[Pleione]

Something I read in review has me a bit worried. It seems most Birth Centers tend to have a very large percentage of transferring to the hospital. Most stories even include how the parent had their midwife all through the pregnancy even in the hospital. That's great and all and I appreciate the fact support will be with me every step of the way. But can anyone explain what leads to these high ratios of transferring to the hospital?

Part of me just thinks I should just ... give birth at a hospital at this rate if it's so high. Or a home birth. Thoughts?

[Jennifer8080]

Ask your birth center directly, what their rate is and their biggest transfer reason. At my birth center I think it was a 6% transfer rate and the majority was that mom decided she wanted pain meds. Very few were true medical reasons.

[andi2284]

The birth center I used with my second also had a very low transfer rate. It was a free-standing birth center, which may be different from one that is attached to a hospital. I really loved my birth center and would recommend them to anyone thinking about a natural birth but doesn't want a home birth. That doesnt' mean that every birth center is great, but the majority of them seem to be.

[FLCharlotte]

Having a conversation about transfer rates is very important. When I was looking into birth centers 6%-10% seemed to be the norm but most were close to 6% and 10% would be on the high end. Also, you need to know how many of those are emergent transfers, that number should be around 1%. You should also ask some questions about the doctor that they transfer to and do some research. The doctor in my city that oversees birth centers and home birth midwives is TERRIBLE! Like, has a history with the medical board terrible. My birth center was not forth coming with that info. The doc was the polar opposite of natural but oversaw birth centers because he wanted the cash.
I agree that there are a lot of fantastic birth centers but not all are great, I had a terrible experience. On the other hand, not all hospitals are bad my experience was fantastic.

[Twhylite21]

I would ask the birth center their rates as well. I would also assume that a hospital attached birth center has higher rates versus a freestanding one. Most hospital attached centers have more hospital like rules/regulations and they'll transfer moms for reasons a freestanding center wouldn't at times.