Dream Birth Location?

[SophieJaneC]

Hello everyone!

I'm an architecture student at Bath University and am currently designing a Birth Centre. I'd be really grateful if anyone has had their baby in a birth centre or is going to, why they chose the birth centre (or Midwife Led Unit) over a hospital or home birth?
Was there a feature that you particularly loved or even hated?
Or if you decided against a Birth Centre, what was your reason?

Basically, if you could design your dream environment to give birth in, what you you pick?? Even if it's on top a mountain in the middle of nowhere, I'd love to hear!

I'm very grateful for any responses!

Thank you

[BlackCatsRule]

I was one of those people who went from water birth mw led to full blown running down the corridor emergency. Thank God the theatre was so close. Minutes in my case would have resulted in a dead baby

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

ispymincepie
I wish I had misunderstood you. You made your opinion loudly and perfectly clear.

[AyeAmarok]

Uh huh, and if the monitoring showed that the placenta wasn't working well enough anymore, you have done what?

[ispymincepie]

I have been talking about unnecessary intervention. In the event of an unsatisfactory ctg intervention would become necessary.

[AyeAmarok]

Luch the evidence shows that for low risk mothers labour wards aren't safer for babies than birth centres, no matter how many examples people give of problems experienced by low risk mum's during or immediately post birth.

But these examples people are giving, they're the ones that are the issue. The evidence says that statistically you're less likely to need intervention. But plenty of low-risk women will still need it, so what happens to them and their babies when they only have 10-15 minutes to save them and the emergency obstetric team are 30 minutes away?

The evidence and statistics don't matter much when you're the 1 in 100.

[MrsGB2225]

Birthing pool in room
Dimmer light
Speakers with docking station
Birthing ball
Fridge & a kettle
Sofa bed for DH
En suite bath with overhead shower and glass shower door
Changing table for baby

[Jenijena]

I had my second baby at the New Forest birth centre. Everyone knows it because of 'the ponies'. Looks out over farmland. Didn't really give a fuck about the ponies when I was pushing, but it was nice for the after care, sitting in the garden. My first was more traumatic, and I went there for overnight support when he was a few days old. Taking him to see the ponies really helped the post birth healing..

[ispymincepie]

FuckOff as far as you're concerned, at what point in pregnancy do we stop being responsible for our decisions then? At what point post birth do we regain responsibility? If we don't take folic acid we're irresponsible, no question. If we don't strap our babies into a suitable carseat we're irresponsible, no question. But poor decisions relating to the birth are off limits?
I know they might not be as black and white as these examples but there are many factors that influence the course of labour and we know some are better than others (standing up rather than laying down, avoiding pain relief that crosses the placenta etc...) why is childbirth exempt from judgement?

[minifingerz]

"But plenty of low-risk women will still need it, so what happens to them and their babies when they only have 10-15 minutes to save them and the emergency obstetric team are 30 minutes away?"

What the evidence suggests is that for every woman where the outcome is poorer for her or her baby because she's out of hospital and needs transfer, there'll be another mum and baby who are poorly because of the care they've received in an OU. Unfortunately when something goes horribly wrong in hospital and the result is a damaged mother or baby, nobody considers that this may be iatrogenic in origin, so labour wards will always be perceived as the ultimate safe place for birth, while birth centres are not.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

ispymincepie it really doesn't matter what I think, it's question that has no answer, it's an absurd question. How long is a piece of string?

But you go on judging women in the name of "empowering them" and see how you get on with that. How's that been working out for you? Are you actually helping women or are you alienating them?

Many women give birth in suboptimal conditions or in diminished circumstances. We are pushed and pulled from all corners and blame is apportioned quite heavily already to many women who have little to no agency in their lives. It's horrible and oppressive.

If you want to judge women in childbirthing as being negligent or derelict in their responsibilities for not doing what you did or what you think they should do, then you go right ahead. I won't ever be part of alienating women in that way and I will defend others their right to discuss their birthing difficulties and traumas without judgement and blame.

[ispymincepie]

Very good point Mini

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

I would choose one to be well away from Obstetricians who have fuck all experience of normal birth.

If you gave birth led by an Obstetrcian, then your birth was abnormal. Sorry, women to inform you but your birth was abnormal.

What is a normal birth please?

[Stylingwax]

Sound insulation. It's quite traumatic hearing someone else screaming!

Somewhere to put stuff, shelf etc so there aren't bags on the floor to trip over.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

I know it's not a popular concept but I wish women would accept some responsibility for their poor decisions (sweeps before term, IOL before 42 weeks etc....) rather than blindly go along with it then claim their babies wouldn't be here if it wasn't for the obstetrician (the one that ill-advised them in the first place)

Perhaps it's not a popular concept because it's an oppressive concept rather than a revolutionary concept?

