What is normal, physiologic childbirth and what can care providers do to support it in every birth setting?
Physiologic birth not only benefits the families receiving care, but also the institutions and organizations that provide the care.
The Alabama Birth Coalition (ABC) advocates for high quality, affordable, respectful care for all Alabama families, in every birth setting. Let's examine the maternity care situation as it applies to home birth, birth in freestanding birth centers, and most commonly, hospital birth.
Birthing Spaces
Home Birth.
In seeking physiologic childbirth, more women are turning to the Midwives Model of Care in freestanding birth centers and homes.
Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) are the gold standard when it comes to out-of-hospital care. They are uniquely required to undergo clinical training out-of-hospital. They are trained to screen candidates, conduct resuscitation, administer medication, and follow emergency management and transfer protocol. Unlike Nurse Midwives, they do not care for women who have been given induced labor or epidural medication.
Birth Centers.
For some families, a birth center offers a welcoming middle ground between home birth and hospital birth. There are currently no freestanding birth centers in Alabama. A family might prefer to give birth at a birth center instead of in their home if the center is located closer to a back-up hospital, if the center offers comfort amenities (such as a birthing tub, ball, stool, bar), or if the mother feels safer and more relaxed away from home.
Hospital Birth.
The vast majority of U.S. births occur in the hospital setting. Hospitals specialize in treating acute illness and injury, so they are an obvious choice for women who have underlying morbidities, pregnancy complications that require medical or surgical intervention, or who choose to have high-intervention births. A hospital delivery is also a good choice for women who elect to use pain medication or feel the most safe and relaxed knowing that surgical facilities are on the premises should the birth deviate from it's normal course.