Because of the way labor and delivery are depicted in movies and TV, you might think that women never choose their hospitals in advance — they just rush to whatever facility is closest when their water breaks at the top of the Empire State Building (and give birth after only minutes of pushing).
In reality, choosing a hospital is among the first and most important parts of developing a birth plan — it can start even before pregnancy — and there’s more to consider than just location. How will each hospital support you during early labor? Can you expect that your nurse will spend enough time with you in the room, monitoring your progress and coaching you as needed? How many babies at each hospital are delivered via C-section? Trying to understand answers to questions like these can tell you how “labor friendly” a hospital is, which could have a big impact on your birth experience.
Ovia defines a labor-friendly hospital as one that has a lower C-section rate, which we believe may indicate they:
- Consistently provides staffing and personal attention needed for support during labor
- Places an emphasis on helping patients follow their birth plans with the result of fewer risks and extended recovery from unnecessary C-sections
According to the official recommendation from ACOG, vaginal deliveries are the safer option for mom and baby, as medically unnecessary C-sections carry a great deal of risk and is linked to a longer recovery time.
When interventions like C-sections become necessary (and sometimes they are necessary), labor-friendly hospitals will make you aware of both necessity and risks of the interventions and allow you to contribute to the decision.
By allowing labor to progress without unnecessary intervention, labor-friendly hospitals reduce the number of medically unnecessary C-sections — and have lower overall C-section rates as a result. The lower the C-section rate, the more labor-friendly the hospital.
That means you can look up just how labor-friendly your local hospitals are.
When you’re choosing a hospital, whether you’re looking for support in trying to conceive or looking ahead to pregnancy and delivery, it’s important to try to learn as much as possible about the facility. If you’re thinking about a future pregnancy, this might mean researching their ratings and talking to friends and family who have given birth there or know someone who has, and looking up their ratings. It’s not always possible to meet the doctor, midwife, or nurse who will be helping you through labor, but by choosing a labor-friendly hospital and birth team, you are taking all the right steps to receive high-quality care.
To get help choosing the birth team that is right for you, contact our coaching team to assist with the search. They can help you find a provider who is in your network and accepting patients.
