Knowing what your birthing options are, in order to decide where to have a baby, are important decisions expectant parents need to make. With the average cost to deliver a baby in a hospital by vaginal birth in the U.S. being around $8800.00 in a labor and delivery room, pregnant moms and dads are looking for alternative ways to deliver a baby in a healthy and safe environment, but without the high costs of delivering in a hospital.
Pregnant teenagers and expectant women need to know what natural childbirth options are available for them to deliver their baby, understanding the pros and cons of cesarean sections so aptly discussed in “The Business of Being Born” documentary by Ricki Lake, especially since childbirth by cesarean section has become big business in U.S. hospitals.
Natural Childbirth Options
- Hospital Birth
- Hospital Birthing Room
- Birthing Center
- Home Birth Delivery
Labor and delivery cost is an important factor for many expectant moms and dads in deciding where to deliver a baby, but the cost to deliver a baby should not be the primary reason for choosing a birthing center or home birth delivery over a hospital birth, as there is much more than cost to consider in deciding how or where to deliver a baby.
Whether you have medical insurance or not to help with the costs of delivering your baby, understand that the average cost of birthing center deliveries and home birth delivery is 1/3 to 1/2 the cost of giving birth in a hospital, and many birthing centers accept insurance and are happy to file claims for you or work out a payment plan.
If you are interested in delivering your baby at a birthing center or a home birth delivery, find a birth center near you and schedule a consultation and walk-through of the facility. A consultation visit with the birthing center gives you the opportunity to talk to the certified midwives on staff and ask important questions about birthing options, costs of delivering at the birthing center or a home birth, insurance and payment plans, your personal birth plan and preferences for labor and delivery.
Birth Plans
Wherever you decide to deliver your baby, it’s important that you take the time to create a birth plan
The birth plan is a detailed “map” your labor and delivery team will use to follow your wishes and instructions for a natural childbirth experience throughout the stages of labor and delivery. Be sure each person involved in the birthing process has a copy of your birth plan well ahead of the “big day” in order to avoid any miscommunication or confusion during labor and delivery.
Writing a birth plan with the help of a “birth plan template”, or by following the guidelines found in a “sample birth plan”, will help you in choosing and writing down your personal birthing options and preferences. What should a birth plan or birth form include?
- Who do you want to be there throughout your labor and delivery?
- Will there be children/siblings, parents or in-laws present?
- Do you want a doula? A doula is an assistant who provides various forms of non-medical support (physical, emotional and informed choice) in the childbirth process
- Do you want mobility, the option to move around at will, or do you prefer to be confined to a bed?
- What activities or labor and delivery positions do you plan to use during labor and while giving birth? (walking, standing, squatting, sitting, etc)
- Do you want a calm, quiet, gentle birth?
- Do you want a water birth? (delivering your baby in a birthing tub), or with a birthing stool during the birthing process?
- Do you want any pain medications? Do you have any preferences for which pain medications are used if any, or do you want to avoid them altogether?
- What will you do for pain relief? Massage, hot and cold packs, changing positions, labor imagery, relaxation techniques, breathing exercises, shower/tub or Jacuzzi, and medication are just some options to consider
- How do you feel about fetal monitoring? Fetal monitoring often requires laboring mothers to assume the supine position (flat on your back) during labor, which can make back labor more uncomfortable and painful during labor
- Do you want an epidural childbirth? Do you want an episiotomy? Many birthing centers and home birth certified midwives do not routinely give episiotomies unless deemed necessary, and epidurals are not an option at birthing centers or home births
- How will you hydrate yourself during labor? Sipping water or ice chips? Do you want a routine IV, a heparin/saline lock, or nothing at all?
- Do you want soft music playing during your labor and/or delivery?
- For birthing center or home births, what are your wishes and preferences if you must be transported to a nearby hospital?
- If you need to deliver by cesarean section, do you have any special requests or wishes you would like considered?
