Resources for Expecting Moms

Posted on June 2nd, 2011 by fcmc Resources for Expecting Moms New Patient Forms

Frequently Asked Questions

Q: What is a freestanding birth center. Why would I choose one over a hospital?
A “freestanding” birth center is a birth center that is not affiliated with any hospital. It is a home-like setting where safe maternity care is provided to low-risk women. In hospitals, birth is treated as a medical event. There is an emphasis on efficient management of a large and complex organization, which can lead to the use of interventions that are not in the best interests of the laboring woman. In the birth center, some interventions are never employed, such as:
  • Induction and augmentation of labor with oxytocin
  • Continuous electronic fetal monitoring
  • Epidural anesthesia
  • Narcotics
  • Operative delivery
In our birth center, our philosophy of care supports the birthing families’ choices and desires in how they labor and give birth. Because labor and birth are considered normal events, the usual rigid protocols are not imposed on a normally laboring woman. We focus on what most often goes right with labor and avoid unnecessary intervention. As long as the mother and baby remain normal, strict time frames for the progress of labor are not required.
Q: Why should I choose Family Centered Maternity Care?
FCMC has been in existence since 1984. Our midwives have been with us since 2000 providing exceptional low-cost maternity care both at home and in the birth center. Out of hospital birthing is our specialty. Birthing centers are great options for women who are looking for a safe, healthy birth. Our CNMs/CPMs are in network with many of the major insurance companies and offer expanded services for our clients such as prescriptions, lab work, and basic sonograms.
Q: Is FCMC licensed?
Yes, we are licensed by the Texas Department of State Health Services.
Q: Is it safe to deliver my baby at a freestanding birth center or at home?
The best evidence available shows that out-of-hospital birth with a trained midwife is as safe or safer than hospital birth for low-risk, healthy women. Furthermore, women report greater satisfaction with their care and birth with fewer interventions. We offer both a freestanding birth center and home birth options available in Garland, Plano, Dallas, McKinney, Allen, Frisco, and anywhere else within an hour of our birth center. Here are some links to evidence-based research discussing the safety of home birth and birth center births.
  • Outcomes of Planned Home Births with Certified Professional Midwives: Large Prospective Study in North America. Read More
  • Outcomes of planned home birth with registered midwife versus planned hospital birth with midwife or physician. Read More
  • Outcomes associated with planned home and planned hospital births in low-risk women attended by midwives in Ontario, Canada, 2003-2006: a retrospective cohort study. Read More
  • Studies show that outcomes for low-risk women and babies who deliver at birth centers are excellent. Here you will find a link to the landmark The National Birth Center II study detailing safety data on birthing at a birth center. Read More.
  • Outcomes of Care for Planned Home Births. Read More
Q: What if something happens during labor?
Sometimes circumstances of labor call for the need to facilitate transport to the hospital for additional support. Transport sometimes occurs in labor or in the immediate hours after the baby is born. In most cases there are events that precede the need to transport that lets the midwife know before a problem develops, allowing for transport non-emergently in your own car. Reasons for this kind of transfer may include maternal exhaustion and/or desire for pain medication, insufficient contractions and need for Pitocin or Meconium in the amniotic fluid. Rarely, there is the need to call 9-1-1 and transport urgently by ambulance to the hospital. Very rarely, and without warning, an event may occur that requires immediate and emergent transport to the hospital for equipment or services not available at home or at the center.
Q: Who can give birth at FCMC?
Generally, we care for low-risk healthy women. Birth centers remain as a valid option for some women with certain medical conditions. We will evaluate each woman individually to determine eligibility for an out of hospital birth. Some conditions that would be defined as high risk are multiple gestation (twins), breech presentation at term, epilepsy and diabetes requiring medication. If these conditions come up, our protocol is to ensure a smooth transfer of care to the appropriate provider.
Q: Are prenatal labs and sonograms completed at the birth center?
Yes, our midwives will draw your blood and send it to a lab for processing. We also have several sonogram companies available that we refer to. Additionally, we have an ultrasound machine in our office where we can perform, if indicated, early dating sonograms and verify how the baby is lying as you get closer to term.
Q: May I have a waterbirth at the birth center?
Absolutely, most of our clients choose to labor in the tub for at least some of the time, and about 1 in 4 give birth in the water. Some of the benefits to laboring in the water include:
  • Reduced pain
  • Reduced sensory stimulus, thus producing less stress-related hormones
  • Decreased blood pressure
  • Increased ability to focus
  • Increased skin elasticity, reducing the amount of perineal tearing
  • Gentler birth for baby
Q: How many staff members will be present at my birth?
At least two birth attendants, one being a Certified Midwife.
Q: Are friends and family welcome during my birth at the birth center?
Absolutely, we encourage you to have those closest to you present. Your family and friends will also have access to our Wi-Fi at no charge.
Q: How can my older children be involved?
We love including older siblings into prenatal visits and the birth itself. With well-prepared kids, being at a sibling’s birth can be exciting, special and even fun. We really enjoy having siblings at births involved at a level at which both parents and kids are comfortable. Depending on age, it is important that older siblings have someone present at the birth that is there just for them: grandparent, babysitter, or family friend.
Q: Is pain medication available at the birth center?
We do not administer pain medication at the birth center.
Q: How long will we stay at the birth center after birth?
Generally families will be discharged 3-4 hours post-delivery.
Q: Are circumcisions completed at the birth center?
Christina offers this service both in our office or in your home, when requested. Please contact us if you would like further details.
Q: Will the birth center provide forms necessary to receive my baby’s birth certificate?
The birth center will file all necessary forms with the state/local registrar where you can request your baby’s birth certificate. We will also provide a birth certificate from our birth center as a memento.
Q: What happens after my baby is born? What care will he/she receive?
After the birth, the midwives will perform a complete physical assessment of baby. For healthy newborns who are discharged home from the birth center, a care provider will make a well check phone call at 24 hours of age. The newborn and mom will be assessed in person by one of our midwives at 2-3 days postpartum and again at 2 weeks.
Q: Can I have a Doula?
We love working with doulas and value the support that doulas offer throughout your labor, birth and postpartum period. If you have chosen a doula that we haven’t worked with before we would love for you to bring her to an appointment with you so that your team can meet before your birth.
Q: Do you provide lactation services?
We provide first-line lactation services to our clients. If you need more comprehensive lactation support, there are several excellent lactation consultants in our area we can refer you to.
Thank you for your inquiry into our services, please contact us to come in and meet one of our midwives, tour our facility and have any of your additional questions answered.

