. Jaime January 30th, 2010 at 6:19 am 3

   With my first pregnancy I looked for a freestanding birthing center only to discover they are illegal in my state. Homebirthing is not for me, so I plan to have as natural a birth possible in the hospital with my husband and doula.

4. Kyra Climbingbear January 30th, 2010 at 3:47 pm 4

   I’m from New Jersey and there are not that many “natural” options for people with State Approved insurance (medicaid) or no insurance. While pregnant with my first child I never DREAMED I’d have a natural birth and so my husband and I paid out of pocket for Cobra ($500 a month) and had our child in the hospital. One episiotomy and epidural later… I received a bill in the mail for over $10grand! The Hospital had screwed up my insurance info and later sent me a bill. Well this time around I decided to have a natural birth… I was a fulltime student and had been unemployed for nearly two years. I had state approved medicaid and my only natural options were a water birthing center (that by the way was filled until Oct and my due date was 9.9.09), A few midwives (but I’d have to pay out of pocket) or go to a clinic where no one really knows my name and my midwife would change every visit! I ended up waiting until 8 months and paying out of pocket for the last few visits and the final “catch”… Unfortunately, NJ has not caught up with the rest of the world in natural birth or vaccine immunization exemption letters for philosophical beliefs or cultural beliefs…

5. Jillian February 1st, 2010 at 11:17 am 5

   I was living in Orlando when i first got pregnant. They have a handful of midwives with birthing centers within close range. I knew that a hospital birth was not for me. I picked a midwife who i felt really good with and who’s staff i really enjoyed. The center itself could definitely of used a remodel, the decorations were so dated, and disheveled, most of them are. But the staff was wonderful, everything i could of asked for, the birth was beautiful and i’m so happy to have had them by our sides.

   Now we live on the coast of FL by Melbourne and there are ZERO birthing centers. There are a total of three midwives who ONLY do home births. I was not prepared for a home birth, still not, i’m chocking on that little pill. Anyway, i’m due in June with our second child and buying our first home in March, NOT giving birth in a hospital, so home birth here we come!!

6. Dorothy February 1st, 2010 at 12:05 pm 6

   We had our first son in the hospital located in our small town in Arkansas. My doctor was very respectful of our birth plan, to birth as naturally as possible, and our experience was overall a good one. I’m due with our second baby in April. If I could wave a magic wand and have my wish, I’d choose a birthing center. My husband feels the same way, but the nearest birthing center is over 2 hours away. I was willing to go for a home birth this time (especially since the hospital is literally two blocks away), but my husband is not comfortable with the “ick” factor. We both know from experience how messy birth can be, all those fluids, etc…, and he doesn’t want the memory of those aspects of birth in our home. It may seem like a silly reason to call off the homebirth, but since our hospital experience was positive before, we’re comfortable doing it again. Although this time I am bringing my own food. No over-processed foods for me and baby, thank you.

7. suzannah February 1st, 2010 at 3:46 pm 7

   in western PA, there are a number of great midwives (who mostly deliver in hospital settings), but because of state regulation, homebirth is not a very accessible option.

   i was pleased with my natural midwife-assisted hospital birth, but i had to drive a long way (40-plus minutes). PA is losing many ob-gyn options across the board.

8. K.L. February 6th, 2010 at 2:00 pm 8

   We recently had a successful natural childbirth at the hospital in northern Colorado with a midwife. The clinic of midwives that we used, however, did not do home births and were covered by our insurance. Our insurance did not cover those that did deliveries at home so, unfortunately, they weren’t an option for us. There is’t a birthing center close (I think there’s only ONE[?] in all of Denver which is 45 miles away with very heavy traffic to fight with). Our experience at the hospital, luckily, was a great one. The nurses on staff were very respectful of our decision and were wonderful throughout.

   I will say, though, that I was disappointed in our midwifery care throughout the pregnancy. They rarely remembered me, there were four midwifes that I had to alternate visits with (and whomever was on call for the hospital on the day of my labor was the one that I got to deliver our son – couldn’t choose), and while they were supportive of natural birth they didn’t exactly push for it. I was “overdue” by two weeks (actually, the due date was uncertain since I had very irregular cycles but they went with the earliest possible date) and wouldn’t let me go past 14 days of their date without forcing induction. Fortunately, I ended up going into labor a few hours after the midwife stripped my membranes instead of having to go to the hospital to be hooked up to Pitocin, etc. Our son was born exactly 14 days after their due date and was a healthy seven pound boy. (The nurse making his assessments made a comment, “He definitely doesn’t look like he’s 42 weeks term.”)