Birthing Centers near Central Maryland?

Cherry Alive · 03-11-2007, 12:01 PM

Hello,

I'm a newbie here, and I am *very* excited to find this group.

DH and I are hoping to conceive our 1st this summer.

We want very much to have a water birth as they really appear to be empowering and more comfortable and natural for both parents and newborns.

I was wondering if anyone knew of any birthing centers closer to Central Maryland?

We live in Eldersburg (off 70 between Westminster and Baltimore). The closest I've seen (Special Beginnings) is an hour hike from us. I've also seen a center in Bethesda and Annapolis (over an hour). I mostly worry about the commute as this is our first and I'd be an older/potentially high-risk mom (33). Any suggestions?

Thanks!

**beachbaby** · 03-12-2007, 11:57 AM

Just wanted to bump this up for you...I'm sure some mamas closer to your area of MD can chime in with more info, but I just wanted to say that I traveled 1.5 hours for my birth. Granted, I'm on the Eastern Shore so didn't have rush hour to contend with, but there have been recent discussions on this forum about traveling and hour or more and it seemed the consensus is that it's not usually an issue, especially for first time moms. I don't know of any other birth centers in your area. Everyone here seems to have nothing but praise for SB. (DH and I toured it and fell in love with it, but ultimately decided it was too far for us--2.5 hours) HTH some!

Cherry Alive · 03-12-2007, 02:26 PM

Hi, Beachbaby-

Thanks for the bump and the info. If it comes down to it, I may opt to do a longer commute. Our biggest concern is if something goes weird (healthwise) during the labor. I'm nearing the high-risk age (33).

earthmommy2 · 03-12-2007, 06:54 PM

I am a special beginnings gal, and while I'm new to the area and don't know the distance I would highly recommend them. They are great and I feel so awesome walking in and out of there!!! If you are willing to make the hour hike...I suggest SB for sure!!!

koofie · 03-12-2007, 07:12 PM

I *think* Special Beginnings is the closest - don't go to Bethesda from what i have heard. There are homebirth midwives in the area if that woudl interest you. I am haing a waterbirth at home in a few weeks - I just tested my tub on Saturday night. Fun!

Cherry Alive · 03-13-2007, 02:50 PM

Thanks for the recommendations, ladies!

I'll probably end up going to Special Beginnings. The way everyone raves about them here, we must at least visit them.

On their site, they specifically mention they take in low-risk births... I wonder if I would fall in that catagory or if my age would get in the way? Depending on how long conception takes, I may be 35 by the time I'm pregnant (I'm 33 and we will start trying this summer).

Also, do they have facilities for water births?

Arismomkoofie- Congrats on your soon-to-be homebirth! It sounds like it's going to be amazing (especially with a pool).

Where did you find your midwife?

I would love to go that route, but I'm having a hard time convincing dh. He worries a lot over safety issues even though homebirths are usually as safe or safer than hospitals. On my end, I wonder how easy it'd be in to do our house (we have 3 dogs and 3 cats).

UltimateSerj · 03-13-2007, 03:08 PM

look into special beginnings they are awesome! i love them, they have have 2 nice tubs, and all 3 of my children have been waterbirths there! ( my oldest was there first !

)
I think its worth the drive, also i really don't think your high risk at all don't let age make you think that at all!!! i know they do plenty of women older then you are.

there is also pleanty of home birth midwifes and even A wonderful homebirth midwife that is a CNM ( which is who i am using this time) and she isn't far from you at all(randallstown)
Good luck

koofie · 03-13-2007, 04:35 PM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_Lil_Mamma

Arismomkoofie- Congrats on your soon-to-be homebirth! It sounds like it's going to be amazing (especially with a pool).

Where did you find your midwife?

Thanks! I am very excited!

We are having a UC, so we don't have a midwife (surprisingly DH went for it), but I know there are some really highly recommended ones in the area. If you do decide to use one, just post here and people will PM or post with their recommendations

womancaredoula · 03-14-2007, 08:46 PM

Hey,
As someone who just birthed her second at age 40, I wanted to chime in about your worry about being "high risk" because you may be mid-thirties during pregnancy.
As a doula, I try my darndest never to use the phrase "high risk" due to the impact that can have on a woman's confidence in her birth.
Also, it is true that an older mom has a higher likelihood of a few complications, however, if you don't develop them before labor starts than the chance of getting them DURING labor is low. So, as long as you are healthy heading in, your birth should be no different than a younger woman's.
Remember, the Amish still regularly have kids into their 40's as did women of previous generations. My own granny finished in her 40's.
A good midwife will look at you as an individual and determine whether you are a healthy, low-risk mom without automatically lumping you into some risk category simply because of age. More important would be things like diet and avoiding drinking and smoking.

