Some families choose to give birth at home with a midwife. This is becoming more common, and we have several midwives who provide skilled services in Kitsap County. Homebirth midwives are trained professionals skilled in attending low-risk pregnant women at home. Some reasons for choosing homebirth:

    * Desire to be in direct control of your experience
    * Desire to avoid medications for pain
    * Desire to avoid routine interventions
    * Desire to have more intimacy/privacy
    * Desire to have trusted and known providers
    * Desire to have family/children present
    * Desire to birth in water or any position of her choosing
    * Less expensive than hospital birth and may be covered by insurance

Another option is to give birth at a freestanding birth center. A free-standing birth center is privately owned and not attached/affiliated with a hospital, but is bound by the laws and regulations in our state governing birth centers. For example, the Harrison Birth Center in Silverdale is not a freestanding birth center, so you would not have the option of midwifery care. Giving birth at a freestanding birth center is a good middle ground between home and hospital birth in that you are in a facility that has a bit more technology, but also has that same home-like environment and less restrictions than birthing at a hospital. Some reasons for choosing a freestanding birth center:

    * See above for homebirth
    * Desire to be able to let someone else worry about housekeeping
    * Desire to be close to the hospital but not IN the hospital
    * Less expensive than hospital birth and may be covered by insurance

In our culture, the large majority of babies are born in the hospital. Women can choose to have a Certified Nurse Midwife attend her if she is low risk and her hospital offers it, or an OB/GYN, or a family practice doctor who also offers obstetric care. Some reasons for birthing in the hospital:

    * Desire to have the option for pain medication
    * Desire to have technology available
    * High-risk pregnancy/birthing situation
    * Desire to be close to surgical intervention
    * Desire/Need to have cesarean