Prenatal Care with Auburn Birthing Center

Prenatal visits

Your prenatal visits with your certified nurse-midwife will be located in our newly renovated office space on the DeKalb Health campus, 0.4 miles away from the birthing center. We are located in Suite 2; park in the lot close to the Emergency Department/Main Entrance of the hospital (Lot A), enter door #3, and look for us on the right side of the hall. Stephanie, Kori, or Lara will meet with you – usually monthly until the third trimester, then every two weeks, then weekly by the last month of your pregnancy. We advise the same lab testing and ultrasound imaging for our birth center clients as we do for our hospital clients. Talk with us about your individual situation so that we can help you choose what will best fit your needs.

Education

We require that all couples planning labor and birth at Auburn Birthing Center attend our comprehensive childbirth education class. Because your postpartum stay with us is a matter of hours, not days, we must know that you are comfortable with early newborn care and breastfeeding, as well as coping with the intensity of labor. Our classes are held as Saturday intensives, which we have found are more convenient for our families than three weekly sessions. You may opt out of the class series if you have experienced a labor and birth without pain medications before. Bradley method classes taught by certified Bradley instructors will also meet our criteria. 

Birth planning

Clients at Auburn Birthing Center are strongly advised to be upright and moving during their labors as much as possible. We have intermittent monitoring only, and we do not perform labor inductions on site. We encourage eating and drinking while in labor to keep up your energy and avoid dehydration. Over half of our births are water births in our spacious tubs. You can choose to labor and birth in the tub; labor but not birth in the tub; or simply wait until you are in that moment to decide. We also have two styles of birthing stool for you to choose from. Talk with your midwife if you are interested in use of herbal remedies or essential oils during your labor. We welcome hands-on participation at the moment of birth, whether the hands are your loved one’s or your own!

Our midwives routinely advise immediate skin-to-skin contact with baby, delayed cord clamping, and breastfeeding as soon as baby is ready (within the first hour if possible). We not only minimize separation from your baby, we welcome your hands-on participation in as much of your baby’s care as you desire. Most assessments (apart from seeing how much they weigh!) can be completed with baby in your arms.

Written birth plans are welcome, but certainly not required. If you decide to write out your birth plan, please share it with your midwife. Some ideas to consider would be:

• Who are your support persons? Who will be with you when you are in labor? Are there people who might be at the center, but should stay in the family room/waiting area instead of in the birthing room?
• Who will your baby’s care provider be (family physician, pediatrician, nurse practitioner)?
• Which birth room do you prefer?
• Do you plan to birth in water? How strong is this desire – if you are not in the water and it is close to time for birth, do you want your midwife to encourage you to return to the tub for the birth?
• How involved does your partner wish to be? (Some want to cut the cord, others also want to be hands-on for the birth itself. Others feel squeamish about blood/birth in general.)
• What are your plans for the routine newborn medications required by the state of Indiana (erythromycin eye ointment and Vitamin K injection)? If this is unfamiliar to you, please click on the links (found at Evidence Based Birth) to learn more.
• Are you planning to take your placenta home, or would you prefer that Auburn Birthing Center dispose of it? Are you considering placenta encapsulation?
• Do you have any specific personal requests? Any spiritual/religious requirements that we should be aware of? Talk with your midwife to learn more about our usual routine of care, and tell us your ideas so that we can best meet your needs.