The birth centers in our are are:

Bay Area Midwifery in Annapolis (had my cesarean through them)
Special Beginnings in Arnold, MD
Bethesda Maternity Center
Birth Care (Alexandria, VA)
and
one in downtown DC that I can never recall the name of but they do have a website.

-Barbara

Crunchie · 03-16-2007, 09:03 AM

33 (or 35, for that matter) doesn't make you high risk!! Like someone else already said, a good midwife will look at the whole picture. The midwives at Special Beginnings really want to get to know you so they can put together that picture of the entire person--not just a number.

Special Beginnings is the only place you're going to get a water birth (unless you birth at home). I am driving from Southern (very Southern...

) Maryland to go to SB, 1 1/2 hours. It's my first. I'm not worried about the drive at all. It's going to be SO worth it! (

my shameless plug for SB...I can be pretty cynical, but I can't find anything wrong with these people!! I love them!) I really want a water birth, too.

If you risk out of a birth at the birth center and need to birth at a hospital, the midwives at SB can still deliver your baby at Anne Arundel Medical Center (which I've heard is a good hospital, though I can't say I have any first-hand experience). If some emergency arises during labor and you are transferred to the hospital (to the care of an OB), the midwives will still accompany you to the hospital, even if just as a birth attendent. This was really comforting to me--if things don't go as planned (not that we have reason to expect anything other than a normal, healthy birth) the caregivers that I have come to know and be comfortable with will still be with me. That is important.

An hour isn't too far, and first-time moms usually have longer labors...for me, I'm more likely to go to the birth center much earlier in labor than I would the hospital because I'm going to be comfortable there, whereas everything about our local hospital made me want to wait until the last possible second--before we switched to the birth center, I seriously considered having the baby in the car in the parking lot of the hospital to avoid uneccesary intervention!! A 1 1/2 hour drive in labor sounds much more appealing than that scenario!!

MeiTaiMamma · 03-16-2007, 10:50 AM

Just for anyone who wants to know the birth center in DC is called the DC Developing Families Center. You can just search under DC Birth Center, though. And it is in NE DC, not really downtown, so it might be more accesible to people in certain parts of MD. But you said central so probably to far for you. I would say if you feel you would be catergorized as "high risk" do not go to the Maternity Center.

mojumi · 03-16-2007, 02:44 PM

I love SB, too, (search past posts and you'll see lots of raves from everyone) and had three babies there. Just wanted to chime in on thinking 35 is 'high-risk' -- the midwives look at the whole picture as a pp said. I was 35 when I had my last baby there (tho' 34 when I started the pregnancy). Plenty of over-35 yo moms go there to have their babies!

First births generally do take longer so try the drive and see what you think.

good luck!

Cherry Alive · 03-16-2007, 03:45 PM

Wooooow!!! Thanks, everybody! Special Beginnings, it is! If I'm anything like my mom (and I hope I'm not

) I could be in labor up for quite some time (she was in labor with me for 48 hours).

We haven't conceived yet (we're both getting checkups before we try), but when is the best time to make plans with a maternity center?

We'd like to start trying this summer, and I'm getting very excited. I've been slowly acculuating a hoarde of baby stuff.

I'll try not to worry too much about the age thing. I'm getting a bit of pressure from both sides of the family bc of that (plus my sister thinks we're "nuts" for waiting so long), and dh is sort of freaking out as he's turning 39 next month (poor silly--he looks 25 and ppl in his family live into their 90s). I swear if he doesn't stop complaining about how "old" we are I'm going to start calling him "old man" or ask him where's his cane.

UltimateSerj · 03-16-2007, 04:30 PM

my dh is only a little younger then yours he is almost 37 and we are cooking baby number 5 for him!! lol i figured for him whats one more lol.

mojumi · 03-18-2007, 06:26 AM

Quote:

Originally Posted by Red_Lil_Mamma

We haven't conceived yet (we're both getting checkups before we try), but when is the best time to make plans with a maternity center?

I'm not sure what kind of plans you'd need to make? You can see if they take your insurance, maybe start going to SB for your well-woman checks ... not much to plan until you are preggo, I think? Have fun ttc!

Crunchie · 03-19-2007, 07:27 AM

SB does an open house/tour/question/answer session the first Monday of every month...(you have to call and sign up for it). If I were you, I'd go for the tour, then ask them if there's anything else you need to be doing while you're trying to concieve. That way you can meet at least one of the midwives (it will be a midwife that does the tour), do a "test-run" of the drive/distance, see the center and the birthing rooms, and ask all of the questions you want! That's what we did (I was 5 months pregnant already, though, and was deciding to transfer from an OB). The tour was very informative. I transferred and made my appointment that very night!!