Is Coronavirus ruining your birth plan? How changing your plan can help
You've got your OB, toured your hospital, lined up your doula, booked your photographer, and told your family & friends the plan. Everyone is excited to get that phone call and head to the hospital to welcome your new little one to the world.
And then BOOM! COVID-19 just wiped out all that excitement.
You're feeling confused, worried, and stressed that your birth may not go the way you want, and I totally understand.
But not to worry! It's never too late to adjust and pivot.
First - Let go of fear.
Know that your hospital and care provider are taking every precaution to keep you and your baby safe. The only change is the visitor policy and the number of support people allowed there - your family will have to wait till you get home to celebrate your little one's arrival. So keep calm and carry on. And wash your hands.
But if your family, doula, and photographer are super important to you...it's not to late to change your plan.
If you were considering a natural birth plan, midwives and birth centers across DFW are here to support you! Many of them are accepting late term transfers for low risk births helping you have the birth you want without hospital policy getting in the way.
Now, this isn't to say we aren't taking the corona virus seriously - we are!
But we also know how important your birth experience is to you.
"While we are closely monitoring COVID-19 and following the CDC’s precautions, we feel strongly in a woman’s right to choose. She will remember this day for the rest of her life and we want her to remember being supported and loved - not scared or fearful," says Susan Taylor, a midwife with the DFW Midwife Collective.
Many of the Birth Centers and home birth midwives are also limiting visitors for the safety of you and your baby, but they aren't clamping down so tightly on your support team.
"While we will continue to encourage our clients to take safety measures themselves to protect their families, we will not limit them to choose only one support person at their birth. We will not ask them to leave their partner behind for prenatal appointments. We will not allow their birth to be engulfed with fear," says Taylor.
It's recommended to keep siblings and family at home for your meet & greet, but you'll still be able to have your hubby, doula, and photographer there with you. (And with these precautions, it's so important to have that birth photographer if you were planning on visitors!)
As an added advantage…
Many of these midwives are making house calls for prenatal appointments, so you don’t have to get out of the comfort of your quarantine and risk riding and elevator with someone whose cough may or may not be COVID-19.
Additionally. the cost of most birth centers and home births is normally far less than the most families incur giving birth at a hospital. Add in the bonus of the comfort of no IV constantly in your arm, the freedom to move, and a beautiful birth tub, and well, you can understand why some women never go back to the hospital for birth.
If you're considering making the jump, Midwife Cheryl Gaspard of Gentle Beginnings recommends gathering as much of your prenatal records as possible because a Records Request can take several weeks for your doctor's office to respond.
As usual, I've done the work for you and prepped a list of those Birth Centers and Midwives I have either worked with or heard good things about that are accepting late transfers for your birth. There may be others out there, but I try to recommend those who I know, like, or the folks in this birth industry I respect like.
DFW Birth Centers
Origins Birth Centers, both Fort Worth & Dallas
Birth & Wellness Center of Arlington (Offering a discount for late transfers)
* Most of the birth center midwives also offer home birth as an option as well.
Midwives
DFW Midwife Collective, Susan Taylor & Amanda Prouty
Ordinary Miracles Childbirth Services, Jamie Hinton
Danielle Hogan- Holistic Midwifery Care
Barefoot Midwifery, Cori Lively
Late Transfers & Birth Photography
I know this sudden planning can be stressful and a strain on the pocket book. If you feel a birth story is a must during the challenging and uncertain time, Birth & Life Photography is there for you.
Birth Center & Home Birth Sessions booked for late-transfer due dates* from April 18th to June 1st will receive a discount of $200 on their Birth Story. You do not need to pay in full by your due date; your payments can extend past your birth date with product ownership delivered after the final payment.
And as always, and most importantly during this time, Birth & Life Photography always continues the story with a family meet & greet session at no additional cost, so you can still have those precious moments where your children can meet their new sibling.
*Dates subject to availability
Click here to find out more information about our all-inclusive birth story package and everything that is included at the following link.