What if an Emergency Occurs At The Birth Center?
The Birth Center of New Jersey offers families an alternative to traditional hospital-based maternity care in a safe and comfortable setting. We provide care to women anticipating normal, low-risk births with routine gynecological or well-woman care.
What Is Our Qualification?
The Birth Center of New Jersey is run by professionally accredited, licensed professionals with the skills and sensitivity to provide a “best of both worlds” scenario for clients.
Having a baby is a natural family event. Our goal is to provide the safety of a hospital and the comfort of a home atmosphere, all with the assurance that competent, attentive staff is helping your family realize a dream come true.
Rest assured, the birth center meets all local, state, and federal health standards. We also meet safety regulations that allow us to be licensed by the State Department of Health.
Is The Birth Center Safe?
Yes, birth centers are safe since they are run by knowledgeable, professional midwives who provide an excellent level of care that takes both mother and baby’s health into account.
“The National Birth Center Study,” a multicenter study of over 17,000 women seeking birth center care (published in the New England Journal of Medicine) concluded that birth centers offer a safe and acceptable alternative to hospital birth for select women, and that birth center care leads to fewer cesarean sections.
A recent CMMI study showed that birth centers lead to reduced preterm deliveries.
What Happens In Case of an Emergency?
In the unlikely event of an emergency, the staff at the Birth Center is trained to effectively initiate emergency protocols associated with labor and birth.
The Birth Center is equipped with the equipment needed for emergency treatment and is located just minutes from the hospital to arrange for a transfer. Additionally, the birth center has an agreement with the local ambulance company for immediate transport that takes about 5-10 minutes. In the event of a hospital transfer, the mother and baby are cared for as private patients, not “walk-ins.”
Why Would I Need A Transfer?
We usually do a thorough assessment at each of your prenatal visits to make sure you’re healthy and qualify for a safe, natural birth. However, unforeseen circumstances may arise during labor or after it, requiring a quick transfer.
Maternal reasons for an Emergency Transfer:
- A high blood pressure before or during delivery that isn’t being controlled by the measures available
- Inability to deliver the placenta due to uterine atony
- Severe bleeding after delivery
- A deterioration in the mother’s condition during or after labor
- Mother requisition for a C-section
Infant reasons for an Emergency Transfer:
- Fetal compromise observed on the CTG
- Baby is premature
- The baby needs additional resuscitation or an incubator
If you have other questions about how our birth center handles emergency situations should they arise, send us a message!