Where Should You Give Birth? Home Birth, Birth Centers, or Hospital Delivery | 144

I'm here to help you take the guesswork out of childbirth so you can make the choices that are right for you and your baby. Quick note, this podcast is for educational purposes only and does not replace your medical advice. Check out our full disclaimer at the bottom of the show notes. Hello, hello, you guys.

33 weeks, second baby from Texas. Hi, I hope you've joined the birth classes. First child, 36 weeks. I love it. Oh my gosh. Oh my gosh. 25 weeks, first baby from Quebec. I love it. We have so many Canadian students. Hello, hi, 24 weeks, second baby, a VBAC, yes! I'm obsessed with VBACs, Laura. I love it from Minnesota. I did a travel job, a short one, it was like a two week assignment.

So we're going to talk about home birth. We're going to talk about birth centers, and we're going to talk about, hospital birth. If that sounds good. Oh, I love it. The Nerdy Mermaid is in the house. Hello. Hello. Make sure you guys, when you join, tell me how far along you are and tell me what number baby.

Okay, so we're going to break down the different birth spaces that you can deliver your baby. So, Now what I want you guys to do if you're watching this live or you're watching the recording or you're listening to the podcast, I want you to comment or write a review and tell me where you're delivering, whether it's a home birth, a hospital birth or a birth center.

I want to give birth on the floor. I want to give birth in the bed. I want to give birth in my back porch. That is definitely a home birth. Home birth give you way more control, way more options. And I mean, let's just face it. Like if I'm having a really bad day, I want to be at home. I always wanted to have a home birth you guys, and I was going to do it with grace and butt.

However, you can go across the border and deliver in some of the border states of North Carolina. I only know this, you guys, because when I first married my husband, he was flipping houses in Asheville and I went to stay with him. And of course I did all the research on birth in case we ended up staying there.

So, Do I want you just going willy nilly, refusing all the things and just being really, really stubborn? No. I want you to be educated. So one of the things that I tell my students inside of Calm Labor Confident Birth Course and the VBAC Lab is that you can refuse But should you? So let's talk about some of the options that are different from a home birth to a birth center to a hospital birth.

So we've already said home birth, you're going to have the most control. You don't have to have an IV. You don't have to lay down on your back. You don't have to lay down at all. You could walk around the house. You could crawl around the house. You could. Give birth standing in your tub. You can order an inflatable birth tub, which I highly recommend that you do no matter where you're delivering.

A lot of times your home birth midwife who is going to deliver your baby at home will bring the supplies with her. You just have to chat with them and find out. Now most of the time insurance does not cover home birth. Now for my mama in Quebec, yours probably does, but I think you guys have to Choose at the beginning of your pregnancy.

Hi, Hibba. How are you? Look at Kadri is 38 weeks in Poland. How amazing. Oh my gosh, I'm so excited. Five months postpartum here, educating myself for the second baby. Yes, Sam. I love it. And she's extraordinary. You belong here. For sure. 31 weeks first in California. Cass, if you're new here, my name is Trish.

I'm a longtime labor and delivery nurse for over 16 years and the majority of my nursing career. I was a travel nurse in California. I love California. I love it. Just so expensive. Okay, let's see who else. Let me check in with you guys. And if you guys have any questions, I'll answer a few when I'm done.

Okay, so 28 weeks, Heba. I love it. Okay. 36 weeks today is Lady Breeze and Lady Breeze is one centimeter still. Girl, flip that script. You only have to get to 10. So instead of saying one centimeter still, I want you to be like, I am one centimeter.

Ready to go. One out of ten is amazing before labor starts. Dilation doesn't matter until labor starts. Okay, now that I've gotten completely off track answering your questions. Okay, so home birth. Your rules. You get to decide who delivers a home birth midwife. What are the things you have to do? Pretty much nothing.

You want to ask the right questions. Ask them if they have experience and even look at reviews or talk to past patients because this lady's going to be intimate with you in your home. So home birth, your rules, your way. You can give birth out back, you can give birth in your kitchen, whatever you want.

You also have the option, a lot of home birth or birth centers are attached to the hospital and you can get transferred really quickly. If I were going to do a birth center, I would prefer one that has a quick transfer because God forbid baby needs to go to the hospital. If you're like Miles and miles away, you're going to have to stay until you're able to transfer.

So the good thing about delivering in a birth center is if there is an emergency with a baby, you'll be able to transfer to, you'll be able to go from the birth center because they usually let you get discharged really quick. I've had students who have given birth at birth centers and And they go home a few hours later.

A lot of times you'll have like a queen size bed that will be where you and baby and, and dad sleep in that room. You also can deliver in a normal bed instead of a hospital bed. So that means they're not going to break it down like a transformer. And then you also have like a really homey environment.

You're going to have rugs on the floor, like a house. You're going to have a nice bathroom, more than likely a really nice shower, a birth, a tub. And you'll have different options in the room. Sometimes they'll have birth stools. Sometimes they'll have like the inflatable thingy that I can't think of the name.

Can't think of the name right now. All right, so, The home or the birth center is going to have nurses and it's going to have certified nurse midwives and sometimes an OB.

