Birth Centers
If you want a more natural, family-centered birthing experience without routine medical interventions a birth center might be the right option for you. If you choose an accredited birth center, you’ll be cared for by licensed professionals, with a backup hospital nearby or actually attached to the center for immediate care if any complications arise. Birth centers aren’t mini-hospitals – your labor will never be induced, you won’t be denied access to food or fluid, you’ll have a bed large enough for you and your partner to share, and you can give birth in the water, if you prefer. Anesthesia and cesareans are not available, but such centers are equipped with IVs, oxygen, medication, and infant resuscitation equipment, so if need be, emergency care can be started while you and your baby prepare to move to the hospital. Instead of continuous electronic fetal monitoring a nurse will monitor your baby’s heartbeat intermittently with a handheld Doppler, like the one your caregiver uses during prenatal visits. After you give birth, no routine policies or procedures require you to be separated from your baby and all examinations and baby’s first bath take place in your room. You’ll be encouraged to return home within 24 hours or less. For women committed to a an unmedicated birth, but not interested in having your baby in the hospital or home, a birth center can offer you the best of all worlds!
The only local birthing center option for Cincinnati families is Family Beginnings:
www.miamivalleyhospital.org/mvhservices.aspx?id=38606
