Why I Give Birth in a Hospital

Let me start this post by saying if it weren’t for the Internet and the wonderful bloggy world I’ve come to know, I would have NO idea that women would choose to birth outside of the hospital on purpose. I mean, when I used to think of a homebirth I would think of someone who suddenly and quickly went into labor without a chance to make it to the hospital first. Now I see just how beautiful and wonderful homebirth can be, and I know that is a great option for some women.

I personally choose to give birth in a hospital for a variety of reasons. None of my births have been “natural” in the sense that they were unmedicated. Actually, my first two births were labor induced, and I’m okay with that. My first birth was a very traumatic experience and I really have no way of knowing if it was traumatic because I was induced, or if that’s just the way it was going to be. My son was quite large at 9 lbs. 2 oz. and I had a very difficult time pushing him out. I did have an epidural with him, but it had worn off by the time he was delivered and I felt every inch of the episiotomy and the vacuum extraction that had to be performed to save my son’s life.

My second birth was so peaceful and wonderful compared to my first. I did have an epidural and I had no trouble pushing my daughter out. I could feel her birth, but I was just numb enough that it wasn’t excruciating. I didn’t have an episiotomy with her. It was a pleasant, wonderful experience. The only problem was with her cord being wrapped around her neck, but she turned out just fine.

While I try to do most everything the simple, old fashioned way I guess I’m not too old-fashioned about giving birth. You may be wondering why I would not even attempt to give birth at home, so here are my five reasons for giving birth in a hospital.

1. Homebirth is almost unheard of around here.

I have found one very small group of midwives in my state who do homebirths. They aren’t located very close to my home. I know no one in real life to talk to about homebirth. I would definitely consider birthing in a birth center, but to my knowledge they do not exist in my state. The last time I checked the midwives’ website they said they were trying to set up a birth center, but they only offer homebirth services as of right now.

2. My insurance does not cover homebirth.

I’m lucky in the fact that my insurance covers my prenatal visits and labor and delivery 100%. I do have to pay a small amount for my hospital stay. A homebirth would cost me around $3,000 out of pocket that my insurance would not cover.

3. I like having options for pain medication.

I know the risks of pain medication. I know the risks of induction. Heck, I know the risks of giving birth whether you do it in a hospital or not. I’m not afraid to say that I don’t mind an epidural. I’ve never had a single issue with one, and my babies have all seemed to be unaffected by the epidural. Like I said, giving birth to my daughter with very little pain was actually a very pleasant experience.

4. I don’t mind being able to recover in the hospital for a day or two.

Hey, all your meals are brought to you. Someone else is cleaning up your bloody sheets and bloody hospital gowns. Sure, the vital checks suck but I’ll take it to be pampered by someone else for a little while. I know that when I go home I won’t have that!

5. I love my OB.

My first OB was awful, but I love the OB I’ve had for my last two pregnancies. She’s had four kids herself and is just a really nice lady. She listens to my concerns, she highly supports breastfeeding and moms who stay at home, and she doesn’t push inductions. She obviously will induce, but you have to meet certain criteria before she does it.

I know a lot of women have very strong opinions on how they should birth. I’ve seen the beauty of homebirth, I’ve read the horrors of hospital birth, I’ve read about homebirths going bad and transferring to the hospital. At the end of the day, we all have to make the choices that we feel the most comfortable with. I don’t think I’m any less of a mother because I choose to birth in the hospital and take the epidural. It is what it is. I’ve had a scary experience and a beautiful experience and they were both in the hospital. My third baby will also be born in the hospital and I’m hoping for another good experience.

Oh, I really enjoyed Creative Christian Mama’s post about having a homebirth atmosphere at the hospital and I plan to implement some of her ideas.