Websites

(Pregnancy, Birth and Breastfeeding) Expecting Mom

Childbirth – Books

  • Ina May’s Guide to Childbirth Spiritual Midwifery – Ina May Gaskin
  • Home Birth – Sheila Kitzinger
  • Natural Childbirth the Bradley Way – Susan McCutcheon-Rosegg
  • Special Delivery – Rhema Baldwin
  • Gentle Birth Choices – Barbara Harper
  • Giving Birth – Catherine Taylor
  • The Thinking Woman’s Guide to a Better Birth – Henci Goer
  • The Joy of Natural Childbirth – Helen Wessel
  • Complete Book of Pregnancy and Homebirth – Shiela Kitzinger
  • Essential Exercises for the Childbearing Year – Elizabeth Davis
  • Your Pregnancy Companion – Graham
  • The Naturally Healthy Pregnancy – Shonda Parker

… And Beyond

  • The Baby Book – William Sears
  • The Womanly Art of Breastfeeding – La Leche League International
  • Breastfeeding Your Baby: Revised Edition – Sheila Kitzinger
  • The Vaccine Book – William Sears

Parenting Resources

  • biblicalparenting.org – an online source of articles, encouragement, and even a phone-in information line for help with parenting struggles
  • Love and Logic – Jim Fey, a series of books, CDs and seminars

Vaginal Birth After Cesarean

  • Silent Knife: Open Season; Birth Quake – Nancy Cohen and Lois Estner
  • Birth After Cesarean – Bruce Flamm
  • Natural Birth After Cesarean: A Practical Guide – Johanne Walters, Karis Crawford

Family Centered Maternity Care

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