What is a Birth Center?

It is exciting to live in a day and age where there are several options for you to choose for your baby's birth place. One is your home, the other more obvious choice is the hospital, and finally there is the birth center. Birth centers are divided into two main categories (though there may be others)- there are hospital-owned birth centers staffed by midwives, and there are free standing birth centers owned and run by midwives. Birth centers of all types are inspected randomly by DHEC in South Carolina so you can be sure that they are always up to standard.

A birth center by definition is simply a place other than your home, and outside of the hospital, that is equipped to assist you in birthing your baby. Most birth centers offer the completely natural childbirth option, since they do not have doctors available to administer drugs like Stadol or epidurals. So, if you are choosing a birth center, you may need to take a childbirth preparation class like The Bradley Method. You can also be sure that you will not be encouraged to take any medication during your labor in a birth center. Midwives in general are experts in normal birth, and would love to see you birth your baby in the most natural way possible. Of course, if anything goes awry, your midwife would call emergency transport and get you to the nearest hospital as quickly as possible.

The World Health Organization recommends that midwives attend normal low-risk, healthy births but doesn't necessarily suggest where you are to be attended. But a birth center in your area is a great choice. In Spartanburg and Greenville there are several to choose from. Labors of Love Birth Center is located on Floyd Road Extension, and is about 6 minutes from Spartanburg Regional Hospital. Various other birth centers include Carolina Water Birth and Blessed Births, both located in the Greenville and Simpsonville area. Labors of Love is run by Linda Weaver and Amy Bixby, both licensed midwives with hundreds of healthy babies under their belts.

Why should you choose a birth center? Well, there are several reasons. Many birthing centers offer the huge jacuzzi type tubs to labor in. Studies have shown that water births are less painful than "dry" births and that babies are born more "gently" into the water. A great read for this type of birth is Gentle Birth Choices by Barbara Harper. She provides some significant data about water birth and is convincing about the positive aspects water allows. Another reason to choose a birthing center is if you live more than 30 minutes from a hospital staffed with a 24-hour anesthesiologist and obstetrician. The reason for most hospital transfers is not emergency- it's getting tired of the labor process and choosing to go in for an epidural. If it is 3am, and there is not an anesthesiologist on duty, you don't get your epidural, at least not until he/she arrives. Less commonly, something may go wrong with the baby or mom, and an emergency transport is required. An obstetrician needs to be available immediately for a potential cesearean section upon arrival at the hospital. Again, this isn't a likely outcome, but it is a possibility. A third reason that families choose a birth center is being uncomfortable with the idea of giving birth in their homes. Perhaps they have dogs or live in an apartment or condo. There are not reasons that prevent a home birth, but they can inhibit the natural process if the mother is consumed or distracted by them.

Statistically speaking, birth center births are not safer than home births, unless the home is more than a 30 minute drive from the hospital. If I had had the option of a birth center birth for the first baby, I would have done it in a heart beat. Sometimes it just feels like a more controlled environment since it is a place designated for births. And it is certainly a great option if you are not comfortable giving birth in your home, but don't want the added stress of going to the hospital for your normal, non-medicated birth experience.

I encourage you to do your homework. Interview midwives and tour birth centers. You can always fall back on the hospital. But a birth center will make your natural birth experience so incredibly special!!