A Link a Day: Are American Women Out of Touch with the Reality of Childbirth Facilities?

Are American Women Out of Touch with the Reality of Childbirth Facilities?

 "Our [sic] of the 51 states in The United States, only excluding Puerto Rico, there are 19 states with no freestanding birth center option."

I have heard many times over the benefits of using a free-standing birth center. It would actually have been my first choice in location to deliver my baby. Unfortunately, (I foresee this word popping up in almost every one of these posts...) this simply wasn't an option for me, and it isn't an option for a large portion of the population. I won't get in to specifics about reasons for choosing different types of birth, that's another topic. I do want to point out, that even if you know what kind of birth you would strive to achieve, you are still limited to the resources around you--and those resources can be limited. The numbers are sad: 19 states have no birth centers, it is illegal for Certified Professional Midwives (CPMs) to practice in ten states and are unregulated in three, five states have no other option besides hospital births. Women need options. Industrialized countries where 70-80% of the births are attended by midwives have lower rates of infant and maternal mortality. Proof that hospitals and OB's do not improve outcomes for low-risk pregnancies.