Houston Hospital Births

The most common location for birth in Houston and America is to deliver in a hospital. Benefits of hospital birth include: having emergency medical care immediately accessible, complete pain medication availability, and additional support that might be needed for women at high risk for certain conditions. Additionally, women who birth in a hospital can anticipate a 2-3 day hospital stay.

Although complete alleviation of discomfort is available in a hospital setting via pain medication, lifesaving measures are available in true emergency situation, and, for some high risk babies or moms, delivering in a hospital is the safest option, hospital births do have drawbacks. Birthing a baby in the hospital means a definite lack of privacy, strangers in the birthing room (nurses, residents, etc.), and policies and routine procedures that may not be necessary but are expected for the hospitals liability insurance. Delivering a baby in a hospital also means that medical interventions are harder to avoid, oftentimes it's difficult for the laboring woman to eat or drink during labor, routine policies often 'require' limited mobility for mom, and the rate of cesarean section is highest of all three options.

Most hospital births are attended by obstetricians, although nurse midwives are available at some Houston-area hospitals.

As a Houston birth doula, I have extensive experience with a great number of obstetricians, hospital-based midwives, and hospitals and their policies in the Houston area and would love the opportunity to assist you in finding the perfect fit for your needs and desires for birth.