Looking For Your Best Birthing Location? These Three Factors Might Help
For modern women, the journey towards motherhood is rife with choices. We’re lucky enough to choose whether or not we want to pursue pregnancy in the first place. Within that pregnancy, there are also choices galore, including who to have with you on the big day and, arguably most important of all, where you choose to give birth. Nowadays, there are three leading options – home birth, a birthing center, or in a hospital setting.
Listening to the facts and possibilities associated with each option is undeniably useful for making a well-informed choice. There are also a fair few factors that will influence the best birth location for your specific situation, the most pressing of which we’ll discuss here.
# 1 - Consider Your Health in General
Your health, and that of your baby, is by far the most important determinant of birthing location. While many experts recommend less invasive locations like home or birth centers if you’re experiencing a healthy pregnancy, there are undeniable risks to these options if you’ve encountered any pregnancy complications.
Luckily, most birth centers only accept low-risk births, and they can be a calming environment with a generally lower rate of interventions in this instance. But if in doubt, definitely take a minute to think about your health journey. Do you have a medical history that could complicate the birthing process? Have you experienced problems like gestational diabetes or high fluid levels during your pregnancy? If you’ve answered yes to any of these questions, then a hospital may be best.
# 2 - Think About Your Finances
It’s also worth sparing a thought for your finances. While this shouldn’t be the overall factor in your decision, you certainly won’t start motherhood on the best footing if you find yourself in significant debt. Of course, with a bit of luck, you will have worked with a health insurance agency to find an inclusive plan that also covers every option long before becoming pregnant. In that instance, you can pretty much tick this factor off the list. But, if you’re paying for your birth out of pocket, there are a few things to consider.
While you might assume otherwise, home births or birth centers are a generally affordable option compared with hospitals because they require fewer interventions and expensive procedures. However, it’s important to weigh that up with the fact that, should things not go according to plan, you’ll need to be transferred at no small cost. Make sure you understand the full cost package and the likelihood of requiring those additional expenses before you commit.
# 3 - Follow Your Gut
This last point may be frustratingly vague, but following your gut is one of the most important ways to make this decision. This is your birth, after all. If you feel strongly that one setting would suit you better than another, it’s probably worth pursuing that option.
Admittedly, birth plans can always change, and this is something you should acknowledge throughout your pregnancy. Still, considerations like these could help you put the best possible preparations in place.