# Free Standing Birth Center Birthers & Hopefuls



## Guppy051708

I was just curious as to how many of us are planning on birthing at a free standing birth center (NOT a hospital birth center) with MWs? I am intending on birthing at a FSBC with this beany. I love the community that the homebirth hopefuls have going and it would be amazing to have that similar community with those who are choosing to birth at a FSBC :friends: It's tough to really fit in, because we def. are WAY different than hospital birthers, but we are also different than HB birthers. FBCB is like the half way point and i would love to create this type of community as well :flower:



:dance:*FSBC Achievers*:dance: 

*2009*
*aimee-lou* success 
*Mum2b_Clai*re success
*chuck* transfer

*?*
*rosie5637 *sucesess

:flow:*FSBC Hopefuls*:flow:


*October 2011*

5th
jcg0506 :blue:

*December 2011*

23rd
cahgirl87 :blue:

*February 2012*

14th
navywife86 :pink:

23rd
Guppy051708 :blue:

*March 2012*

14th
rosie5637 :yellow:

28th
amjon :yellow:

*May 2012*

15th
lizzywiz :yellow:

19th
modo :yellow:

25th
LittleOnes :yellow:

​


Personally, I am birthing at a FSBC because my insurance REFUSES to cover a HB :growlmad:(I live in the States). They will cover a FSBC MW though, and since we can't afford to pay a MW privatly (on top of private health insurance premiums/deductables/coinsurance) our next best option is the FSBC. So thats our personal reason. :thumbup:


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## lynnikins

im hoping for a HB with a MW or 2 lol got to convince the consultant that i can birth a big baby without problems though


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## lesbianlove

also hoping for a homebirth, but everyones been really supportive, its terrible how much itl cost to just have ur baby at home when years ago it was the done thing, and the cheapest! so thats a shame for u but i supose as lng as mum and baby are healthy then thats what matters


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## Guppy051708

Thanks hun!
Yeah, do you guys even have FSBC over there? I wasn't sure since its so much easier to have a HB overseas than it is here. 
I am happy with the FSBC, just stinks i have to drive one hour to get there, but thats okay, beats another hospital birth! haha


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## lizzywiz

FSBC for me, but I am getting a lot of flack about it from insurance people (who go back and forth regarding coverage) and friends and family. Everyone is shoving, "What if something goes wrong," down my throat. 
It is kind of a bummer for a first time mom, you know?


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## Guppy051708

lizzywiz said:


> FSBC for me, but I am getting a lot of flack about it from insurance people (who go back and forth regarding coverage) and friends and family. Everyone is shoving, "What if something goes wrong," down my throat.
> It is kind of a bummer for a first time mom, you know?

totally get this! i had friends, very misinformed!!! friends, ask, well "what do you do if you need a c-section? the OB just meets you at the birth center?" :dohh: omg! erm...no haha derr! lol i would transfer to the hospital and plus most ppl dont realize that when a transfer is needed you usually have tt a ime to think it through. generally its not a life or death situation...and you do have to meet certain critera like be low risk, and x amount of min from a hospital....if America didn't do all the crazy hospital intervention in the first place less than 5% of women would end up in a section :dohh: ugh, anyways girl, we have to stick together!!! you can do it hun! 

do you have a journal or anything? would love to follow!!!


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## lizzywiz

oh, no journal. But I will be hanging out in Home and Natural Birthing, so we'll be in touch!

Interesting thing about my FSBC is that it is outpatient- you go home approximately 4-8 hours after birth. Is yours the same?


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## Guppy051708

lizzywiz said:


> oh, no journal. But I will be hanging out in Home and Natural Birthing, so we'll be in touch!
> 
> Interesting thing about my FSBC is that it is outpatient- you go home approximately 4-8 hours after birth. Is yours the same?

Cool! See ya around friend :wave:

mine is 2-12 hours after the birth. basically it seemed like you could decide, dependent on med issues or not. 
i am so excited about this because the hospital i birthed DS in was very strict and even though i knew i technically had the right to leave, they made that pretty tough, especially given that i didn't feel like putting up a fight after that long of a labor! So i was taken advantage of...big time :( but this time, no worries :) its basically up to me when i want to go home :)
Then they do postpartum (PP) visits in your home at 1 day PP, 3 day PP, 5 day PP, one week PP, and 2 weeks PP, then of course you go back to their center at 6 weeks PP


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## amjon

I'll be going to a birthing center. It is about 30 minutes from me, so not too bad.


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## RoxyRoo

Hopefully a homebirth for me :)

Is a FSBC the equivalent of a private birth centre over here in the UK? I haven't heard of one before.


