Crunchy Dad

We’ve got a little girl on the way. The due date is actually very close but we just decided to switch from a hospital to a birth center. It’s a late change but we’re happy with the decision. We took a great birthclass and it gave us the information we needed to digest and make a decision on. There were some questions and concerns but the experience just seems much better.

My wife suggested it earlier but I wasn’t really comfortable with it for us. Mostly concerns because her first pregnancy was hard on us but the circumstances were very different.

There’s a lot of fear around the birth of your child and the hospital and the doctor as an authority figure do provide some comfort. I’m beginning to realize a lot of their sales pitch is fear related. They also work on the large factory model but I’ll write more about that in another post.

At the heart of it, 3 things really stick out in my mind:

• You get more attention at a birth center. At the hospital, we’d see the doctor for 5 minutes during rounds and right at the end. The nurse would pop in at random for checks but mostly watch a monitor. At the birth center, my wife will have a midwife (and a backup in our case) focused on her alone for the entire time.
• The environment is nicer. At least the one we visited. It’s set up like a nice home with whirlpool bathtub and large bed. Frankly, I’m surprised they don’t market this as a high end choice.
• It costs less, assuming you have a normal birth and aren’t transferred to the hospital at the last minute. See above. I don’t want them to change my rates but it really is a good value.
• You don’t pay for minor risks. At a hospital, rules are designed around potential problems. Even if that risk doesn’t apply to you or the risk is less than 1%, you still suffer.
• They care about your desires. I hadn’t thought a lot about it before but we are bringing a new baby into the world. Why wouldn’t we want some control of the setting. If my wife wants to walk around, she should be able to. If she’s thirsty, she shold If she wants to roll over, it shouldn’t be an ordeal.

I’m sure I’ll write a couple posts about the decision and the switch. I may be repeating what other’s wrote but the more the merrier. I also didn’t find much from the dad’s perspective.