Pregnancy, Labor, & Birth
Your safe, personal choice for birth center care.
The Choice That’s Right For You
Now that you’re pregnant, you’re probably considering how you want to give birth to your baby. Once you start telling people you’re pregnant, you’re met with a lot of advice and warnings. How do you sort through all of them? More importantly, how do you begin to make decisions that are best for you?
YOUR FIRST VISIT
What To Expect
We want you to relax and enjoy your time with us. Your first appointment will take about an hour, so be sure to allow plenty of time.
Prior to the appointment, you’ll receive a link to ClientCare, your secure online medical chart. Take the time to set up your personal account, complete your medical history, and fill out the required forms before your appointment so you can spend more of your appointment time engaging with your midwife.
When you arrive, you’ll meet one of our midwives. Together, you’ll review your current health status and medical history from the client portal. The midwife will also guide you through the lab procedures and discuss the best nutrition choices for pregnancy. Your midwife will assess your health status and perform a complete physical exam. If you’re far enough along, you may even get to hear your baby’s heartbeat!
Finally, you’ll have your blood drawn for routine initial prenatal lab tests.
PRENATAL APPOINTMENTS
What To Expect
You’ll have one prenatal appointment every four to six weeks until 32 weeks of pregnancy. Then, you’ll come in every two to three weeks until around 36 weeks of pregnancy. At that point, weekly exams are done until your baby is born.
From start to finish, we want you to have the personal care and attention you deserve. During these appointments, we welcome your family to be present, including other children. Having our midwives get to know the important people in your life only enhances their relationship with you. You will hear your baby’s heartbeat and the midwife will measure your baby’s growth, as well as review what is happening with you and your baby. These appointments are designed to be informative, personalized, and supportive.
BIRTH EDUCATION CLASSES
Educated and Empowered
A one-day intensive birth class is required to be completed by the 36th week of pregnancy if this is your first delivery at Columbia Birth Center. This class focuses on supporting you to have an amazing birth and post-partum at our center. In addition, we also offer optional classes to educate and empower you during your birth experience.
We recommend that people having their first child take an additional 5-6 week childbirth series and/or do some additional reading to prepare for their birth. Several good options are available—check out our events calendar for classes offered online or at the center.
LABOR & BIRTH
What To Expect
Many women say that despite the intensity of birth, it was the most rewarding thing that they’ve ever done!
Having a natural birth experience is what draws women to Columbia Birth Center. We have many ways to provide comfort and support to women in labor, including massage tools and heating pads, essential oils for relaxation, a shower with a hand-held spray, a soothing deep whirlpool tub, labor balls, birth stools, and an outdoor area for walking.
If you’re hungry, you can eat and drink whatever you’d like. We also have nitrous oxide available for an additional cost, which is a safe and effective way to help cope with the intensity of labor.
We welcome anyone you choose to support you in the labor and/or postpartum time at the center. We expect doulas to be certified. We embrace the presence of the people you love and need by your side, and we do all we can to make them comfortable while they’re here.
WATERBIRTH
What To Expect
We offer a whirlpool tub for the expectant parents to labor or birth in if they choose. Water labors and waterbirths have an effect on everyone in the room. As soon as a laboring woman gets into the tub, the whole ambiance in the birth suite immediately changes. Voices get softer, the mother stays calmer, and everyone becomes less stressed.
The effect of deepwater buoyancy allows spontaneous movement for the mother. No one has to help the mother get into a new position. She moves as her body and the position of the baby dictate. Movement helps open the pelvis, allowing the baby to descend.
When a woman in labor relaxes in a warm deep bath, free from gravity’s pull on her body, her body is less likely to secrete stress-related hormones that can slow labor. Instead, when she relaxes, her body produces pain inhibitors known as endorphins that complement labor.
A laboring woman who is able to relax physically is also able to relax mentally. Many women, midwives, and doctors acknowledge the analgesic effects of water. Many of our mothers state they would never be able to labor without being in the water.
Here are a few additional benefits of waterbirth:
Helps facilitate mobility and enables the mother to assume any position she finds comfortable for labor and birth
Often encourages labor to progress by helping mom relax
Gives mom a feeling of control
Provides significant, natural pain relief
Promotes relaxation
Conserves her energy
Reduces the need for drugs and interventions
Gives mothers a private, protected space
Reduces perineal trauma and eliminates the need for an episiotomy
Reduces cesarean section rates
COST OF SERVICES
What To Expect
Start by contacting your insurance company to verify your childbirth benefits at a birth center and anticipated financial cost-share for your particular plan. Columbia Birth Center will also contact your insurance for benefits information to then create a financial agreement based on your current specific plan benefits. Please note that the benefits in place as of the date your baby is expected to be born are what determines your financial responsibility.
Required fees that are not paid for by insurance, Tricare, or Medicaid plans include:
A non-refundable concierge fee of $250 per trimester ($750 total for most clients). The first fee is due at the first appointment.
The cost of classes other than the 1-day required class, which is covered.
Optional fees that are not paid for by insurance plans or Medicaid and which must be prepaid if you choose these services:
Prepaid Fee for Nitrous Oxide of $300 due at 36-weeks, refundable if not needed
Payment for Cord Blood & Tissue Banking varies but is also due by 36-weeks.
Payment for optional classes (prices vary) are due at the first class
For a list of insurance providers we accept or what to do if you are uninsured, please contact us.
Experience a Safe, Personal, & Empowering Natural Birth at Columbia Birth Center
Find out if we’re a good fit for you.