Birth Options In the Triangle
Congratulations! You just found you are pregnant! This is such an exciting time in your life, but it can also be slightly overwhelming. In a few short months, you not only have to adjust to growing a baby, but also your body changing, the idea of becoming a parent, and then all of the decisions that need to be made about prenatal care, birth options, and newborn care.
As your doulas, we are here to help!
So let’s dive into the birth options in the Triangle!
Sometimes it seems like the first step in this process is picking your care provider. However, with so many options in the Chapel Hill, Raleigh, and Durham, that is a really daunting task. So when asked our opinion about what doctor or midwife you should use, our first piece of advice is think about WHERE you want to have your baby and then pick the provider from there.
We live in a wonderful place for birth. We have seven wonderful hospitals, one amazing birth centers, and a handful of Certified Nurse Midwives to assist in homebirths. These are:
Wake County: WakeMed Raleigh, WakeMed Cary, WakeMed North, and REX Hospital are all easily accessible in Wake County and wonderful places to have a baby.
Durham County: Duke Regional and Duke University both have outstanding doctors, midwives and nurses to help deliver your baby in Durham.
Orange County: The Women’s Hospital at UNC and Women’s Birth and Wellness are two wonderful choices to deliver a baby in Chapel Hill.
Homebirth options: Sankofa Birth & Women's Care, Midwifery Services, and Birthwise of Central NC service various parts of the Triangle.
Important Questions to Ask Yourself Regarding Where to Have a Baby in the Triangle:
How important is location to you? Do you want to drive to the closet birthing facility or are you okay driving a bit further?
What size birthing place do you want to deliver at? A smaller, community based hospital? A larger, research based hospital? A birth center? Your home?
What kind of model of care would you like to use? Midwives only? A combination of midwives and OB/GYNs? Only OB/GYNs? Somewhere where there are Maternal Fetal Medicine (MFM) Specialists?
Do you want to have Newborn Critical Care Center or Neonatal Intensive Care Unit in the same building?
How would you like to use water during your birth? Just while laboring or for the birth itself?
Are you trying for a VBAC?
Are you concerned with cesarean birth rate?
How do you feel about length of your stay in the birth facility? Do you want to be able to leave after a few hours, or would you rather stay a few days?
How do you feel about rooming-in with your baby? Would you rather have a healthy-baby nursery available for a small break?
And there are so many more aspects of birth to consider, but these questions should get you started. If you need more assistance, our birth doulas offer continuous support to pregnant individuals and there families as soon you sign a contract for birth support, and we also teach a Birth Options in the Triangle class on the third Tuesday of the month as well as offer individual birth planning consults.
Contact us today to figure out what option is best for you! This is such a special time, and we would be honored to support you in whatever way you feel is best.