Throughout your pregnancy, you are likely to hear a variety of labor and delivery stories that may or may not be welcome or invited. Keep in mind that each labor and delivery is different for every woman, so take these labor and delivery stories with a grain of salt.
Be sure to sign up for and take prenatal classes or natural childbirth classes, as childbirth education provided by those who are educated, qualified, certified and experienced in natural childbirth are better equipped to answer your questions and/or concerns about your birthing options, labor and delivery stages, nursing/breastfeeding your baby etc.
Childbirth classes also provide expectant parents the opportunity to watch high-quality natural childbirth videos, as opposed to “birthing videos” found online at websites like YouTube.com, where many of the “childbirth videos” are nothing more than pranks.
Childbirth books
Natural childbirth education, provided by those who truly care about you and your baby, is all you need in deciding for or against natural childbirth and choosing your childbirth options (or how and where to deliver a baby).
Related Posts:
Baby Needs Checklist – Basic Baby Needs for Newborn Babies
Pregnant Teenagers – Unplanned Teenage Pregnancy
Ricki Lake: Ricki Lake’s The Business of Being Born
The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be
Similar Posts:
- Allen Birthing Center, Dallas Midwife Birthing Options, American Association Birth Centers
- Natural Childbirth Birthing Options, Delivering Baby the Natural Way or Epidural?
- Ricki Lake: Ricki Lake’s The Business of Being Born
- The Expectant Father: Facts, Tips, and Advice for Dads-to-Be
- Pregnant Teenagers – Unplanned Teenage Pregnancy
RSS Feeds: 
My wife and I are having our second child in April. Our first child was delivered by c-section and now we are worried that we will be forced into a c-section again. How do you reconcile a birth plan, firstly between the parents and then secondly between the mother and doctor? It seems like things might get sticky.
Andrew, sometimes delivering by c-section is necessary to ensure the health and well-being of both the mother and the baby. Having one c-section does not necessarily mean subsequent births must be done by cesarean section.
Having a doctor that isn’t too quick to push for c-section births when there isn’t a real need for it medically is top priority. I would highly recommend that you and your wife search for a birthing center near you where you both can talk to the certified midwives on staff, and as long as your wife’s pregnancy is not deemed a “high risk pregnancy” there should be no reason why she can’t give birth naturally this time.
Birthing centers are an excellent and highly qualified birthing option for expectant mothers. Home births are also an excellent option for women not experiencing a high risk pregnancy.
I personally delivered two of my children at home and wouldn’t trade that experience for a hospital setting ever again. The ability and freedom to move around at will was a big plus for me, since most hospitals and staff require the laboring mother to stay flat on her back throughout labor and delivery. Being able to walk around between labor pains made labor much more comfortable for me, as opposed to being forced to stay flat while going through back labor. Ouch!
My daughter is pregnant and due in May, and she will be delivering her baby at a local birthing center.
Discussing delivery options for a low-risk pregnancy with medical staff, discussing the mothers wishes and preferences and coming to an agreement well ahead of the due date helps everyone involved be on the “same page”.
You and your wife should discuss privately what your wishes and wants are for this labor and delivery, and be in agreement with your choices. If the current doctor is not willing to agree to the birth plan of choice, ask why not and allow the doctor to explain his/her reasons.
Get a second and/or third opinion always…..Then make an informed decision, which may include changing doctors altogether if an agreement cannot be reached.
Never, ever allow a doctor to force you and your wife into a birth plan you aren’t happy with, or make you feel pressured to do things their way. This is your baby, and the ultimate decision of how, when, where the baby will be born is up to you and your wife. Look into the birthing options available in your area, perhaps a birthing center delivery or a home birth with the assistance of wonderful, caring, educated and experienced midwives who care about the mother and baby in ways nearly impossible to find in hospital maternity wards.
