Wauwatosa's Authentic Birth Center offers alternative to hospital delivery

For her prenatal appointment Sept. 23, Jamie Hartman, a receptionist at Wauwatosa's Authentic Birth Center, went just down the hall and laid down on a small bed. She set her legs on her husband and daughter who watched the midwife, LaNette McQuitty, feel for the baby.

When she delivers, she'll go down another hallway, where she will give birth in one of three suites in a bed, bathtub, or anywhere she wants.

She's part of a growing number of women who are choosing to give birth outside of hospitals. Nationwide, the Centers for Disease Control found that after declining for most of the 20th century, out-of-hospital births have been growing steadily in popularity since 2004.

According to a CDC report released earlier this year, about 1.36 percent of U.S. women who gave birth in 2012 were not in hospitals. In Wisconsin, the percentage was 2.19.

Staff at Authentic Birth Center, located just northwest of Mayfair and Bluemound roads, hope it's just the beginning for this movement. Open over a year now, the center has delivered 70 babies in Wauwatosa.

Midwife LaNette McQuitty, who started the birthing center, said she thinks women are looking for a more personal experience in giving birth.

"We're her servant, and her body is going to know what's best," McQuitty said. "Here, what your instinct tells you to do is the right thing to do."

Sometimes that means giving birth in bed under twinkling star-like lights, or in a special tub. Other times it's on the bathroom floor. Wherever the mother wants to be, the team accommodates her.

Enderis Park resident Sarah Karasch said she chose to give birth at Authentic because she wanted to feel more in control of her pregnancy than she was feeling at first in a traditional environment.

"I didn't even know why I was peeing in a cup at each appointment because no one told me," she said.

Karasch said she immediately felt more comfortable at Authentic and knew she wanted to give birth there in April.

"I wasn't hooked up to any devices or IVs. I had freedom to move and to labor in whatever way I wanted to," Karasch said. "My husband laid next to me and held me as I delivered our daughter in the queen size bed in the birthing suite. It was the most empowering and most beautiful experience of my life."

Karasch didn't have any risk factors going into delivery. For others, an out-of-hospital birth can be more hazardous.

A study published earlier this year in the Journal of Midwifery & Women's Health found that out of 16,924 women who planned at-home births, eleven percent were transferred to a hospital, with the most common reasons being failure to progress, desire for pain relief, or fetal distress and maternal exhaustion.

McQuitty said Authentic always considers whether the center or a hospital would be a better fit for a woman, based on factors like the woman's blood pressure and whether the baby comes early.

If something goes wrong during a delivery at Authentic, McQuitty said Froedtert hospital is a 1.5 mile trip away, taking about six minutes to get a woman from Authentic to a hospital bed. That's part of why McQuitty chose to set up in Wauwatosa.

She also liked the community feel. She said she hopes families feel like the birthing center is a second home, returning for play groups and yoga sessions.

The center has three suites, called "Sophia," "Nest," and "Serenity." Families also have access to a kitchen and living room during their stay, which has a fixed cost no matter how long they crash.

The cost is another reason some women consider the center. At $1,000 for the room and $3,000 for the midwifery and lab work, the cost of birth is often much lower than in a hospital. The average cost to give birth in a U.S. hospital is about $30,000 for a vaginal delivery and $50,000 for a C-section, according to a 2013 report by Truven Health Analytics.

McQuitty said she expects natural birth to become more popular as women learn more about the differences in cost and experience.

"People are realizing that how we're handling birth is probably not beneficial," McQuitty said. "Birth works. We might be doing some damage by not letting it play out the way it's intended to."