I’m not pregnant and have not had a child, but I’ve recently been watching the ‘[name]One[/name] [name]Born[/name] [name]Every[/name] Minute’ shows, I live in the US and was wondering if they had birthing rooms here like the comfortable ones in this show? With things such as Birthing Swings? I have only ever seen women shown in traditional hospital beds on TV and things over here, and think the way a lot of women seem to do on ‘[name]One[/name] [name]Born[/name] [name]Every[/name] Minute’ looks a lot nicer!
Maybe a silly question but I wasn’t sure where to ask!
It depends on where you live and how “granola” your town is. I live in a hippie, crunchy kind of town and our hospital has a full birthing center with tubs, swings, balls, etc. and they encourage natural birth and adamantly push breastfeeding. But if you live somewhere like Southern [name]Florida[/name] where c-sections are scheduled like hair appointments, it would be very hard to find. I just recently watched the English version of the show and was so aggravated with the maternity care system in [name]America[/name]… it seems like every woman has a natural birth with gas and is able to labor however she likes. I do think they are a little too pushy about not needing epidurals/pain meds, not every woman can take natural childbirth and shouldn’t be treated like she’s weak or a wussy for wanting something for the pain.
I’m not sure exactly since I haven’t seen the show. But with my son I was able to labor in a jetted tub and on a exercise ball for awhile before he was born. My daughter came too quickly so I just got into bed and didn’t get out again until she was born. The hospital where I gave birth had very nice homey birthing rooms not some sterile type thing and I know of a birthing center that isn’t too far away from me. I also didn’t have an epidural nor did I feel any pressure to have one. I did use a midwife so that may have been part of the reason I didn’t feel pressured.
I haven’t seen the show, but the hospital that I gave birth in was in [name]Brooklyn[/name], in a family friendly/trendy area. The hospital room that I gave birth in kind of had a “hotel room” look that was kind of amusing to me. It had a TV/DVD player on a big console and a (broken!) tub and some easy chairs. The bed was pretty large and nice. It had hospital details though, it wasn’t completely free of those kind of things. And the horrible lighting and a huge spotlight that came out of the ceiling when it was show time!
Not to my knowledge. Some more progressive hospitals have converted to a Birth Center model that have more natural options like tubs in the room (for laboring not delivery). Otherwise, if you want a natural birth, you get the same room as any other vaginal birther. Some cities and towns have midwife-run Birth Centers (some affiliated with local hospitals in case of transfer), but I’ve never heard of an OBGYN that works in a outside birth center. But I live in the South and we’re pretty stuck in a hospital only model. Direct entry midwives can’t legally practice in a lot of southern states. Luckily, I’m in one that does allow midwife assisted homebirths, which is what we’re hoping to have barring complications. If all goes well, it is actually going to be a good deal cheaper to have a homebirth or even the free-standing center than to have a hospital birth.
Typically (at least in this area) hospitals are not equipped like that, but we do have specialized “birthing centers” which are not attached to a medical hospital, but are designed for natural childbirth. However, the closest birthing center to my home (which is 5 minutes from a hospital and has probably a half dozen hospitals within twenty minutes) is over an hour away.
I agree that it depends on where you live. I live in a medically progressive city/state and about half of the hospitals in my city have “birthing centers” that are very friendly to natural childbirth (midwives, birthing pools, bars, balls, etc.), but also have NICUs and full medical staff if needed. The hospital where I had my son (and am about to have my daughter) also allows doulas in operating rooms, should an emergency c-section be necessary, which pretty much blew my doula away (it was a fairly new policy three years ago). There are also several “childbirth collectives” in the area that are attended by certified nurse midwives with similar facilities (as well as hospital transport connections).