Ellie Allyn, C.P.M., Midwife, Mentor to Women, Intercessor
Advantages & Disadvantages of Hospital,
Birth Center and Home Birth
Hospital Advantages
•Insurance coverage •Emergency care readily available
•Most Americans accept birth taking place here (even though until 1930, most people in the
U.S. were healthy and born at home)
Hospital Disadvantages
•High costs (with and without insurance) •Possible multiple room-stay
•Baby often taken to a central nursery soon after delivery (even though mother and baby have “total rooming in”)
•High possibility of numerous medical interventions •High incidence of infection to mother and baby
•Multiple caregivers •Higher risk of complications for mother and baby, regardless of predetermined “low risk” status
Birth Center Advantages
•Insurance coverage •Slightly cheaper than a hospital •Labor, deliver, recover in the same bed
•Shorter stay than in a hospital •Emergency care available •Family is together
•One to one nursing care •Low intervention
Birth Center Disadvantages
•1 in 4 women transported to the hospital
•Very strict screening for admission (i.e. several days over due date - transfer to a hospital, etc.)
•Available birthing centers may require a long drive (the only birth center in the Denver area is near Swedish Hospital)
Home Birth Advantages
•Least costly of all •Insurance companies are reimbursing for Registered Midwife attended home births – check yours out
•Labor, birth, recover in your own bed/home •Total care by your midwife
•Interventions absent, but oxygen, herbs, first aid, CPR, and NRP always readily available
•Complication rates are extremely low •Low infection rate •Birth experience is directed by parents
•Mothers feel more relaxed in their own territory •Siblings can easily participate in the birth at their own pace
•The baby is part of the family from the beginning •Parent responsibility is high for finding a skilled midwife.
•Midwives can accompany you should you need to see an OB or transfer to hospital
Home Birth Disadvantages
•Transport to hospital is typically 5 to 30 minutes
•Should transport during or immediately after birth be required, you will be assigned an OB on call
•Screening is essential to reduce risks – a few women will not qualify for home birth
Midwives in Colorado cannot legally attend the birth of known twins or babies who remain breech in labor
Birth Center and Home Birth
Hospital Advantages
•Insurance coverage •Emergency care readily available
•Most Americans accept birth taking place here (even though until 1930, most people in the
U.S. were healthy and born at home)
Hospital Disadvantages
•High costs (with and without insurance) •Possible multiple room-stay
•Baby often taken to a central nursery soon after delivery (even though mother and baby have “total rooming in”)
•High possibility of numerous medical interventions •High incidence of infection to mother and baby
•Multiple caregivers •Higher risk of complications for mother and baby, regardless of predetermined “low risk” status
Birth Center Advantages
•Insurance coverage •Slightly cheaper than a hospital •Labor, deliver, recover in the same bed
•Shorter stay than in a hospital •Emergency care available •Family is together
•One to one nursing care •Low intervention
Birth Center Disadvantages
•1 in 4 women transported to the hospital
•Very strict screening for admission (i.e. several days over due date - transfer to a hospital, etc.)
•Available birthing centers may require a long drive (the only birth center in the Denver area is near Swedish Hospital)
Home Birth Advantages
•Least costly of all •Insurance companies are reimbursing for Registered Midwife attended home births – check yours out
•Labor, birth, recover in your own bed/home •Total care by your midwife
•Interventions absent, but oxygen, herbs, first aid, CPR, and NRP always readily available
•Complication rates are extremely low •Low infection rate •Birth experience is directed by parents
•Mothers feel more relaxed in their own territory •Siblings can easily participate in the birth at their own pace
•The baby is part of the family from the beginning •Parent responsibility is high for finding a skilled midwife.
•Midwives can accompany you should you need to see an OB or transfer to hospital
Home Birth Disadvantages
•Transport to hospital is typically 5 to 30 minutes
•Should transport during or immediately after birth be required, you will be assigned an OB on call
•Screening is essential to reduce risks – a few women will not qualify for home birth
Midwives in Colorado cannot legally attend the birth of known twins or babies who remain breech in labor