What is a Birthing Center?

	The Birth Center is a homelike facility, existing within a healthcare system with a program of care designed in the wellness model of pregnancy and birth.
	Birth centers are guided by principles of prevention, sensitivity, safety, appropriate medical intervention.
	Birth centers provide family-centered care for women before, during and after normal pregnancy, labor and birth.

Why would you want to give birth in a Birth Center instead of a Hospital ?

	Small, intimate, calm and home-like
	Welcoming of your family and friends
	Warm and supportive
	Attended by people you know
	Free from routine and unnecessary procedures that carry some risks for healthy women
	A place where birth is celebrated as a major life transition rather than a medical event