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## amjon

RoxyRoo said:


> Hopefully a homebirth for me :)
> 
> Is a FSBC the equivalent of a private birth centre over here in the UK? I haven't heard of one before.

It's a more home like environment for birthing. The one I am going to used to be a house and has bedrooms and regular beds along with a regular home bathroom. They also have room with the birthing pool. The "waiting room" is a living room. They only have 2 rooms.


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## Guppy051708

amjon said:


> RoxyRoo said:
> 
> 
> Hopefully a homebirth for me :)
> 
> Is a FSBC the equivalent of a private birth centre over here in the UK? I haven't heard of one before.
> 
> It's a more home like environment for birthing. The one I am going to used to be a house and has bedrooms and regular beds along with a regular home bathroom. They also have room with the birthing pool. The "waiting room" is a living room. They only have 2 rooms.Click to expand...

Basically this. 
Here is the link to my birth center. To me, it practically looks like a house! its almost like a "crunchy MWs" house ;) except its not a house at all :thumbup:

there are birth centers in the hospital but basically they are hospital births, not the same as a FSBC at all :nope:

https://www.concordbirthcenter.com/


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## Guppy051708

amjon said:


> I'll be going to a birthing center. It is about 30 minutes from me, so not too bad.

Awesome!
Are you in the US? 
I know FSBC have gone down the drain since hospital births became "the norm". I think i read somewhere there are less than 120 left in the USA....thats sad...its amazing to see how insurance companys and OBs have all of the power here :( Also, less than 1% of all US births are out of the hospital and of that 1% its mostly HB....a sad state of affairs :( but anywho rant over haha, so glad to have this as an option since HB is not per insurance :D


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## amjon

Guppy051708 said:


> amjon said:
> 
> 
> I'll be going to a birthing center. It is about 30 minutes from me, so not too bad.
> 
> Awesome!
> Are you in the US?
> I know FSBC have gone down the drain since hospital births became "the norm". I think i read somewhere there are less than 120 left in the USA....thats sad...its amazing to see how insurance companys and OBs have all of the power here :( Also, less than 1% of all US births are out of the hospital and of that 1% its mostly HB....a sad state of affairs :( but anywho rant over haha, so glad to have this as an option since HB is not per insurance :DClick to expand...

Yes, I'm in Florida. I think the one I am going to is the only one in the Central Florida area. I think there may be on in Miami, but not many in the state.


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## Guppy051708

so glad you are able to go! we have quite a few here in New Hampshire (this is where midwifery was founded in the state, so thats probably why), but the issue i had is our insurance would only cover 2 of the FSBC. Then the one was 1.5 hr drive and those MWs refused to take me on bc of the drive :dohh: so that left this other one. It is a one hr drive but i am happy to have it as an option, so i'll take the one hour drive...sorta nervous about driving during labor...whats your plan of action? My water broke last time, sorta hoping the same goes this time so that i have a warning :haha: but since i am at the FSBC with trustworthy MWs and i am an hr drive away, im not worried if i go in too early since no intervention to worry about....but still not sure when to go...when do you think youll leave for it?


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## amjon

Guppy051708 said:


> so glad you are able to go! we have quite a few here in New Hampshire (this is where midwifery was founded in the state, so thats probably why), but the issue i had is our insurance would only cover 2 of the FSBC. Then the one was 1.5 hr drive and those MWs refused to take me on bc of the drive :dohh: so that left this other one. It is a one hr drive but i am happy to have it as an option, so i'll take the one hour drive...sorta nervous about driving during labor...whats your plan of action? My water broke last time, sorta hoping the same goes this time so that i have a warning :haha: but since i am at the FSBC with trustworthy MWs and i am an hr drive away, im not worried if i go in too early since no intervention to worry about....but still not sure when to go...when do you think youll leave for it?

I'll either have OH (if he's home then) drive me or I have friends I can call that will drive me there. I will probably go kind of early, since I don't know how long I will be in labor since it's my first. I know they won't do anything I don't want (unless an emergency of course) so I don't have to worry about that either.


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## Guppy051708

thats what i was thinking...i had a hospital water birth with my first and totally had to fight the system, but i was thinking just yesterday how much better this is going to be. I wont have to fight anything, i will actually KNOW who my providers are and trust them (as opposed to getting random nurses and whatever doc is on call), i wont have to worry about being hooked up to monitors the minute i walk in the door, it will be so nice. it will be like a homebirth away from home. :D So nice not to have to worry about fighting anything!


