pregnant mother with hands on belly
If you are a pregnant woman in Collier County your options for a birth plan are limited to three choices: Naples Community Hospital’s (NCH) The BirthPlace, giving birth at The Family Birth Center or a home birth.
Hospital Birth
In Collier County there is only one hospital labor and delivery center: The BirthPlace at NCH Healthcare’s North Campus. As soon as a woman finds out she is pregnant, she can choose an obstetrician based on her own interviews or a referral from her primary care physician. The prenatal care will occur in the physician’s private practice and delivery will be planned at the hospital. Prenatal care usually includes monthly physical assessments (more frequent as the pregnancy progresses and in high risk pregnancies), nutrition assessments, ultrasounds and prenatal testing. Some practices have patients see all physicians in the practice during prenatal visits so that the physician on call during the eventual delivery is familiar. Obstetricians are also surgeons and can perform Caesarean deliveries when necessary. It is also common to see continuous fetal monitoring when in active labor and frequent nursing assessments.
Family Birth Center and Home Birth
The Family Birth Center in Naples offers complete prenatal, birth and postpartum care including laboratory services, ultrasound, diagnostic screening, nutrition counseling, birth classes, yoga classes, massage and breast-feeding support. Prenatal care, labor and delivery are performed by a licensed midwife. The environment is set up to be comfortable and home-like and to accommodate extra visitors during the birth. Laboring moms also are encouraged to stay active, and eat and drink during labor. Moms may even elect a water birth or may choose a home birth with the midwife. The goal is to help women have a drug-free birth if possible. These options are available only for low-risk pregnancies; high-risk moms and those carrying multiples will be referred to obstetricians.
Differences between the two
Some moms may feel more comfortable or safer delivering in a hospital, while others choose the Family Birth Center, which focuses on birth as a natural event. For moms who enjoy the family-centered and extensive prenatal support of a midwife but prefer to deliver in a hospital where emergency medical intervention is immediately available, that is not an option here. Many hospitals throughout the country (including Lee Memorial Health System in Fort Myers and Cape Coral) have Certified Nurse Midwives with admitting privileges, but they have never been allowed to deliver at any Collier County Hospital, according to NCH Healthcare Chief Executive Officer Dr. Allen Weiss. Midwives are trained to recognize complications and refer clients to the hospital for obstetrical emergencies, where the care will be turned over to the physician on call.
While there are not many different birthing options in Collier County, each provider has their own style, so take time to interview several at the beginning or even before your pregnancy to ensure the best fit for you.
Stacy Nicolau is a registered nurse, Assistant Publisher of Neapolitan Family Magazine and mother of three children all born at NCH Healthcare.