Labor Options

Baby’s First Day Baby’s First Day Part 1 Labor Options

Hospital

99% of births take place at the hospital. For a cozier, more homey feel, many opt for birthing rooms. These environments have the look and feel of a bedroom while offering all of the equipment you’d find in a traditional delivery room.

Your Home

A very small but growing number of couples decide to give birth at their own homes while joined and assisted by a physician or certified nurse-midwife. This is considered safe for women who are both healthy and have a history of low-risk pregnancies.
However, if any complications do arise, a home birth may not offer all the necessary options and equipment to best handle the situation.

Birthing Center

This is a healthcare facility fully staffed by certified nurse-midwives, midwives, and obstetricians for mothers in labor. Typically, a birthing center is freestanding and only proximal to a nearby hospital. Birthing centers offer low-tech approaches for low-risk pregnancies. Back up plans should be in place for this option, as hospital transfers can be needed if complications arise.

“I did not give you the gift of life, life gave me the gift of you.”

What kind of environment do you prefer?

Things to consider:

Lighting
Ability to walk around or change positions
Noise: Music or TV or None
Bath/shower options

Who is most important to you to be there?

This is a pivotal question. Who do you want with you during your most intimate, vulnerable moments? Chances are that you will not have the energy to specify when it comes down to it in the moment, so choose beforehand. A spouse or partner, labor coach, doula, or other family members or friends are all possible options. Check if the location you plan to give birth at has a limit on how many people can be in the room.

What are your options for back support and positioning yourself?

Many birthing sites have special beds that are made specifically for delivery. With a birthing bed, the back moves to support different laboring positions. Here are some options with a birthing bed:

Laying down: On your back, with your head flat or raised, and your legs up
Laying on your side: With one leg up. BEST WHEN: Tired or having issues with blood pressure level
Kneeling: On the lower part of the bed with your arms or upper body resting on the upper section of the birthing bed. BEST WHEN: Experiencing back pain
All fours: With stomach facing down while supported by your hands and knees. BEST WHEN: Experiencing back pain
Squatting: On your feet, with support from bed or partner. BEST WHEN: Experiencing back pain

Birthing Chair

These chairs are designed to support someone while they are squatting or sitting, allowing the delivering mother to benefit from gravity and have a better line of sight of the birth. However, opting for a birthing chair may cause tearing between the vagina and rectum.

Walking Around

You also may want to have the option to get up and walk around when you want to.

What kind of labor + delivery experience do you want?

Intermittent external fetal monitoring OR continuous external fetal monitoring

The first option typically allows for moving around, where continuous external fetal monitoring requires staying in bed.

Pain relief OR no pain relief

This is the biggest question of all, right? This involves asking yourself if you’d like to take pain relief medication, such as epidurals or intravenous narcotics.

Episiotomy OR natural remedies

An episiotomy is a cut in the tissues of the perineum, beneath the vaginal opening, to enlarge the vaginal opening and prevent tearing. Women who opt against the procedure could try natural attempts to reduce tearing such as: Local massage and/or Warm compresses.