I have often heard of mothers choosing their hospital based on where a certain Doctor, or Midwife delivers, and know nothing about the facility in general. Once in labor, or touring the hospital they may feel as though this really isn’t the place they want to have their baby, or while in labor they may want to do something, or use a labor tub, and there is nothing of that sort available to them.
I put together this post because I feel it is important that women know what kind of facility, as well as options their hospital or birth place provides before making the choice to deliver there.
First you need to decide what is important to you for your birth experience. Is moving around and remaining mobile and out of bed a priority? What about the readily available option of a labor tub, shower, or a birth ball? Hospital options, as well as policy may limit these options for you which is why I start by finding out the policies and protocols of the hospitals, so essentially the rules the hospital will make you abide by while under their care. Of course as a patient you have the right of informed consent and refusal meaning you can refuse anything they offer or any of their policies, but if you do not want your birth experience to turn into a battle, you may just want to find a facility more suited for your specific needs.
Second is learning what kind of thing you do have available to you. Do the labor and delivery suites have birth tubs, showers, birth balls, radios, tv’s or what ever other options you feel as though you need to make your experience what you desire.
Third, and most important in my eyes personally is finding your hospitals statistics for common birth procedures. Cesarean sections, episiotomies, augmented labors, inductions, epidurals, and other types of intervention. If you do not with to have a surgical birth, I would stay away from a hospital with a high cesarean section rate. These statistics will and do impact how you birth, and the type of physicians they have on staff.
In Connecticut it is not easy to find these statistics, but if you check out the Hospital Statistic Page on the Connecticut Maternity Care Worst to First page, there is a list of a couple of the statistics for the time being while the ladies from Worst to First battle to obtain the rest.