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## modo

I really want to go to a private birth centre but the one I am looking into seems impossible to get a hold of :( The website is down and the phone number doesn't work :( 

https://www.google.co.uk/webhp?sour...pw.&fp=fe891ec504028e7&ion=1&biw=1024&bih=608


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## jcg0506

I will be delivering at a birthing center here in Austin. They have two locations and there's another one about 30 min. north of here, so I think its a growing trend in our area, but then again Austin is the hippyville of Texas. I'm only about 25 min. away. Its very nice place with beautiful rooms and big tubs in each. They also have a clinic where we do all our prenatals. So far my insurance hasn't been much of a problem, but they don't cover as much of the cost, so even though its overall a much cheaper birth, we will still pay out of pocket about the same as a hospital birth. Its still crazy that most will cover unnecessary inductions and c-sections but put up a fight about home births and birthing centers. If insurance companies weren't such a problem, I think more women would choose this option.


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## aimee-lou

We do have birth centres in the uk but they are few and far between. I managed to have my first in one and it was brilliant. It was like having a home birth without the mess to clean up and a hot meal cooked for me afterwards! :haha: 

We've moved house and my health has changed since having my first, but I have just been told the local hospital has just had a midwide led birthing unit opened next to the delivery ward, so I'm hoping they will give me a chance for a repeat performance this time, if all goes well. :thumbup: Fingers crossed for a healthy next few months for us all. xx


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## Mum2b_Claire

I had Ruby at a free standing birth centre but we have moved and there isn't one near us here, only the hospital birth centre which I won't use as I will have a home birth this time. (hospital birth centres over here have less favourable stats for natural births than stand alone centres or home births.)
The birth centre was great, I guess it's effectively having a home birth but not at your home. It was a bit like a hotel!


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## chuck

I started in a FSBC with Dewi but transffered for slow progress.

I would have gone to the BC this time too but being VBAC it wasnt an option -plus its services have been suspended!!

Bloody shocking that every woman where I live has to travel 30/40 minutes to go to a hospital or MLU now.


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## modo

The Private Birth Centre in Tooting has closed down (Boo!) so I am not sure what to do now :dohh: 

I am worried that because I want a VBAC I will be under constant monitoring. I was stuck in bed the whole time during Bobby's birth and only got to 5cm :(


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## chuck

Modo...if you choose to go to a hospital to VBAC you can say no to anything you want like monitoring! 

Come take a look in the thread in my siggy.


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## Guppy051708

^amen to that! Just because you are VBACing doesn't mean you dont have rights! you have the same rights as everyone else! :hugs:


another anterior placenta :cry: I cried on the way home....oh God please not another posterior baby :cry:


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## cahgirl87

amjon said:


> RoxyRoo said:
> 
> 
> Hopefully a homebirth for me :)
> 
> Is a FSBC the equivalent of a private birth centre over here in the UK? I haven't heard of one before.
> 
> It's a more home like environment for birthing. The one I am going to used to be a house and has bedrooms and regular beds along with a regular home bathroom. They also have room with the birthing pool. The "waiting room" is a living room. They only have 2 rooms.Click to expand...

This sounds exactly like the place I'm going to give birth in. I live in Florida as well and the place I'm going to is called The Birth Cottage. It is pretty much a house that they use as a birth center. 2 bedrooms, 1 bathroom, and 2 exam rooms plus a 'non waiting room' that is the living room :) 

The midwifes are a mother and daughter team but right now they also are having student midwifes that are training. I don't know how comfortable I will be when it comes to the actual labor if the students are trying to do things. This is my first baby so I don't really know what to expect and even though I plan on using the Bradley Method (as well as birthing in the bathtub) I don't know how well I will cope with the pain. I feel bad that I may have to ask that the students not be actively involved...I guess I will just have to wait and see how I am feeling at the time.


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## LittleOnes

Im so glad for this thread! 

I am reall hoping to deliver in a FSBC here in NY. As progressive as NYC is there are surprisingly only a few, and one is an in-hospital birthing center where I read testimonies of women who said they basically convince you to go up to the labor and delivery floor and you fall into the vicious cycle!! I really want to avoid unecessary medical intervention.

This FSBC seems really on point. They are all Certified Nurse Midwives and have 'rights' at a nearby hospital that births the most babies of any other hospital, assuming something comes up and you need hospital-based intervention. They offer an orientation that we are going to this weekend. 

I was born in a birthing center and my mother highly recommends the experience, compared to an in-hospital birth like she had with my sister, who had the cord wrapped around her neck and foot a couple times! So she wouldve ended up delivering in a hospital anyway. 

