Originally posted July 29, 2017
Child birth. If you’ve had a kid, you’ve had to go through it. (duh.) There are lots of different ways to have a baby these days!! Natural, water birth, c-section, epidural; hospital, birthing center, home birth, the list goes on and on.
With all of my children, I chose to go au naturale, and I enjoyed it every time.
With my first born, I delivered him at a birthing center about 30 minutes away from my home. (You can check out his birth story here.)
With my second, the plan was to deliver him at the birthing center as well, but it didn’t pan out that way and I ended up having him at home. (Check out his story here.)
Here in Canada, there are no birthing centers, so you either have your baby at home or in the hospital. With my 3rd and 4th, I had them here at home. (See their stories here and here.)
Now, with all that being said, natural home births are all I know, so I may be a little biased. Here are my thoughts on the benefits of a home birth/birthing center:
1.Private environment
When you have your baby at home or at a birthing center, you have your own privacy. There aren’t really any other distractions coming down the hall or people walking in and out of your room.
2. You get to go home sooner rather than later
I am not really the biggest fan of hospitals, so I like the fact that at a birthing center, they send you home after about 4 hours. The subsequent visits are done at your own home. There’s nothing like being able to sleep in your own bed.
3. No machines and monitors
When at a hospital, you have to be hooked up to all their monitoring devices at all times. This can prevent you from getting up to walk around, or labor how your body wants to. I enjoyed the fact that I was checked periodically rather than constantly hooked up to a machine.
4. Cost
Research shows that a home births cost about 60% less than hospital births. There are many birthing centers across the United States that are funded through government assistance, which reduces the cost to the mother. There are also many organizations that provide doulas free of charge to expecting mothers.
I must say that I am no doctor or expert; so as they say, always consult a doctor before making your decision whether to birth at home or in a hospital. There are some circumstances that will prevent you from being able to have a home birth.
At the end of the day, the goal is to get the BABY OUT. Don’t let anyone shame you for your decision on how you want to deliver YOUR baby. It’s truly your choice. More power to ya, momma!
We’ll talk soon!
Shayla