I am so blessed to be working with women at a time that one of our local hospitals has decided to listen to the women in the area and are now giving them more choices for birth in their facility. One of our local hospitals, Women’s and Children’s Hospital of University of Missouri Health Systems in Columbia, MO, has begun a new Low Intervention Birth Program including hiring CNM’s (Certified Nurse Midwives). Some people think this may take away from the number of home births in the area, but I see it differently. I see this as an awesome opportunity for women to get a chance at a low intervention birth and have their insurance pay for it. Insurance companies are still not the best at covering home birth, even with skilled, legal midwives. This causes a big problem for those families who may not be able to pay for the service out of pocket. What the hospital is doing is great for these families. They will at least have a much better chance at a natural birth. This local hospital has taken great strides in trying to meet ladies in the middle in offering them more choices in birth. It is still a hospital and I am sure there are certain protocols that will dictate how much a family can request, however I see it as a middle ground and a great option for those who may not be able to go the home route.
This program is more than the hospital saying their birthing department is a birth center. This really is a different type of program. The rooms are much larger and the beds are real, queen size beds just like you would have at home. They have beautiful huge tubs for laboring. They even have nice birthing chairs and stools. These rooms are really different. Not only are the rooms different but the provider is a midwife. A nurse midwife but still a midwife. She is backed up by one of the most natural-birth friendly doctors in our area. This team really does support women to have natural births and I am so happy they are now present in our local hospital. I hope this program is a success and many women take advantage of it. It is not a threat to home birth, rather it is a wonderful opportunity to those ladies who cannot have a home birth.
Thank you Women’s and Children’s Hospital for hearing what women want and offering more options in your facility!