Lin, thanks for the in-depth response. If I am being completely candid, the disagreement is mostly between my wife and I. Our doctor is supportive of a natural birth, however my wife is very scared, despite reassurance from our doctor, that her uterus will rupture during a natural birth. I look back on our son’s birth and just remember how out of it she was for his first couple of days on earth because of the major surgery her body had underwent. But I guess in the end it is her body. It would be nice to have a women’s perspective on this situation. Thanks for your help.
Andrew, I apologize, I completely misunderstood. I thought the problem was with the doctor pushing for a c-section.
To help answer your question and your wife’s concerns (she must be reading scary stuff online about uterine ruptures), I searched for more balanced information.
Here is a USA Today article about a study in support of natural childbirth after a c-section” that your wife may not have read. Natural childbirth, or vaginal delivery following c-section deliveries, is absolutely possible and more women are having natural childbirth after having had a c-section and everyone is fine afterward.
Here are some great articles dealing with vaginal birth after cesarean section”, also referred to as VBAC, that also provides guidance to determine if your wife is a good candidate for vaginal delivery or not. Obviously the doctor approves and feels she is a good candidate, so perhaps she needs to read more in favor of natural, vaginal childbirth to help take away her fears of a uterine rupture. There’s still time, since she’s not due until April, so hopefully she’ll come to realize that she really can deliver naturally. Good luck!
Andrew, I wanted to pass along another fabulous link I found to information that may help your wife understand a bit better that she really can have a natural, vaginal birth after a section. Check out Vaginal Birth After Cesarean Section found at the I Can website. There’s several great articles there with further resource links to statistics and rates on natural birth after c-sections that will likely help you both. I wish you both much luck with the baby!
Lin, thanks for the great links. I’ll definitely share them with my wife. I appreciate your help.
For your information, Lin. A few friends of mine chose the “Water Birth” method, and they said getting birth in the warm water will greatly reduce the pain during the birth.
Furthermore, it will has a less traumatic birth experience to the baby as well!
What about your opinion on it, Lin?
Hi Wilson, I know quite a few women who have given birth by “water birth” and they have all said it made the labor and delivery much more comfortable (with less pain) than other methods.
Water birth wasn’t well known at the time I gave birth to my kids, by I did deliver my last two at home, which I wouldn’t trade that experience for anything.
Having delivered in a hospital with my other four kids and difficulties in dealing with the hospital staff (doctors and nurses especially) trying to make me lay flat on my back with a fetal monitor strapped on while enduring back labor made labor more painful than it needed to be. Having the fetal monitor strapped on while in labor requires laboring women to remain flat on their back and women aren’t allowed to move around, turn on their side etc in order to relieve their pain. I did manage to get the doctor to agree to remove the monitor since there was no indication whatsoever that the baby was in distress at all, and I can’t help but feel like hospitals make women go through labor and delivery in ways that make the birth process easier on the doctor/staff than on the woman and baby.
Had I known about water birth at the time I was having my kids, I would have considered that option. I highly recommend women with “low risk” pregnancies to seriously consider birthing centers or home births. The difference between delivering in the hospital vs delivering at home or in a birthing center are immense.
Lin, thanks for all your help. I think we are going to go with the c-section. It’s what my wife is most comfortable with and she has been very convincing. Again, thanks for your help.
Hey Lin,
I have become an ardent reader of your blog. Your doing such a great job darling. Its so touching to see how you go out of the way to get people information that’ll help them and offer a helping hand in times of crisis.
God bless u!
Andrew, I’m glad that you both have come to an agreement on the childbirth method the two of you can be happy and excited about. I hope all the best for the birth of your child in April. Congrats!
Hi Janet, thank you for the compliment. I’m more than happy to search for further information that includes links to help readers/visitors of my site make important decisions for themselves and loved ones. It’s a community here at Telling It Like It Is, and sometimes other readers/visitors provide helpful information to other readers and other times I find the information needed. I really enjoy the interaction between readers in the comments section. This interaction especially occurs in my articles about “helping vs enabling” adult grown children.