Birth Center Tour

Yesterday I was able to take a tour of the Women's Birth and Wellness Center (WBWC) in Chapel Hill. I'm in search for a new provider for my general health as well as someone who would provide prenatal care. I currently do have a gynecologist with a local practice, which would serve just fine for most pregnancies; however, I'm not sure how SMC-friendly they would be. They also are a fairly large practice and deliver at a local large hospital which is a great hospital really, but I'm not sure how natural-birth friendly they are. Their C-section rates are below the national average, but still in the 30s. I don't have a wellness provider yet because I moved to the area a year ago and have yet to make that decision, which needs to be soon.

A birth center appeals to me because I'd like to have a natural, vaginal birth. I have anxiety and one of the things I'm most anxious about with regards to pregnancy is the actual childbirth part itself. While I don't like pain, I'm not sure being in a hospital is the best choice for me. So I've been exploring out of hospital birth options. I also like the appeal of laboring in water or even having a water birth. I've known 2 people to deliver at WBWC and one of my close friends is delivering there end of March/early April. They all rave about the center.

Additionally, the midwives at WBWC offer IUIs as a service to their patients. This really appeals to me. I have to get the specifics (ie, cost and do they offer weekend IUIs), but I'll be making that phone call tomorrow to find out more info. Because I'm younger, I'm looking to start out with low-intervention. My initial plan is that if IUIs #1-3 don't work, I'll upgrade to a RE and maybe add medications (Clomid or Femara) to the mix. The goal is a baby so I'm willing to do whatever it takes for it to happen.

That WBWC offers both primary care (wellness visits) as well as prenatal and postnatal care is ideal. To become one of their patients, you are required to take a tour. They limit the number of women that deliver at the center to 45 a month, so it's important to get in early - they recommend becoming a patient before getting pregnant. Patients have to be low-risk to deliver at the center (no gestational diabetes, no twins, etc). And they're pretty popular as they're full all the time and have a great reputation as one of 2 accredited birth centers in NC.

So the tour was at 12:30 pm (a Saturday) and lasted for two hours. Usually the tours occur on Tuesday evenings, but due to some unusually snowy weather we've been having lately, the original tour was cancelled. We were given a small packet of information at the door that included a brochure on birth centers, a sheet with recommendations for prenatal massage, and then a patient information sheet, medical history sheet, and financial information. There was a group of 16 of us (7 couples, 1 female guest of a couple, then me). We watched a short video older than me that described birth centers and the hallmarks of birth centers across the USA (low intervention, no monitors, no epidurals, natural childbirth, family friendly, breastfeeding friendly). After that, we were able to meet and converse with the founder of the center and head certified nurse midwife, Maureen Darcey. She talked to us about the center, their policies, and fielded any questions we had regarding natural birth, lactation support, pre- and post-natal support, and their percentages on transfers to a hospital (UNC Hospital 2 miles away), C-sections, emergencies, etc. After about 45 minutes of questions, she took us on a tour of the clinic and the birth center itself. The clinic looked much like a normal doctor's office with reception area, receptionists, exam room, and lab space. The center also has a boutique that is open to the public. It sells all kinds of goodies like maternity bras, cloth diapers, lactation supplies, and other maternity odds and ends.

The birth center itself consists of 3 birthing rooms (blue, green, peach) that each contain a queen size bed, large tub for waterbirths, bathroom, and external door so that women can labor outside or go for a walk on a nearby trail. There was also a large shower for laboring and a large kitchen/living room area for guests and families to make themselves comfortable.

Overall opinion? It's definitely a place that I would love to have a baby. It felt homey and comfortable and Maureen seemed to be competent and fully knowledgeable as a midwife.

Things I liked:

(1) Being able to take photography or videography of the full delivery
(2) Being able to eat and drink during and after labor
(3) Being able to come home within hours of delivery
(4) Keeping the baby with me at all times - the baby never leaves the mother unless there is some other necessary, emergency intervention and even then, the baby never leaves the room
(5) The amount of effort the midwives put forth to try everything in the book to allow for a natural birth. They aren't restrictive to timelines or curves when it comes to delivery or due dates
(6) They offer postnatal care at 1 day, 2 weeks, and 6 weeks for mom and 1 day and 2 weeks for baby - and all of this occurs IN HOME, so I won't have to leave the comfort of my home to get support
(7) They're really breastfeeding friendly. I have anxiety about this as well and really want to give it all I have to be able to breastfeed. I want to start off right.

Things I don't like:

(1) I'm 30 minutes from the center. It's not too far and definitely isn't the farthest they say that patients travel to the center, but I do have a concern that I may not be able to get there on my own, as I won't have a partner to drive me. I will have to work around this either by having a friend or family member drive me to the center. Or maybe if I hire a doula, she could get me there.

So it seems that I may have found my provider and place to have a baby (hopefully). I have to call tomorrow to schedule a wellness visit, and I do have questions about IUIs. I'm very curious as they do seem SMC friendly. They mentioned during the orientation that single women have used the center, and on their patient forms, they had under status "LWP" which stands for lesbian with partner. While I'm not a lesbian, it does make me feel better that they are a place of acceptance for single women who get pregnant the "non-traditional" way.