Planning An Out Of Hospital Birth In Oklahoma

Planning an out of hospital birth comes with many considerations. Who will be your primary healthcare provider? Will you birth in your home or in a free standing birth center? Will you plan for a water birth? Where will you purchase your supplies?

​No matter your final decisions, the journey to crafting a well tailored birth team is sure to be an exciting one!

​First, narrowing down your choices for midwifery care. When planning a home or birth center birth in Oklahoma you are likely to hire a midwife to oversee your prenatal, labor, and postpartum healthcare. Midwives take a relatively low number of clients each month compared to busy OBGYN practices, this means that their schedules fill up faster. Plan to reach out to your midwifery care potentials early to schedule meet and greet consults before they are fully booked!
​
​So, what happens if your midwife can't attend your birth? What if they are already at someone else's birth?! We have a healthy and growing population of out-of-hospital birth midwives in Oklahoma! A midwife will have a list of back up midwives that they trust to care for you in their absence. Similarly your midwife may need to send a back up provider to another birth because they are currently serving you at your birth!

When I found out I was expecting my last baby I reached out to my midwife to secure services. Although she was available, it turns out she had planned to leave the country for vacation just days after my due date. Midwifery care was very important to me for my prenatal care, and I chose to remain with the midwife I desired and hoped she would be able to attend my birth but feeling comfortable knowing that our plan B was also in place should I birth while she was gone. She WAS able to attend my birth, and I am so grateful to have stayed in her care. It was exceptional and exactly what I needed.
​- Jessica Cheatwood, IBCLC, RLC, HBCE

Next you get to choose your additional support people such as your midwifery assistant, doula, and lactation consultant. A midwifery assistant is a trained assistant that accompanies your midwife to your birth to assist in caring for you clinically. A doula is a non-clinical role that offers emotional and physical support to you and your partner during your labor, birth, and postpartum. A lactation consultant is an allied health provider that works with other providers collaboratively to provide clinical care for you and your baby. They are trained to assist with all aspects of initiating, maintaining, and troubleshooting lactation questions and concerns such as latching, pumping, lip and tongue tie information, weight checks, and more.

When families birth in a hospital they may have access to a lactation consultant on staff that can visit them after birth. Families planning an out of hospital birth may wish to employ a private lactation consultant for their birth. This is a huge advantage, as typically a lactation consultant is not present at the time of birth in the labor and delivery or operating rooms. Although lactation consultants aim to meet with every family that desires a consult in the hospital, logistically it is simply not possible. Many families leave without ever visiting with a lactation consultant at all.

You may choose to employ all of these provider types for your birth. You simply cannot have enough support!

Lastly, you will need to decide where you will birth your baby. Your midwife may offer both home birth and birth center options, or home birth only. If there are any birth centers near you, call and schedule a tour to visit so you can see the facility and ask any questions you may have. If you choose to have your baby in your home (a lovely choice!) your midwifery team will bring all the same safety equipment that would be available at the birthing center to your home. When choosing a home birth, your provider will generally plan to visit you in your home for a prenatal in your last month of pregnancy to familiarize themselves with your home's location and layout.

​No matter if you choose a birth center or home birth, typically your midwifery care team will continue your postpartum care in your home for the first couple of weeks postpartum. Not having to travel for consults in the early days are absolutely priceless! I have had clients tell me that they have had to travel out of the house with their baby nearly every day between baby well checks, postpartum checks for parents, lactation consults, chiropractic adjustments, routine infant exams etc. Home birth can help alleviate so much additional stress from travel and visiting in the those early weeks, a truly priceless gift to give yourself.