Expecting moms can soon have midwife births at Phoenix hospital
Jul 25, 2018, 7:18 PM
(Pexels photo)
(Pexels photo)
PHOENIX — A Phoenix hospital will offer midwife births to patients who are looking to have a home birth experience with the comfort of a nearby professional, medical team.
Banner Estrella Medical Center, located near Thomas Road and 91st Avenue, will allow patients to give birth in its Birthing Center under the care of a midwife.
The midwives at Banner Estrella are advanced practice registered nurses who have completed a nurse-midwifery education program.
A team of labor and delivery nurses will be on hand any necessary medical aid. An obstetrics physician would also be available to provide emergency interventions.
Tracy Burns, a nurse midwife at Banner Estrella, told KTAR News 92.3 FM that the Birthing Center will provide expecting mothers with free-standing tubs, showers and rocking chairs to allow them to manage their pain and move more freely.
While midwife births are typically associated with being medication-free, Burns said that is not always the case.
“The goal isn’t a natural birth,” Burns said. “The goal is that the mom is safe, the baby is safe and mom gets the care that she wants.
“If that means she wants an epiduralized or medicated birth, then that’s what she gets,” Burns added.
But the Birthing Center involves much more than the actual day of the birth: Burns said the types of midwives at Banner Estrella are nurses who specialized in caring for women throughout their entire life, which means preparing their bodies well before pregnancy and making sure they are supported well after.
“Birth is one of the biggest moments in a woman’s life and often times, due to all types of factors, it doesn’t go quite as planned,” Burns said.
“The goal is that when they walk through the door, they have been through prepared childbirth classes, they know what will happen,” she added.
“We want to make sure they are filled with education.”
The new Birthing Center unit was expected to open at Banner Estrella in September.
Similar programs are already offered at Banner Ironwood Medical Center in Queen Creek and Banner Del E. Webb Medical Center in Sun City West.
KTAR News 92.3 FM’s Griselda Zetino contributed to this report.
