Hospital, Birth Center or Home: Where should my baby be born?

Close your eyes. Imagine the moment has finally arrived; you are in labor. Where do you see yourself? Are you in a hospital? Are you in your living room? Somewhere in between?

One of the decisions you will have to make now that you’re expecting is where you are going to welcome your baby. You have three basic options. In a hospital, in a birthing center*, and a home birth.

Let’s talk home birth. Home births happen, well, in your home. A mother who desires a home birth typically has a strong desire to have an unmedicated vaginal birth (people refer to this type of birth as a natural birth- I personally never use this word because I believe all birth is natural, but more about that at a later time). Your birth will be attended by midwives and there is also a good chance you’ll have hired a doula. This is a great option for those who feel very peaceful, safe, and calm in their homes. You might also consider a home birth if you wish to have a water birth, as not all birthing centers/facilities will permit them. You would need to be low risk to have a home birth.

Birthing Centers are the middle ground between Home and Hospital births. Some birth centers are free standing and some are in hospitals. You will also been seen by a midwife at a birthing center, however many have access in-house to an OB should you need. Many birthing center patients also desire an unmedicated birth, or an “I’d like to try for an unmedicated birth but if I change my mind I want access to intervention”. Birthing centers often have a “home” feel to them, the lights will be dimmer than a hospital, along with less interruptions during labor. 

I love this post by Lauren Hartmann over at The Birth Hour titled Birth Center vs Home birth. She does a great job talking about her experiences with both.

And lastly, there is the hospital. A hospital is where you have many options; your provider can be an OB or Midwife, you can have an unmedicated birth or medicated. You’ll need to be in a hospital however if your baby needs to be born via cesarean, planned or unplanned. 

Mothermag.com has this article that I think lays out the pros and cons of home vs hospital birth really nicely. You can find it here. 

Here’s my suggestion. I find most people can eliminate one of these options right off the bat, either hospital or home. But they are open to the other two.

Do yourself a favor, explore your options fully.

If you think you want to give birth in a hospital, visit that hospital and a birth center. Same thing about a home birth. If you think you might want a home birth, talk to the midwifery practice who will attend your home birth, and visit a birthing center and then decide.

You have many safe options!

* I should point out that in this article, I use the term "Birth Center" loosely. As I understand it, there is only one credentialed birth center in our state of CT which happens to be in Danbury. Birth Center is not a trademarked term, so birthing facilities use it. The definition of an accredited birth center primarily is that it is an out-of-hospital facility for low-risk women. There is no continuous monitoring and no epidurals. Many hospitals have what is called a Baby Friendly          (read more about what Baby Friendly means here) "center" affiliated with their hospital, sometimes even located within in their hospital. The feel in these "centers" are different than birthing in the main hospital many times, so you'll want to explore them and their differences.

~Desirae