Resources for Out-of-Hospital Birth Options for Bay Area Families

Homebirth? Birth Center? Hospital?

Our current climate and concerns about COVID-19 has brought an influx of questions about safety. And questions about options. WE GOT YOU.

First of all let’s talk about your choices and the differences between all the things:

Hospital Birth – you know this one already – the take away you should know is that hospitals are the only places that you can get an epidural.

Home Birth – this is a legal option in California and home births are provided by Licensed Midwives. This is where the labor and birth takes place in your home. You hire a home birth midwife and the care begins immediately. You will follow the same schedule for prenatal appointments as you would with an obstetrician. Midwives also provide medical care for postpartum including complete newborn care for the baby; this means no one has to leave the house for doctors appointments or weight checks for the first six weeks. Midwives also provide well-woman care beyond the childbearing years. Many home birth midwives will provide a birthing tub for you to have at your birth and some midwives provide nitrous oxide as a pain management option.

Birth Centers – this care is also provided by a Licensed Midwife. The biggest difference is that you arrive at the birth center to have your baby. There is a tub already set up and it feels like a home. Again, some midwives provide nitrous oxide as a pain management option.

Things to know about Midwives: They are typically a conservative bunch. They want to keep out of hospital birth safe for those who are exploring that option. You do need to be assessed to see if you are a good candidate for out of hospital birth. Midwives are also risk adverse and trained for emergency situations. They bring/provide things like oxygen, IV’s, Pitocin, etc in case a situation arises that would require those things. Perhaps the most helpful thing to consider is that rarely are there true emergencies. Most situations that develop do so over time and have some flags that things may not be progressing normally. Also helpful to know that most transfers to a hospital happen because of long labors where a woman may benefit from an epidural – not because of emergency situations.

Without further ado, here is a list of local midwives and birth centers that you can contact to learn more about their individual practices.

Homebirth Midwives

South Bay Birth Centers

Serving the South San Francisco Bay Area!

San Jose, Santa Clara, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, San Carlos, Redwood City, Fremont, Milpitas, Santa Cruz, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister

We serve families choosing to birth at home or at Casa Natal Birth Center, Full Moon Birth Center, Kaiser San Jose, Kaiser Santa Clara, Kaiser Redwood City, Lucille Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Sequoia Hospital, El Camino Mountain View, El Camino Los Gatos, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, O'Connor Hospital, Regional Medical Center, Sutter Maternity Center, Dominican Hospital, St. Louise Regional Hospital, and Hazel Hawkins Hospital.

Upcoming Classes and Workshops

Our workshops are included in our birth packages for Silicon Valley Doula clients. Learn more about how our workshops go beyond basic labor prep and comfort measures to help you Rock Your Birth!

 

Serving the South San Francisco Bay Area!

San Jose, Santa Clara, Los Gatos, Saratoga, Cupertino, Sunnyvale, Mountain View, Palo Alto, Menlo Park, Atherton, San Carlos, Redwood City, Fremont, Milpitas, Santa Cruz, Morgan Hill, Gilroy, Hollister

We serve families choosing to birth at home or at Casa Natal Birth Center, Full Moon Birth Center, Kaiser San Jose, Kaiser Santa Clara, Kaiser Redwood City, Lucille Packard Children's Hospital Stanford, Sequoia Hospital, El Camino Mountain View, El Camino Los Gatos, Good Samaritan Hospital, Santa Clara Valley Medical Center, O'Connor Hospital, Regional Medical Center, Sutter Maternity Center, Dominican Hospital, St. Louise Regional Hospital, and Hazel Hawkins Hospital.

Upcoming Classes and Workshops

Our workshops are included in our birth packages for Silicon Valley Doula clients. Learn more about how our workshops go beyond basic labor prep and comfort measures to help you Rock Your Birth!