Give me ideas for a free standing birthing center

[Journey]

I'm going to college right now for Nursing. I want to get my Masters in Nurse Midwifery, Doctorate in Nursing Science, and a degree in Public Health Law. Whew! Plus, whatever else I may decide to throw in there! LOL!

Anyways, I would like to one day open up my own free standing birthing center. This will be 10 or more years from now, but I love fantasizing about what it may be like... temperature control tubs to birth in, cosleepers available to all, childcare available on the spot, a garden to walk through while in labor, birthing, or after the birth, your own choice of what you'd like to eat, a gym set up for all my patients to keep healthy at (including prenatal yoga classes, birthing classes, etc.), a natural family living store (cloth diapers, slings, MOTHERING MAGAZINE!!!), enough room in each room for family to visit and partners and/or kids to spend the night, located close to the hospital just to appease the masses, and comfortable chairs, and couches available in the waiting room. Internet access available to those who'd like it, and "fantasy birthing suites" (think romantic dark wood canopy bed with cream colored canopy, french doors, large mirrors, etc.; or bamboo, tribal room, hunter greens). Oh, and doula's available to all. And, the room you labor in will be the room you birth in, and the room you recover in! No switching rooms 3 times (the hospital I gave birth to the first time promised I'd stay in the same room throughout labor, delivery, and postpartum... they didn't mention that was the last hour of labor, the delivery, and 2 hours postpartum!).

So, what do you think? Any ideas/suggestions/comments?

[pamamidwife]

I think plenty of beds so people dont' have to pack up their newborns so soon after birth...

It sounds dreamy. While I've never wanted to work in a birth center, I'd come visit yours! :)

[Journey]

See, I'd SOOOOO love to be a homebirth midwife. Unfortunately, I don't think that would go over too well in this area. I'd like to be a traditional (lay) midwife, too. But there's legal issues in my state. So, I figured go with the flow, be a legal midwife, then change the laws to allow other types of midwives. Plus, have a birthing center just so women have that option, because there has never been a birthing center in our county. I don't think there's a single free standing birthing center in the entire area. There's hospital based birthing centers, which really don't fit my idea of birthing centers. It's just a glorified term for maternity ward around here.

[lilmiss'mama]

What a wonderful dream!:D I second the plenty of beds suggestion. My oldest dd was born at free standing birth center and after 30 hours of labor they wanted to pack us up and have us go home. We got to sleep for a few hours and then we had to leave at 11pm. :irked: The other thing I didn't like was having rotating midwives. Whoever was on call was who you had. The woman who was there when Revina was born was someone I had never met.
I did like the idea of the bc, b/c I knew I didn't want to go to a hospital, but wasn't sure about a homebirth. Plus my state wouldn't let medicaid cover a homebirth and we couldn't afford it out of pocket. However, if I had know that the homebirth I had with my second dd would go as well as it did; I probably would have figured out a way to pay.
Anyway, I am studying to be a doula now and I would definetly work at your birth center!

[B52Bombshell]

Good luck with the free standing birth center!!!!

I had DS at the Elizabeth Seton Childbearing Center in Oct. of 2002 & the experience was WONDERFUL. I labored in the tub, it was just me, DH, the midwife & nurse. There were private rooms with birthing beds, the tub, & everything right there. There was a family area & kitchen area. The mainstream hospital was 2 blocks away, just in case. I labored, delivered, & recovered in the same room at the center. We stayed overnight, and DS never left my side. A lactation consultant helped us w/BF that night. The center offered childbirth classes, BF classes, LLL info, & activities & classes for the community. They didn't have a store, a gym, or garden, though. Those a good ideas...

HOWEVER, the Center was forced to shut down this past fall:
http://birthcenter.typepad.com/ :splat :angry

Thankfully, all is not lost:
http://www.realbirth.com/index.php?&MMN_position=1:1

Just so you have an idea of what you're up against. Hopefully, something will come about before we decide to have another baby. The freestanding birth center was an AWESOME experience, and I'd have my next baby there in a heartbeat. I wholeheartedly hope that you're successful with that endeavor!:)

[rainbowmoon]

I *love* your ideas!!! good luck to you!

one thing I would suggest is how about yummy food?:p our birth center only provides crackers,tea and juice. this has proved a bit of an inconvenience for us as we are already driving 1.5 hours to birth there, now we have to remember to eat before we leave home AND plan to bring snacks/drinks,etc. for the $$$ they charge I was VERY surprised they didn't offer any sort of meal service (not even sandwiches!)

[Tanibani]

You probably got this in the mail... but in case you did not...

National Association of Childbearing Centers (http://www.birthcenters.org/) is hosting a How to Start a Birth Center workshops.

May 7-8, 2004, Santa Rosa

September 8-9, 2004, Houston, Texas

November 19-20, 2004, Philadelphia, Pennsylvania

Just click on Workshops.

My dream is to open a place for classes/support for pregnant/postpartum women. Wish there was a workshop for that!

[Journey]

Originally posted by Tanibani
My dream is to open a place for classes/support for pregnant/postpartum women. Wish there was a workshop for that!

http://www.mymommybiz.com/ebooks/doula.html

PALS has offered a doula business class before (http://www.pals-doulas.org/calendararchive.htm)

I know there's more out there. I went through training to be a doula, too! Of course, I was 18 at the time, and nobody wanted a teenage doula. Not a lot of people hire doulas in this area, so the two doulas in the county don't have a business office type location. They receive calls at their home.

[curlygrrl]

It sounds beautiful! At my freestanding birthing center, I think the reason for having you leave quickly after the birth is not so much a room issue as a staffing issue. They made us leave at 2am, about 7 hours after DS was born, presumably so the nurse could go home and get some sleep! I don't think there was anyone else laboring at the time.

[Evergreen]

Your vision sounds much like the one where I gave birth! I can not imagine my excellent midwife telling me it was time to go home at 2 am!
Anyway, one thing I realized from reading the other posts is you will want to keep it small. 2-5 midwives is probably ideal, that way whoever is oncall that particular day is someone you have met.
Lots of birth videos is also a good idea. Since my midwives spent a lot of time with each client, I often had to wait b4 my appointments (which was fine, because they also spent close to an hour with me each appointment) and watching the videos was a great way to pass the time.
My center also rented hospital grade breast pumps and had 2 IBCLCs on staff.