WELCOME TO OUR BIRTH CENTER
The Birth Center at Northern Sun is located in the historic district of Topsham, Maine. The family room allows guests to be present and involved, while the bedroom provides privacy to the mother in labor. The birth tub in the birth suite is available for both laboring and birthing. The kitchen allows families to make their own food during their stay and eat and drink throughout labor. Women are encouraged to eat if they are hungry, move about and spend time in the birth tub as they wish, and push in whatever positions they find most comfortable. The gardens surrounding the birth center provide freedom to walk, rest and relax during labor.
Birth at a birth center provides a familiar, warm environment where women can give birth and find healthcare that respects their desires and nourishes their dreams. Both the intimate, home-like quality of the setting and the welcoming, reassuring, professional nature of the staff embody the fundamental idea that birth is an essentially normal and powerful event. We believe that when a woman and her family are supported and involved in making decisions about their care, they are best equipped to meet the challenges of parenthood. Likewise, good healthcare throughout our lives is best served through information, partnership and trust between client and caregiver.
The Birth Center at Northern Sun is committed to family-centered care. Birth centers recognize that the mother knows what her body needs to give birth. A woman’s right to be the decision-maker about the circumstances of her birth is fully respected. The midwives and staff attend to her needs, while diligently watching for signs that might show she is outside the realm of wellness.
PHOTOS COURTESY OF MALORRIE ANN PHOTOGRAPHY
BIRTH CENTER SAFETY
Birth in a birth center has been shown to be as safe as birth in a hospital for women who are low-risk. The difference is in the higher rates of intervention in a hospital such as induction, vacuum extraction, episiotomies and cesarean sections. The National Birth Center Study II published in 2013, showed that more than 9 out of 10 women (94%) who entered labor planning a birth center birth achieved a vaginal birth. The C-section rate for low-risk women who chose to give birth at a birth center was only 6%—compared to the U.S. C-section rate of 27% for low-risk women. This means that the C-section rate for women in birth centers is more than 4 times lower than what is seen among low-risk women in the U.S. This has both short and long-term implications for a woman’s recovery and options for care in the future.
The study also found that less than 2% of women who choose the birth center setting will require an urgent transfer for either mother or newborn. The rates of complications for newborns are comparable to that seen in other low-risk populations. The information provided by the National Birth Center Study II will help women and families make evidence-based, informed decisions about their babies’ births. For more information about birth at a birth center please see: The American Association of Birth Centers at www.birthcenters.org. To schedule a tour, please call 207-798-3993 or email us.
FOR MORE INFORMATION OR TO SCHEDULE AN APPOINTMENT AT NORTHERN SUN,
PLEASE CALL US AT (207) 798-3993