The most interesting thing will be to see how DH's family reacts to the birthing center thing, they already think I am super granola :)


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## Guppy051708

I am so excited you girls are here!
I really wish we could get siggy made for "FSBC Hopefuls" (like the homebirth hopefuls have).

I birthed DS via waterbirth at hospital birth center....it was basically a regular maternity unti in the hospital...you got thrown through "the system"...which is why i am getting the heck out of the hospital and going to a FSBC :winkwink:


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## rosie5637

i had my 1st baby in a birth centre. it's literally across the road from me:thumbup: it was an amazing experience and not worrying about mess, having meals and cups of tea made for me and somebody always there to babysit while i shower was great. it had a lovely homely feel and a pool.

i won't know where i'm having this baby til a month or two before the birth:cry: the local pct has closed the centre and despite fierce opposition they aren't sure if it will be opened again:cry: they will have a decision by jan/feb hopefully and i'm due mid march!

i am quite happy to have a homebirth, i don't want to go to the nearest hospital (30mins away) it's just not for me. but if the birth centre is open i will go there again. in limbo and it's suprisingly unnerving:growlmad::nope:

if you want to use a bc then go for it. the chance of something going wrong is very slim. my midwives always told me that because the hospital is 30mins away they transfer you at the first hint of trouble, they don't wait around. sometimes it turns out ok and there was no need but it means they always get you to the hospital in time if something comes up. good luck


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## Guppy051708

Oh rosie :hugs: i really hope they make their mind up soon and you can birth at the center. That is an awful thing to have to wait out :( So sorry.

Is anyone elses birth center super far away...mine is a one hour drive (in the summer, on a nice day, and no construction). And i am due in the worst winter month of the yr and im a bit concerned the long drive, which will easily turn into a 1.5-2 hour commute in bad weather causing my labor to slow :( I am petrified of anything that could impede my labor bc i had such a slow one with DS.


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## Guppy051708

Girls, just to give you a heads up, i asked the mods/admins to create a FSBC "Hopefuls" Sticky at the top of the "Home & Natural Birthing" section. I will give up dates, once i hear back on anything.

I am gonna go ahead and create a list of you all that are thinking or planning on having a FSBC birth :thumbup:


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## Guppy051708

I've updated the front page!!!

Let me know if i missed anyone or if any of your info is incorrect. I had to do a lot of guessing so dont be afraid to speak up :D


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## navywife86

Hey I would def like to join im also having a birth senter birth !


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## navywife86

IM due feb 14th 2012


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## Guppy051708

Hi hun! :wave: so glad to see you here!!!
Ive added you and your bump to the front :winkwink:


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## navywife86

Awesome sounds great !


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## Guppy051708

Well ladies, i am sorry (and happy at the same time) to say that i will now be having a homebirth instead. Due to a plethora of reasons, mainly financial reasons, we have decided not to re up our insurance for 2012. So homebirth for me...sorry to leave you all, but im happy with our decision...does anyone want to take over this thread?


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## Jtiki

I'm due in April and hope to use a FSBC. There is one in this city, about 30 minutes away, in the same general area as the hospitals. My insurance will only pay about 40% of the cost, since they are an out of network provider. 

TX state law requires that all newborns be monitored for a minimum of 2 hours, so I will be there at least that long. The mid wife tells me most folks stay about 6 hours after birth to take a nap, but some are counting the clock and immediately leave at the 2 hour mark. They don't do any overnight stays. They also don't administer any pain medication of any type.


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## mamawannabee

I am joining a bit late here, but we just transferred our care to a birth center about 2 weeks ago, after going for the hospital tour. I was so upset and disappointed that I knew there was no way I could labor there, I had wanted a homebirth from the beginning, but OH said no, so this is our compromise. We live a half hour from the hospital and the birth center is only about 4 minutes away, so he is more comfortable with it. I have been so happy with the care so far, and am looking forward to delivery. It is a two hour drive from our house, so the only thing I am nervous about is the drive during labor, but I figure we'll leave sooner than later so we can make sure to get there on time.


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## navywife86

mamma wannabe im so happy you are getting the birth you want !!


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## cahgirl87

Just wanted to say I was a hopeful that turned in to an achiever on December 23rd... a week before my due date (my ticker was wrong for a while). It was the most amazing experience of my life. My birth story is posted in the announcements and birth story section if anyone wants to read it. I must warn you, it is EXTREMELY long, I mostly wrote it like that because I want to remember every detail. Good luck to everyone that is still a FSBC hopeful!


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