This is why I recommend you, if you join our birth classes, you add on your labor bat signal. The labor bat signal is going to be like the best thing in the world. That's where you have a direct text message. With me and my doulas on telegram, so you'll love that. All right. So you may even have at a birth center, they have birth stools, they have recliners, they have rockers, and just being able to change positions and utilize all of these things is like heaven.

Is insane, right? Because doctors don't say, okay, I'm prescribing movement and gravity. They say, oh, put her on Pitocin. What level Pitocin? Up her Pitocin. Give her more Pitocin. Pitocin is not the answer to everything. And it actually is not the best thing for us. Being up, moving, utilizing our, our amazing bodies, knowing how to open your pelvis.

So that is really, really important. One of the most powerful things that you guys can do to have the birth you envision is to empower yourself with knowledge, tools, and positioning. Okay. All right. So now the other thing about, Birth centers is you're not restricted to the bed. You're not even a lot of sometimes you're restricted to the room But some of the birth centers will have like areas you can walk to They might have an outside area that you know, like I don't know about you guys But when I get overwhelmed and stressed I take a walk outside changing your environment when you're in labor can be huge So that's why I want you guys to stay at home.

But it's still a little bit medical and y'all know I'm crunchy with the side of medical. Okay, so a hospital birth, 90 percent of y'all are going to give birth in the hospital. Hi Whitney, how are you today? Tell me how far along you are, what number baby, all those things. Okay, so the majority of you guys are going to give birth in the hospital.

Birth is birth no matter what. It's you that makes the difference, your voice and your preferences. But I want you guys to hear me, just because you're giving birth in a hospital does not mean that you can't have this magical, beautiful experience. I gave birth to all six of my babies unmedicated at the hospital.

I also want to tell you You can have a magical medicated birth too. So that's your choice. I don't want you guys to feel like I can't have the birth I want. You can have a beautiful, magical hospital birth, okay? You just have to be educated, empowered because you can't make decisions if you don't know what's being said.

Hospitals have policies, but the other truth is just because they have a policy, you still have a human right. to refuse. Again, we don't refuse just because we can. We refuse based on knowledge and appropriate, like, is this appropriate for me right now? Well, the only way you know that is if you're educated.

There are some states that it's illegal to give birth at home. There are, you can drive to another state. So don't let that deter you either. Then there's some places like Canada that pay for your home birth, which they are amazing. Thank you, Canada. Okay. Hospital births, you're going to have a certified nurse midwife.

That is different than a home birth midwife. A certified nurse midwife is more, she's medically trained. She cannot do high risk delivery. She cannot do C sections. She can assist during a C section. So if you have a nurse midwife, she can go into the OR with the provider, the obstetrician who's going to do your surgery if you for some reason have to have a C section.

But girl, you have a right to get out of the bed. In the hospital, you're going to have much more intense fetal monitoring. A home birth, you're going to have, they're going to use a Doppler just like they use in your doctor's office. And they're going to listen to the baby periodically throughout your labor.

So I'm going to give you guys a little secret Ted bit, you can actually palpate your belly to feel what stage of labor you're in, but it takes some experience.

That's a little trick I'm going to teach you inside those classes. So there's a little dangling fruit to come hang out with me.

They're going to want you to push on your back with your feet and the stirrups. The reason I created my birth classes, the reason I took my 16 years of high risk labor and delivery experience and went all in online is because you have a right. To not do those things. You have a right to be at the hospital where you want to feel safe and protected and have the options, but also have a birth the way you want to have it.

Do you guys hear me? You have a right to give birth how you want. Even if you're in the hospital, we can't manhandle you. So if you're laboring away, you're on your hands and knees, and that's how you want to push. And then your doctor comes in and says, roll over, let's get your legs in the stirrups. Just ignore him.

That is a different vibe, right? Do you guys feel that? Here's the two scenarios. And I want you guys to tell me which do you absolutely need to consider listening to and which is just his preference for convenience. So you're laboring away, you're on your hands and feet, hands and knees in bed, you're starting to push and the doctor comes in and says, Okay, let's see.

I'm going to pick one of your names. Okay, Tracy, let's get on your, your back. I'm going to put, break the bed apart. We're going to put your feet up in these stirrups, and we're going to have a baby. That is preference. That is convenience for your doctor, not for you. Now, if your doctor, and you can just ignore them, you don't even have to refuse, girl.

They might verbally force you or verbally coerce you or even bully you. You guys I dropped a thread over in threads If you're not following me in threads go over there because I get to be way more laid back and mouthy. I dropped a thread asking people some of the most ridiculous things that doctors have said to them During their birth, you guys, let me see if I can pull it up.

I need to get you on your back. I need to see what's going on. That is a different scenario. That is not out of convenience. That is why we're there, right? So we can help you if there's an emergent situation. We are not there for you to give birth how we want. You guys let that land.

Okay. So you can say no. You can refuse. You do not have to do what your providers tell you to do if you don't want to.

But again, I'm not saying be a sassy little toddler. I'm saying be an educated woman who knows her rights. You guys hear me? Okay, so home birth, pretty much your way, whatever you want. Gonna have a home birth midwife. Birth centers, You get a lot more freedom, probably going to have a certified nurse midwife who's going to deliver you.