Eleven Benefits Of Choosing A Birthing Center To Deliver Your Baby

Just under four million babies are born in the United States every year. When it comes to giving birth there are many options available from home birth to a hospital birth to water births.While a hospital birth may seem like the go-to option, a maternity clinic or birthing center is also another good option. The most obvious birthing option isn’t necessarily for everyone and a maternity clinic offers a birthing approach that’s tailored to each mother individually and offers both the freedom of a home birth and the benefits of a hospital birth.

If you’re contemplating where to have your baby, here are 11 reasons to consider going to a birthing center or maternity clinic.

• A birthing center gives you the freedom that comes with a home birth. Rather than having a bunch of family waiting around in a hospital waiting room, a birthing center provides a happy medium that still allows family members to share in the experience.
• Along with the freedom of a home birth, a maternity clinic offers the health benefits of a hospital setting. If anything goes wrong-knock on wood that it doesn’t-a birthing center has some medical equipment on hand and birthing centers are usually close to hospitals in case of any major complications.
• A birthing center gives you the freedom to have a natural birth. Hospitals make money on epidurals and often encourage delivering mothers to get them, sometimes at the height of labor. Rather than caving and taking drugs at a vulnerable point, you can feel comfortable knowing that nurses at birthing centers will be there to assist you with the natural birth you’re waiting for your baby.
• A maternity clinic allows expectant mothers to avoid the “sickness” associated with hospitals.
• Giving birth at a birthing center also allows you to deliver naturally and not have your water forcibly broken by hospital workers who want to speed up the birthing process. Doing that can make contractions more painful and eventually lead to epidurals being given.
• A maternity clinic helps expectant mothers avoid C-sections. Statistics show that chances of having a C-section in a hospital are between 25-40%. The chances of having a C-section in a birthing center are less than 5%.
• Birthing centers allow women to give birth in an upright positions, rather than going for the classic setup found in places like a hospital or emergency clinic. Giving birth in an upright position allows gravity to help in the delivery and allows relieves the stress on your baby. Hospitals often stick to procedure and don’t allow you much flexibility in the birthing process. At birthing centers, midwives are more flexible, know how to handle many different birthing positions and are ready to work with each expectant mother to make them as comfortable as possible.
• Since the chances of having a C-section are much less at a birth center compared to an emergency clinic, expectant mothers are able to eat and drink during labor.
• Delivering in a birthing center is a good option if you do not plan to vaccinate your child. Employees at a birthing center will respect the wishes of your birthing plan, ensuring that your baby won’t be injected with something against your wishes.
• Birthing centers are also a good option for mothers who want to exclusively breastfeed their children. Chances of breastfeeding successfully are better at birthing centers and are a good way to avoid the pacifiers, sugar water and formula that are sometimes pushed by hospitals.
• Another great reason for choosing a maternity clinic is that mothers might be able to actually get some rest. At a hospital or emergency clinic, nurses are likely checking up on you every few hours to make sure everything is ok. Rather than constantly getting poked and prodded constantly, giving birth at a birthing clinic or birthing center ensures that mothers will get rest and won’t really be bothered unless something is really wrong.

There are many birthing options available, but what works for one mother doesn’t necessarily work for everyone. If you’re expecting, it’s a good idea to do some research to figure out option works best for you. If you’re experiencing complications, an emergency clinic may be best, but otherwise a birthing center may offer you a level of comfort not found anywhere else.