Giving birth is all about you, your family, and your baby. We want this experience to be safe, individualized, and empowering. No birth is exactly the same, so we tailor every part of this journey to fit you, your pregnancy, and the health of your baby. We’re on your team, equipping you with every bit of information you need to give birth exactly how you envision it.
Tailored for you, all about you
Your First Steps
Having your baby at the birth center is a decision we hope you make, and we want to assure you’re prepared for the experience. We make it easy for you by creating a step-by-step plan so you’re empowered and ready for birth.
1. Attend our Birth Center seminar.
As a patient with us, we want to know you, and we want you to know us! Our seminar gives you a chance to hear exactly what it’s like to have a baby in our birth center. You’ll meet some of our staff, have a chance to ask questions, and see our facility for yourself.
2. Complete financial counseling.
2. Complete financial counseling.Once you think the birth center is the right option for you, we want to meet with you in person or by phone and make sure you have a clear understanding of the costs. Unfortunately, not all commercial insurance companies value birth center birth. If the birth center is not an in-network facility with your insurance, you will be responsible for the facility fee (a small fraction of a hospital’s facility fee for birth) and we will give you the necessary documentation to apply for reimbursement from your insurance company. For your actual out-of-pocket balance, we work with United Medical Credit, a company that makes it easy to make payments to cover the cost. They even have interest-free options for qualified clients. The bottom line: we don’t want money to prevent someone from using the birth center and we will do our best to try and make it accessible for everyone.
3. Meet the clinical eligibility criteria.
Birth Center birth is incredibly safe. Part of that safety requires that we make certain any woman considering birth center birth meets certain medical eligibility criteria. We’ll go through this list with you at your first consultation visit as a birth center patient and review it regularly during the remainder of your prenatal care.
4. Complete education requirements.
4. Complete education requirements.After making the decision that HFBC is where you’d like to give birth, you must attend a series of classes to make certain you and your spouse are prepared. Fear is the greatest enemy of a natural birth, and education is the greatest weapon against fear. The classes are designed to empower you to design and accomplish the birth experience you desire, whatever that may be.
What Happens When You Arrive
What to Expect During Labor
Your baby is on the way! Once you’re settled in your birthing suite, the real work begins. Your midwife and your birth assistant will be with you throughout the process of labor and birth, supporting your choices, utilizing various tools and techniques to help manage the discomforts of labor, and creating an environment in which you feel strong, capable, and empowered to give birth naturally.
What About Pain?
Labor can be difficult, but you are masterfully created and absolutely capable of persevering and giving birth to your baby. We will utilize natural pain control measures including our beautiful birthing tubs, our large showers with unlimited hot water, breathing techniques, natural movement, birthing balls, robozo techniques, massage, and a lot of love. Should more medical interventions become necessary, the midwife can talk you through options, which include nitrous oxide and IV narcotics. We strongly believe that pain is magnified by fear, and fear is reduced through education and hands-on support throughout the labor process.
Your Birth, Your Way
Having your baby your way means you are free to labor and give birth to your baby in the manner you desire. Whether it’s our comfortable queen-sized beds, our remarkable labor/birth tubs, our oversized showers, our birthing stools, or our robozo chairs, it’s your birth and we will help you achieve the birth experience you desire.
What to Expect After Delivery
Congratulations on your beautiful bundle of joy! After birth, you’ll have freedom to eat, enjoy your baby, enjoy a relaxing herbal bath, and get ready to go home. Unlike in a hospital setting, you aren’t required to stay for a certain number of days; as long as everyone is healthy, you can expect to return home within six hours of your beautifully natural birth.
Remember: Please bring a nutritious meal to eat after giving birth.
1. Immediately after delivery, you will have uninterrupted skin-to-skin time to bond with your baby and encourage breastfeeding. Your midwife and your nurse will be checking on you and your baby throughout the postpartum period, helping with breastfeeding and making sure everyone is doing well.
2. You will have the option of a herbal bath with your baby after your birth. It is a beautiful time to bond and recover.
3. We encourage you to eat a nutritious meal after the birth. What you’ve accomplished is incredible, but it takes a lot of energy. A meal will help you recover and rejuvenate.
4. About six hours after birth, you and your baby will be discharged to go home. Your midwife will call within 24 hours to check on you, and you’ll return to the birth center at or before 48 hours for a mother-baby check-up.
