Bloomin’ Babies co-owner discusses merits of natural birth

Natural childbirth is getting lots of attention these days from researchers who’ve noticed a trend among American women to deliver their babies in non-hospital settings.
Recent studies support the wisdom of this shift toward minimally invasive childbirth, said Patty Kandiko, a certified nurse midwife and co-owner of Bloomin’ Babies Birth Center in Grand Junction, the Western Slope’s only midwife-run birth center.
“In a low-risk pregnancy, the outcomes at midwife-staffed birth centers are comparable to those in hospitals,” she said.
“And women who deliver in birth centers are less likely to undergo medical interventions, such as induced labor and Cesarean section, a major surgery that prolongs their recovery and increases their health risk.”
“Our clients come to us because they want more control over how their baby is born,” Kandiko said. “They don’t want to be pressured into unnecessary and costly procedures, and they want surroundings that are homelike and calm. It’s not that in-hospital births are ‘unnatural,’ but we approach pregnancy and delivery as natural life events, not an illness that needs a cure. Our model is low-tech and noninvasive; we’re disinclined to intervene unless there’s a medical need.”
If the need for hospital care arises during a natural delivery, she said, Bloomin’ Babies has a working relationship with nearby St. Mary’s Hospital to care for its families.
“Childbirth isn’t a one-size-fits-all experience,” Kandiko said. “It’s an intimate, momentous event in the life of a family and should happen in the setting that is most comfortable, and safest, for mother and baby.
(source: bloominbabiesbirthcenter.com)