Birth Centres? What are your thoughts?

Question

Being pretty terrified of hospitals and the idea of being stuck on a hospital bed for hours having my baby (I tend to associate hospitals with death and illness I guess) I want to have my baby in a birth centre.

I have been advised to go to a birth centre which is attached to a hospital. That way if anything goes wrong its not too far to take you up the the ward for emergency treatment.

The thing is, with a birth centre, the emphasis is on natural birth - YOU CANNOT HAVE AN EPIDURAL! And as everyone seems to think that epidurals are the only way to handle birth pains, I'm not sure what the benefits are of a birth centre.

I am terrified of vomiting and so am nervous about using gas and air or pethidine (I've heard neither are very effective as painkillers) both of which can make you sick, but there is no other pain releif in the birth centre. I have been advised to try TENS and a waterbirth but I don't know if that will be enough releif if labour is as bad as I've heard.

I'm OK for a birth centre as my pregnancy is low risk and have had no serious health problems so so far, obviously if something goes very wrong later on Birth Centre wouldn't be a possibility but it all seems fine now.

Only concern is that I am taking low dose Seroxat (Paxil) on the advice of my doctor and there is always a danger that the baby might have "the jitters" after birth because of the discontinuation of the Seroxat, but thats why they want me to go to a birth centre attached to a hospital, so when baby is born if he seems jittery he can be whisked upstairs to be checked by paediatricians. This won't affect my labour in any way.

Answer 1

Congratulations on exploring options and thinking about what is best for you and baby.

I had mine in a free-standing birth center. (hospital was 4 minutes away). I had prepared myself for a natural childbirth and opted for a water birth, which was sensational. My husband was in the tub with me, supporting me the whole time.

I chose the natural route because after a bout with pre-term labor and five days in the hospital, I found the experience so clinical, so cold and alienating for my husband, we knew there had to be a gentler way, one in which we could both be more involved in the process. I didn't like feeling like a patient either. I wasn't sick, I was having a baby!

I read a lot of positive birth stories. They're hard to find. And I stopped watching the baby stories on Discovery Health, b/c they sensationalize even the slightest abnormality.

I began to read about statistics...that 25% of hospital births end in caesarean, compared to 10% in birth centers. How women aren't always allowed to labor the way their bodies need to. The clinchers, however, were two things: going to the orientation/tour of the birth center and reading Ina May's Guide to Natural Childbirth. Highly, highly recommended. At least you can make a truly informed decision and feel good about it.

Good luck!

Answer 2

When are you due??

The best thing I can advise you to do is to take a Birthing Class. I HIGHLY recommend a Bradley Method Birthing Class. Bradley method focuses on a "nartural Child birth"

They will tell you the truth about c sections and epidurals and gas and birthing centers and all the rest of it.

Personally, I would have gone to a birthing center, but I'm having a really big baby, I'm gestational diabetic and I too was afraid of not having the medical care I need if an emergency occured. I think birthing centers are good if you know you're low risk and everything is going well in your pregnancy....

Also take a maternity tour of the hospitals in your area, the maternity ward is nothing like the rest of the hospital, not only that...but things aren't how they used to be...if you are in good health and the baby is not in distress...you won't have to be in bed for hours...they have birthing balls and birthing tubs and showers and all sorts of stuff in hospitals now a days...it's not the sterile clinical procedure it used to be...

Stop freaking out about the labor pains. It's different for everybody...I've talked to people that said it was the worst pain of their lives and then I've talked to some people that said they felt like strong PMS cramps and that's it. You never know what you're in for until it's time...so in the mean time...relax. If it was so bad...people wouldn't go back for more and have two and three and four and five kids. RELAX

Stop stressing and get informed. The more info you have, the less scary it will be. Trust me...I was where you are four months ago...Take hospital tours and for god sakes TAKE A BIRTHING CLASS.

Congratulations and good luck

Answer 3

I had our son in a birthing center in our hospital. The rooms were very nice,and looked like home inside them. I did have an epidural in ours and was nto drugged and was alert and awake fully. Just could nto push but in my case he was stuck so i couldnt anyways.
. Are you sure you have all the facts about what a birthing center is?? They(our hosp.) recommended we walk the hospital halls to get the labor to progress AND they had a birthing ball to use if we wanted to take the strain off the back whcih I did for a short time. In my case I am so glad I had the epidural as I had to have an emergency c section and with that I was fully alert and still could feel tugging and some contractions but, with my son being stuck it was a good thing I did that. My pain up until the epi was off the charts at 5 cm and I wanted a natural childbirth but it doesnt always go the way we plan either. keep all options open for childbirth is not in our control and anything can happen or not happen but we just dont know how it will go.
So...maybe it sounds like you are not ready to have a total natural birth.?? I dont see why you couldnt do that in a hospital in the birthing center and if you changed your mind for the pain was too great, they can give you an epi before you are too into labor near the end?? It ALL hurts but the pain of laboring will be forgotten once you look at your beautiful baby and then you will say I would do it all over again! Good Luck! Hope I helped-- Remember everyone is different and has different experiences with labor. NO one is the same. You wont know until you go through it. Keep your options open for epidural just in case. :)

Answer 4

The thing is, no one knows what kind of birth they're going to have. We all like to think it will be easy and natural, but there are no guarantees. There's no point in thinking that, since your mum may have had an easy time, you will too, or vice versa. Every birth is unique. You may have an easy one, in which case a birthing centre would be ideal. However, you may not. It's amazing what labour pains can do to a woman's resolve!

