Hospitals vs birthing centers

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dreamasamemory2002

New member
What are your plans/preferences? And for people on here who are WTT for their second, third, etc. child, what did you do the first time around? Are you planning something different this time?

In my town, we have one hospital that’s “the one” for giving birth. It’s not the one you go to for complications, but it has the nicest birthing suites. The other hospital has the amazing NICU and where you and/or your baby get transferred to if things go sideways. And just recently, I learned that hospital #2 renovated their L&D floor, they got their Baby-Friendly certification, and they employ midwives. I always thought I’d want to go to hospital #1, but I’m very interested in the midwifery model of care, which puts me interested in hospital #2. But then I think, should I give a birthing center a chance? I don’t know. And I guess I won’t really know until I’m pregnant, know if I’m having any complications, and take tours of the different places.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 Hospital. I had a class 4 hemorrhage after my baby was born, and developed post-partum pre-eclampsia in labour. I have no option for anything other than a hospital birth next time, jacked up on oxytocin, which is fine by me. I was admitted under OB care about 3 hours after my baby was born (with midwives in the hospital) and definitely would have died had I been sent home like was the original plan. My midwife made all the right calls. We have a long list of preventatives in place if there is a next time. I had no actual pregnancy complications and had a really great labour & delivery experience... Just after delivery that things went down hill. In any case, hospital (and epidural) all the way for me. I can't imagine the pain I would have been in when the OB had to manually extract clots from my uterus, had I not had an epidural.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 Hospital but I’m very biased. I’m an L&D nurse and have seen people who are very low risk suddenly go downhill in minutes. I can’t imagine being somewhere where they couldn’t act quickly. Very recently I had the most wonderful couple who was as low risk as you could get, mom got to fully dilated and her baby got distressed very quickly. Had a crash emergency c/section within minutes. Imagine having to wait for an ambulance to show up, then transport you to the nearest hospital... no thanks.
 
@orange14 Thank you for your response. I’m actually an EMT, so this sort of thing is always in the back of my mind. I think maybe seeing a midwife in a hospital setting is probably going to be the best of both worlds.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 Agreed, homebirth seems so wonderful, but the ease of mind being in a hospital might trump that. Unfortunately all of the midwives I've looked at where I live don't have hospital admitting privileges!!!
 
@orange14 NICU/ Peds,who also goes to deliveries, Respiratory Therapist here and this is 100% me. I’m also transferring OB care this year because while I really like my current one she doesn’t deliver at the hospital in my area where the NICU is (and I work for the children’s hospital that owns the nicu, and while that isn’t my homebase I’m trained in that NICU.) I’ve heard and seen too many everything was fine... until it wasn’t stories to chance something happening to my future child and having to then wait helplessly for at least a half hour for the NICU team to get there. I’ve had a few friends deliver at the two options my current doc is at and they’ve been happy with their experiences, but I just “know too much” in that field to risk it. We don’t plan on trying until next hear but I figured I’d switch and get established this year.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I actually plan to go the homebirth route (I'm a bit wary of hospital births for a normal healthy pregnancy just due to some personal things). Birthing center would be my second choice (one of my friend's sister is actually a midwife there). If I HAVE to go hospital I'm torn, there are several near me (they are all kind of clustered together) but I'm not sure of how they are set up for such things (plus there are a couple that have a reputation of "this is where you go to die so...)
 
@dreamasamemory2002 My plan is to try to do a midwife at a birthing center. The one near me is attached to a hospital so you can have the experience of the birthing center (being able to move around during labor, etc.) but if something goes wrong, you’re only a hallway away from the hospital and the OBs. The birthing center near me is also significantly less expensive and has great reviews. I’m hoping to be able to “interview” the midwife I’d like to use at my next well-woman exam in a couple months so hopefully she’s as good as I’ve heard!
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I am genuinely terrified of hospitals, of their needles, and of their inability to listen to people who are their patients about things that are very important.

So, personally, I would prefer a home birth with a midwife. But, as my husband (and almost his whole family) are super into proper medical care, or are nurses, I’ll probably compromise with a midwife at the hospital, and a few people who will “keep me safe” and make sure the rules are followed.

Also, this is not to say that all nurses or doctors don’t listen, and I absolutely respect and appreciate their hard work and care. I’ve just had some very bad experiences, and continue to, when it comes to the medical system in general... and the hospital here, especially.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I have no knowledge of birthing centers and have never been interested in researching them. My plan will be a hospital. I have two hospitals I can choose from and plan to tour both when that time comes. There’s pros and cons to both. Hospital #1 is in a more central location, my husband was born there, family lives closer in distance to travel there for a visit. Cons to hospital #1, its an older hospital, not sure if L&D is updated or not, it is close distance to a lot of husband’s family.....and I don’t want everyone visiting so sudden.

Hospital #2 pros, it’s newer and updated. Has L&D suites. It is far from a lot of husband’s family, so I would have the privacy I want. Cons, it’s further out, with not much surrounding.

Husband and I will tour both hospitals and make our decision. As of yet I’m not leaning more so on one than the other.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I'm WTT for my third. With both deliveries I did a midwife program at a military hospital. They did delayed cord clamping, rooming in, immediate skin to skin, all that good stuff. Things went fine, but then I had uncomplicated deliveries and hospital stays anyways.

Now we've moved and I'll be in a different hospital. There's only one here so that's it. I don't believe it has midwives so I'll be with a doctor. If this wasn't my third baby, I probably would be looking for birthing centers, but as I've been through this a few times already, I'm not too worried.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I would so love to do a birth center or even a home birth but I fear that I will probably be risked out of both (plus I don’t know if home birth is technically legal in my state). Also, I know DH would not feel comfortable with a home birth given my situation. I’ll have to be on blood thinners for my pregnancy/postpartum due to previous a blood clot that was attributed to my birth control. I’m hoping that I can instead use the university’s midwife group near me and get one of the birthing suites with a tub at the hospital.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 No doubt, I will be doing a hospital birth. I haven't looked into it much, but if there are birthing centers in my area that are directly adjacent to a hospital then I might consider that route. To me, the safety of the hospital is of the utmost importance. I don't want to put myself or my baby at risk just for a more comfortable birthing experience. My friend hemorrhaged after having her baby and would've died if she hasn't been rushed into emergency surgery. Someone else I know had a home birth, refused to go to the hospital when things got tough, and her baby died. I'm going to minimize any of those risks for myself and my family as much as possible.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 I'm probably the wrong person to ask because I struggle with tokkophobia, so I will be going with elective c-section for my mental health.

I think it's really important for you to do what you feel comfortable with. Midwifery lead care works really well for a lot of people. Why not go and chat with them (now/once your pregnant) and see what feels most right.
 
@dreamasamemory2002 Hospital. I already have several chronic illnesses and I definitely want doctors there that are all across my medical history. I'm hoping we're going to move before we TTC/go through pregnancy, as the only hospital in town doesn't have a good reputation and the next good one is 2 hours away, but we've got time to figure that out
 
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