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Birthing CenterA birthing center or centre is a healthcare facility, staffed by nurse-midwives and/or obstetricians, solely for mothers in labor, who are aided by doulas and coaches. By attending the laboring mother, the coaches and doulas can extend the span of the nurse-midwives. The nurse-midwives serve to assess the stages of labor, and to monitor the well-being of the mother and fetus during birthing to determine whether hospital-based backup due to complications, is needed. Birth centers are meant for low-risk labors, and do not completely supersede hospitals, because a free-standing birth center needs hospital as backup for complications. To lessen the risk in childbearing, childbirth education is a necessary adjunct to the use of a free-standing birth center. This education teaches how to recognize risk factors, such as smoking, drugs and medical conditions. Educating the childbirth coaches (such as the father or grandmother) is needed as well. A birth center presents a more home-like environment than a hospital floor, typically with low lighting, music, and food (in the early stages of labor). Other characteristics can also include non-institutional furniture such as queen-sized beds, large enough for both mother and father and perhaps birthing tubs or showers for water births. The decor is meant to emphasize the normality of birth. In a birth center, women are free to act more spontaneously during their birthings, even squatting, walking or performing other spontaneous postures. Like clinics, birth centers arose on the coasts of the U.S. in the 1970s, as alternatives to heavily institutionalized health care. Today, use of birthing center facilities is even covered by health insurance. Several of the practices which were innovated in birth centers are beginning to enter the mainstream hospital labor and delivery floors. External link
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