Most hospital labour wards are actually quite cosy and not remotely 'death' like. You have room to move around, you can take music in, you can have as many or as few people popping in to visit as you wish, you may even have the option of a pool. You can take your own TENS machine in with you (it didn't work for me! Neither did gas and air, although my husband loved that. I had pethidine, but it just made me giggly and useless. I would have liked an epidural in the end).

The difference is that in a hospital, the pain relief is there if you want it, as is all the medical care should you need it. There is scope for you to be demanding too. Tell the midwives your worries and concerns - in my experience they do try to accommodate your wishes as far as possible.

I understand your panic, but I would go for a look around a few maternity wards in your area, and choose the one you feel most comfortable with. That's what I did. No regrets, and I've done it twice.

Good luck!

Answer 5

Birth centres were designed for people that dont like hospitals and want a more relaxed atmosphere. however being your first pregnancy anything can happen so i would say your better in a hospital. i had mine in a hospital and it was great, its not the same as being ill in hospital, because when you ill the nurses and doctors tell you whats happening and what there going to do, you dont have a choice over the matter really, but its totally different when your in to have a baby, you tell them what you want and how you want to handle it. your in total control. if you dead against the hospital think about a home birth.
you seem to be worried about the pain factor. Don't people always tell you the worst but its not like that in reality. every labour is different, you'll never get 2 the same. it also depends on how you handle pain and your pain thresh-hold. water births definetely work.
At the end of the day your there to have a baby, do it enjoy it and after you'll know it was worth while. good luck.

Answer 6

Strikes me that you have been listening to a whole load of old wives tales. Having a baby is as painful as you want to make it. It is a natural thing and women have been doing it since the beginning of time. Get a positive attitude, go to some Lamaze lessons and you will find that giving birth naturally, without pain killers, can be a truly wonderful experience. The more you dread labour, the more tense you will be and more pain you will experience. I had four children by natural birth methods, no pain to speak off (including one difficult breech birth) and was fully conscious the whole time to truly appreciate that special moment when your child is born. Good luck on whatever you decide to you, but most of all, do some research, get good advice fron your anti-natal carers and enjoy your pregnancy.

Answer 7

firstly every body has a different pain threshold ive had 2 children my first i had everything you could have for pain relief as i was told how bad it was nad my second all i had was gas and air. the labour was much easier as you can feel your body were as with an epidural u are paralised and cant feel a thing the labour took forever. i would recommend a birthing centre as well because they have more time for you as in a hospital they seem to want to in and out and as for the gas and air not a goos pain relief it worked for me and i didnt feel a thing if i have anothere baby i definatly would go to a birthing centre, at the end of the day its ur decition and you know in your self what you want. the tens for me didnt work gas and air is best and totally pain free.

Answer 8

I used the hypnobirthing method (www.hypnobirthing.com for a local practitioner). I was induced 14 days over due and went through labour and delivery with no pain medication at all, midwife tried to tempt me with gas and air but I really didn't need it. The self hypnosis and relaxation techniques worked better than any pain killer. I can't say that the labour and birth was completely pain free but it was certainly manageable and there were no nasty side effectd from pain relief either. My experience was the most empowering and fantastic of my life and I had a beautiful baby at the end of it too!

Answer 9

You need to balance your fear of hospitals with having thepain relif you need to hand.

I thought I wanted an epidural but never had one and had only morphine and gas and air and had a lovely experiance. Don't worry about sickness as they give you a jab to counteract that.

TENS is a waste of time IMO and I didn't like the water but it does suit a lot of people. I'd advise you to go for the birthing centre if it will make you feel more at ease but be prepared to move if you need an epidural but its not always nessecary.

Answer 10

How effective gas and air and pethidine are depends on your stance towards them. They are much more effective if you expect them to be effective. If you expect them to be useless they will be.

I know one woman who managed (subconsciously) to completely resisted the effects of an epidural purely because she didn't think it would help.

The gas and air and pethidine will help you and are perfectly good analgesics (pain killers). TENS and the waterbirth can be better.

If you wish to limit your amount of time in hospital, don't go to hospital until your contractions are about five minutes apart. Its what my mother did with my brother; she did the ironing, had a bath then went to hospital because her contractions were quite close by then.