The Success of an Alternative Birth Center in an Academic Medical Facility

                                                                                               The University of California San Diego Medical Center

      The purpose of this poster presentation is to illustrate the success of an innovative program that was developed to provide an alternative birthing option to the traditional labor and delivery model of care located within an academic medical center.            

     After ten years the Birth Center at University of California San Diego Medical Center (UCSDMC) stands out as a testament to the power of choice in childbirth. A true birth center by definition the UCSD Birth Center is located in a tertiary academic medical facility. The Birth Center provides low-risk women who choose “natural birth” the opportunity to deliver in a family centered environment with the option of transferring to the traditional labor and delivery in the event of emergency or by choice. Certified nurse midwives (CNM), registered nurses, support staff, and UCSD doulas follow the philosophy that childbirth is a natural process. This philosophy supports the notion that women’s bodies are instinctively guided through the closing stages of pregnancy to the wonderful beginning of life. The whole family is encouraged to take part in the birth and be there for the mother as she rocks, dances, and sings her baby into the world.           

     At the Birth Center, the room is dimmed, soft music is played, and the mother and father are free to move about and embrace each other while sharing the energy it takes to birth their unborn child. It is their birth story; a story so powerful that it will stay with them for the rest of their lives and cannot be taken away. The Birth Center staff assists the woman with proper positioning, counter pressure, hydrotherapy, aromatherapy, and massage. The physical environment of the Birth Center supports the “natural birth” experience through is familiarity.  Each of the birth rooms are set up to resemble a homelike atmosphere including: four poster beds, natural wood furniture, reduced lighting, and artistic photography.               

     Based on the review of literature the following outcomes will be presented: 1) midwife patient outcomes, 2) patient satisfaction, 3) nurse satisfaction, and 4) economic impact. These findings may provide some guidance in decisions that impact the opening of birth centers in tertiary medical facilities or community hospitals.