Sunday, June 5, 2011

Deciding where to deliver my baby

I am in limbo.  Do I deliver with a Certified Nurse Midwife at a big hospital or do I attempt a natural birth in a birth center with a Certified Professional Midwife.  The hospital is 30 minutes by interstate highway, the birth center is 40 minutes by interstate highway.

I do not want to have the baby in the big hospital downtown but I prefer to have the baby in a hospital setting.  So, now I'm considering changing practices to a smaller hospital, further away that also has Nurse Midwives.  (My local hospital that is 15 minutes away has no Nurse Midwives that deliver there.)

I visited the birth center last week for a consultation and loved it but my concerns are the distance (not even the same state!) and of course, that I do not have safety net of full emergency services immediately if something goes bad.  Everything I've read has reassured me that statistically, a birth out of a hospital free of medical intervention is much safer than a hospital birth that is full of interventions.  That being said I still worry.  Maybe after my consult with the new Nurse Midwife that delivers at the smaller hospital, I'll have a better idea of what I should do.  The clock is ticking, now that I'm nearly 22 weeks along!

At least I have a supportive husband that is all for having the baby at the birth center that is in the next state :)
Link to another mama's blog about her wonderful experience at the birth center that ended in a transfer to the hosptial, CMC-Pineville, due to labor slowing down. Great pictures.