Picking a birthing center? Midwife? I have no clue!

[RoseKitten]

Okay, so I'm still in the TTC phases, but I'm a huge planner for as impulsive as I am. We are going to have a hospital/birthing center birth. We rent our current home, and there's not really any good places to have a baby here, so home birth is out (sadly). That, and while I don't think my landlord could *stop* me, I'm not sure she'd be pleased. Anyways...

How do you pick a hospital/birthing center? I'm very new to FL, so I don't know anyone here to ask. What does a midwife do? I just... I have no clue where to start. Any help to get me started on my research would be very appreciated. I'm a bit overwhelmed by the forum ATM and am trying to take in a little bit of it everyday. Thanks!

 

[MindUtopia]

I'm planning to have a home birth, so I'm not much use on the intricacies of how to choose a birth center or hospital (plus, if we did have any complications and needed to use a hospital, there's only one close to us and that's where my midwife team is based, so that's where I'd want to go). But I would say the first place to start is to find out what your insurance will cover and where. Not all will pay for a midwife, but personally I'd highly recommend one over an OB if it's an option. I've never seen an OB for maternity care, but I saw them for the past 13+ years for usual GYN care (when living in the U.S.) and I've found my midwife experience to be much better, just more personal, relaxed and attentive. You might be able to get insurance coverage for a birth center birth (not attached to a hospital), but if not, definitely try to find a hospital that has a philosophy similar to yours, a separate birth center wing, and check out their intervention rates (c-sections, assisted deliveries, epidurals, etc.) and policies/facilities (will they let you walk around? will they hassle you for eating in labor? do they insist on fetal monitoring as standard? do they have birth pools?). I'm not sure how you'd find these stats in the U.S. (it's just on the main NHS website here), but it would be interesting to see and compare across sites.

Also, I know you said you aren't really considering home birth, but you absolutely can have a home birth in a rented house without much extra space. We are and we don't even plan to tell our landlords.

Good luck with TTC! I really think it's never too early to start thinking about your birth.

 

[RoseKitten]

I'm planning to have a home birth, so I'm not much use on the intricacies of how to choose a birth center or hospital (plus, if we did have any complications and needed to use a hospital, there's only one close to us and that's where my midwife team is based, so that's where I'd want to go). But I would say the first place to start is to find out what your insurance will cover and where. Not all will pay for a midwife, but personally I'd highly recommend one over an OB if it's an option. I've never seen an OB for maternity care, but I saw them for the past 13+ years for usual GYN care (when living in the U.S.) and I've found my midwife experience to be much better, just more personal, relaxed and attentive.

Well, in the state of FL insurance has to cover midwives/home birth. But, we have military insurance, and the federal government does what it wants. That being said, since we don't have an ER on base locally, we should be able to go wherever we wish since we can't be seen on base. I'm hopeful, but my PCM should be able to answer those questions for me.

You might be able to get insurance coverage for a birth center birth (not attached to a hospital), but if not, definitely try to find a hospital that has a philosophy similar to yours, a separate birth center wing, and check out their intervention rates (c-sections, assisted deliveries, epidurals, etc.) and policies/facilities (will they let you walk around? will they hassle you for eating in labor? do they insist on fetal monitoring as standard? do they have birth pools?). I'm not sure how you'd find these stats in the U.S. (it's just on the main NHS website here), but it would be interesting to see and compare across sites.

I've done some googling on the subject, but it's been mostly unhelpful. Thank you, though, it's given me a good list of questions to start with.

Also, I know you said you aren't really considering home birth, but you absolutely can have a home birth in a rented house without much extra space. We are and we don't even plan to tell our landlords.

Good luck with TTC! I really think it's never too early to start thinking about your birth.

We literally have no space for a home birth. The one room we *could* use, has wood floors, and I'd like to have a water birth. That being said, I don't want to pay for that amount of water, either. My husband would rather me have a hospital birth, so a good birthing center is a happy compromise for us both.