"Freedom and Options"
A recent large research paper supported using upright positions (walking) and freedom to move about in labor, as a way to lower the cesarean section rate. Midwives have known this to be true for hundreds of years. One of the reasons so many women choose epidurals in the hospital is because labor is so much more painful when they are stuck in bed with the fetal monitor attached to their bellies. Being able to move about according to your natural rhythms and desires promotes natural, physiologic labor. At Geneva Woods Birth Center we offer:
- Freedom to move about. We will come to you wherever you are to listen to your baby’s heart rate in labor. Our dopplers work underwater.
- Bathtubs: We have 2 deep tubs and women are free to labor and birth in the water.
- Each birth room has its own shower and we have a very large water tank so you can spend hours in the shower.
- We have three different sizes of birth balls and 2 types of birthing stools. We also have a peanut ball to help turn those stubborn OP babies.
- TENS unit for back pain and your midwife can also administer sterile water papules if you have back labor.
- Nitrous Oxide:
We have the capacity to provide Nitrous Oxide in a 50/50 mixture with oxygen, for pain relief. Nitrous is self-administered by the laboring women, so that she is always in control of how much and how frequently she is using it. It has been used in many countries in Europe for over 50 years, and has been gaining in popularity in birth centers across the country.
