Sitting halfway between the very medical environment of a hospital and the very nonmedical environment of a home birth is the freestanding birthing center. A birthing center is a facility designed for healthy, low-risk moms and babies that offers a more personalized and often greener atmosphere than a busy hospital can usually conjure up, but a more medically controlled environment than parents can create at home.
The National Center for Health Statistics estimates that, of the births that took place outside of a hospital setting in 2004, 27 percent took place in a freestanding birthing center.1 Most U.S. birth centers are independently run facilities, but some centers can be found in hospitals (an interesting point to investigate if you are leaning toward a hospital birth).
The personnel at most birthing centers try to cater to the comfort of the expectant parents. They offer rooms designed to look like a comfy bedroom at home, with perhaps a queen-sized bed for both expectant mom and dad to rest. Many have comfortable chairs and cozy couches for family and close friends to hang out on before and after the birth, and showers for women to relax in during their labor. Many will have a kitchen where family can gather, cook, and eat. This can be a home away from home.
Although these amenities don’t necessarily make the centers green, they do increase the potential for meeting your desires for a green labor and delivery. At a birthing center, your labor and delivery will be attended by a midwife and perhaps a doula, who are traditionally more open to meeting the individualized needs of the expectant couple. This choice gives you more control over the environment in your baby’s delivery room.
However, freestanding birthing centers are not without their disadvantages:
• Birth centers may not be appropriate for women with high-risk or complicated pregnancies.
• They may not be equipped to handle medical emergencies.
• They often do not have a medical physician in the building.
• 12 percent of women who labor in a birthing center will be transferred to a hospital before their delivery.1
• Some health insurance companies do not extend maternity coverage to birth centers.
If you are considering a birthing center, you will want to ask about their emergency backup plan and how long it takes to implement in practice. I agree with recommendations that the time “from decision to incision” should be thirty minutes or less if an emergency C-section is needed.
Questions for Birthing Center Staff
When you visit a hospital, bring along from this list your birth plan questions that you feel are important to your goal of introducing your baby to a healthy world:
• Is the delivery room cleaned with EPA-approved disinfectants?
• Is it possible to obtain fresh, healthy, organic food and filtered water while I am in this facility? If not, may I provide my own?
• Does the facility offer the option of organic cotton bed linens and gowns in the delivery room? If not, may I provide my own?
• Can I avoid medical intervention that is unnecessary to my health and the health of my baby? (Such interventions might include routine internal fetal monitoring—which may be at odds with my preference for “the least amount of unnecessary medical intervention.”)
• What are the bassinets and baby bedding made of? If they are made of conventional materials, can I provide my own bassinet, pads, bed sheets, and blankets?
• Will my baby be cleansed with soaps, shampoos, lotions, and creams? Can I bring my own? (See Chapter Five for information about pure personal hygiene products.)
• Do I have an option as to the type of diapers used on my baby—organic cotton cloth diapers or perhaps disposable brands known to have a lower impact on the environment?
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