You want to blame women who have interventions (any interventions as far as I can tell) for any subsequent difficulties? And this is empowering how?

[ispymincepie]

Actually FuckOff believe it or not but my friends actually value my opinions and come to me for support and information. One of whom has recently had a wonderful second birth after a traumatic first one and credits me with empowering her to go for a homebirth with the support of a doula. But I suppose I shouldn't have congratulated her on achieving her dream birth and rather told her it's all down to luck and nothing she did to prepare for it made any difference

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

I'm not blaming women individually though, it's just the culture that I'm opposed to
How are you working to widen women's choices because you are actually blaming individual women here. I don't see any effort towards the "culture" but rather towards the individual women.

[ElsieBobo]

Main concerns are privacy, cleanliness and comfort. Labour rooms need ensuites with option of bath and shower (preferably shower not over bath as hard to climb in). Rooms laid out so ensuite bathroom not visible from corridor As midwives are in/ out often during labour and doors open wide, leaving you exposed. Glazed obscure/ fuzzy windows so limited sense of time/ day/ night, I found that relaxing and cave like. Comfy chair for birth partner, pref something they could sleep on. Facilities for phone charging and playing music of choice. Emergency parking outside door so driver can take you right to entrance, get you inside then go park. Access to food and drinks..ours had communal kitchen which was fab for the partners.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

I shouldn't have congratulated her on achieving her dream birth and rather told her it's all down to luck and nothing she did to prepare for it made any difference

yes, I know, millions upon millions of women who have traumatic births or difficult births just weren't "prepared enough"

FFS

[ispymincepie]

So all the walking and swimming to stay fit and a healthy weight were a waste of time? All the evenings spent on all fours to prevent a back to back baby pointless? Staying active and upright in labour inconsequential? Obviously there isn't always a direct correlation but are you really suggesting we can do nothing to improve our own outcomes?

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

What I think is that you are being intentionally obtuse so that you can have a platform to spout your messianic birthing ideas.

You need to examine the impact of your words by reading the replies here and see how effective your campaign is however from what I can tell you care far less about other women than you do about spouting your own ideas.

Get over yourself.

[ispymincepie]

How are you working to widen women's choices because you are actually blaming individual women here. I don't see any effort towards the "culture" but rather towards the individual women.
I've been quite active within my local PBM (positive birth movement) It's largely attended by women who have had disappointing experiences first time round for various reasons. It's enormously helpful to them to hear about options they didn't realise they had. It's really shocking how many times I've heard someone say 'I didn't realise I could say no'.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

Women are encouraged to fight over the "best" way to give birth - but it's just another way to fracture any potential for female solidarity.

www.newstatesman.com/politics/feminism/2016/05/birth-wars-politics-childbirth

Female bodies aren’t real bodies, not even to feminists. They’re the grounds upon which we test out our theories of power. They’re the paper upon which we write our stories. The labouring body – ultimately female, ultimately other – can be used to prove whichever point you want it to. No wonder men are so eager to control it. No wonder feminists find, that whichever escape route they tunnel out for themselves – natural childbirth, ultra-medicalisation, structure-erasing queer theory – they almost invariably find themselves back where they started.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

The obsession with ‘natural’ birth is just another way to judge a woman

www.theguardian.com/commentisfree/2015/may/29/obsession-natural-birth-judge-women-pregnant-medical

Few things drive the British press quite so demented as the thought of a pregnant woman with a choice. Illegal immigrants eating swans? This week’s most dangerous woman in Britain? Mere side issues to the spectre of horror that is a pregnant woman making a decision about what suits her best as an individual. An individual! After all, we know that as soon as conception happens, a woman stops being her own person but is instead generic “mum”, and should be talked to accordingly.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

French doctor Michel Odent, who claims that because childbirth has become so medicalised, women are no longer able to go through it without intervention.

Odent writes that the use of synthetic drips of oxytocin means women will no longer be able to produce “the hormone of love” naturally. That’s right, women: not only are you foolishly allowing doctors to divest you of your ability to give birth, but you soon won’t even love the few kids you manage to produce. You disgust me, women.

[FuckOffDailyMailQuitQuotingMN]

As anyone who has been to a certain kind of pre-natal “support group” knows, for a woman to say – admit, even – that she will avail herself of all the pain relief and opt for a c-section is tantamount to admitting you plan to give your kids heroin to keep them quiet during EastEnders. The attitude in these groups is truly something to behold, with women being berated for opting for a birth plan that involves anything more sophisticated than giving birth in a woodland attended to only by twinkly-eyed foxes.