As you may remember from my recent posts on the perspective of midwives and choosing a midwife, I had a wonderful birth experience with the midwifery clinic here in town.  Here are my top ten favorite things about working with the Nurse Midwifery Birth Center:

1. Personalized attention. My appointments are generally between 45 minutes to an hour and involve plenty of time for questions and information.  The midwife always presents all the options and allows my husband and me to make the final decisions.  It’s so empowering!
2. Flexibility. It was up to us to choose whether we wanted to give birth at the clinic or the hospital. (Although pregnancies with high risk of complications have to be delivered at the hospital).  Either way, our midwife would supervise the birth and support our pregnancy.
3. Comforting atmosphere. I gave birth to my first son on a bean bag in a room filled with an antique, quilt-covered bed, a birthing ball, and beautiful artwork.  The medical equipment fits into this beautiful old home but doesn’t overwhelm it.
4. A quick return homeward. We spent just eighteen hours at the midwifery center and then were happily back in the comfort of our own home.  Most parents there return home far sooner than we did!
   
5. Follow up visits. Within 24 hours after the birth, a nurse visited our home to weigh our child, help us with breastfeeding, and answer questions.  It was such a gift not to have to leave the house.
6. Ongoing support. Once a week the midwifery center has a free baby clinic where parents can come to weigh their babies, discuss breastfeeding, and ask questions.  But most of the best stuff happens in the waiting room when parents get a chance to bond about the traumas and joys of early parenting.
7. Breastfeeding education. Not only does the clinic provide a breastfeeding class, they have a tremendous amount of information available after the baby is born.  I was able to call a hotline 24 hours a day to problem-solve and get further support at the free weekly baby clinics.
8. Family-friendly environment.  Now that we’re expecting our second, it’s wonderful to be able to bring my two year old to the clinic and know it’s built for family.  There are loads of toys in the waiting room,  a potty seat in the bathroom and plenty of crayons and scratch paper.
9. More freedom.  We were able to bring our own food to the birth and prepare it in the small kitchen which adjoins the birthing room.  My mom, a former Lamaze teacher, and my husband were right by my side the entire time and only had to share my room with one nurse and one midwife.  At other births I’ve attended, there have been a herd of medical people in the room during labor.
10. Eco-friendly community. Many birth center parents are using cloth diapers, wooden toys, and slings.  It’s nice to talk to a group of people who are also going green with baby.

There’s more, but I’ll have to stop because the list could easily go on forever.  I’m infinitely grateful that we had the opportunity to give birth at the center.  Next week we’ll help you search for a midwifery services in your area!  

When I meet a pregnant person I try hard not to launch into a full speech about my experience with midwives, but I have to confess that it’s happened a few times.  So why have I become suddenly evangelical about this alternative to the typical hospital birth? 

In my experience, midwives bring an entirely different perspective to the birth.  Doctors are trained for years in how to cure sick people.  On the other hand, midwives specialize in empowering women to find natural, non-invasive ways to stay as comfortable as possible during labor.

Now I’m not going to say that people should only have natural births, but in this age of scheduled C-sections it does seem like we’ve gone to some extremes.  Doctors are extremely nervous about liability and often move toward surgery or drugs far more quickly than they necessarily have to.  But with the proper education, coaching and support, many more women would be able to deliver naturally and feel like they had more options in the birthing process.

Did you have a positive experience either with a  hospital birth or a midwife?  Did you deliver at home or in a small clinic?  Please share your stories!

In the “getting to know you” part of the college composition class I teach, I may have alluded to my illustrious career here at the Green Baby Guide.   I explained to my students that the Green Baby Guide was all about finding ways to minimize the impact a baby has on the planet.  You know, reducing the amount of baby gear you buy, finding deals at garage sales, using cloth diapers–

“I would NEVER use cloth diapers!” a student screeched.  “Sorry,” she said a moment later, clamping her mouth shut.

Jamieson Diemer grew up green–whether she wanted to or not.

Of course I assured her that if she ever had a baby of her own, she could simply log on to the Green Baby Guide, where she would find so much practical, encouraging advice to make the whole cloth diapering process–

“Sorry!”  She shook her head with finality.  “Not going to do it.  No way, no how.  Nuh-uh.”  (All right, she did not phrase her distaste quite like that.  That’s what we composition teachers like to refer to as hyperbole.)

So passionate was my student on the topic of “green living” that she devoted her first essay assignment to the subject.  It explained a lot.  You see, my student’s cloth diaper repulsion was rooted in experience with a younger sibling and . . . you guessed it: a Green Mother.

Have you ever worried that as a “green mom,” you were destined to raise a rebellious child who would one day hold a disdain for all things eco?  Are we unwittingly raising the next generation of reckless tree killers?  Here’s your chance to find out.  Read Jamieson Diemer’s thought-provoking essay: Green Mother.

With my first pregnancy I had no idea where I wanted to deliver. I just assumed I’d give birth in a hospital with a standard OBGYN. 

After our first doctor’s appointment, however, everything changed.  They whisked us in and out of the office in just ten minutes and everyone, from the receptionists to the physicians, seemed tired and overwhelmed.  The hospital tour depressed me even more.  From the generic pastel wallpaper to the cramped rooms, I knew I didn’t want to deliver there. 

Finally, I had the good fortune to find out about our local Nurse Midwifery Birth Center, a clinic housed in a vintage house with six wonderful midwives, antique furniture and a more homey atmosphere for birth.  This ended up being the room in which our son was born!

Still, when I first found out about the clinic, I was a bit resistant.  Here were just a few of my concerns:

Will it cost more than a hospital birth?

Luckily our midwife center is covered by our insurance program.   Insurance companies realize that a midwife assisted birth is far less expensive than a hospital birth and since our midwives work closely with OBGYN’s, the liability costs stay under control. 

Will it be safe?

In over thirty years of operation, the Nurse Midwifery Birth Center has never lost a mother or a baby.  They refer high risk pregnancies to a team of OBGYNs and only allow low-risk pregnancies to deliver at the clinic.  If there is a possibility that the mother or baby will need more support because of medical issues, the midwife will accompany the mother to the hospital for the birth.

What if I can’t handle the pain?

It’s up to the patient to decide where she wants to deliver.  Pain medications can’t be administered at the midwifery center, but patients can be transferred to the hospital if pain meds are needed.    The truth is, I found that being able to move while at the birth center, use the crouch bar, sit in the tub, and try a variety of positions without being confined to a bed was extremely helpful.

If you’d like to see some photos of real families who used the midwifery clinic and plans for our new clinic to open up sometime in the next few years, check out this online video.  I have to warn you that it made me weep within minutes, but I’m pregnant so you may not have such an emotional reaction. 

I have LOTS more to say about the benefits of using a midwife so stay tuned next week for more details!