Last Monday (16 weeks!), Michael and I visited the Portland Andaluz Waterbirth Center for a tour and consult with a midwife. As soon as we walked in the door, I loved it. The waiting area featured two very squishy, comfy couches around a coffee table and fireplace. It looked more like the living room of someone's house than a clinic. The restroom was lovely too, decorated in dark colors with soft lighting. It definitely contributed to the sense of "home." We filled out some getting-to-know-you paperwork and waited to meet with our midwife.
It didn't take long for a petite young woman with long dark hair to open a side door and announce that she was looking for Amy. We jumped up and introduced ourselves. Her name was Jessica and she ushered us into one of the birth suites, which looked like a really nice, really homey hotel room. The two main centerpieces of the room were a bed covered in a flowered comforter and the deepest, most inviting looking tub I have ever seen. We sat on a loveseat and she faced us on another chair. For the next 45 minutes we chatted all about our journey to this point and why we were interested in having our baby at a birth center. She answered our questions thoroughly and even offered to let us listen to the baby's heartbeat with the Doppler. Of course I jumped at the chance. I got to try out the bed while Jessica moved the Doppler around on my belly until a really loud, really strong heartbeat was very clearly heard. Michael's response was, "It sounds like a truck!"
We didn't get to see the other common areas they have (kitchen and waiting area for extended family), but we were sent home with a folder of reading material about Andaluz and birth in general. I was excited to see that they offer childbirth classes at very reasonable rates. Whether or not we end up having our baby there unfortunately will depend on what insurance will cover. But even if we opt for a hospital birth, I'm pretty sure I'd like to go to the childbirth education classes at Andaluz and get some of my natural birth fix that way. :) Plus, I'll probably spring for a doula if we go to the hospital.
Michael and I were both glad we visited the water birth center, and are excited at the possibility of having our baby there.
Subscribe to:
Post Comments (Atom)
In my insurance explorations, I've found that my insurance will cover 80% of in-network and 50% of out-network midwifery/home birthing costs. The only in-network midwives in the Corvallis area are through Samaratin hospitals and they don't do homebirths, so I'd have to go with an out-network midwife. That said, the prices the midwives are giving me ($3400 for the majority of services) is significantly cheaper than how much it costs to have a baby in the hospital - so I figure it's a wash. :D
ReplyDelete