Moms: please, do your research about where and with whom you are birthing. This is a major life event for you! Here, in Colorado, there are many safe and very effective options.

There are 3 amazing free standing Birth Centers in the Denver Metro Area: Mountain Midwifery Center, Baby+Co, and The Birth Center of Boulder. Each one of these centers is staffed with HIGHLY qualified Nurse Midwives with tons of experience, low cesarean rates and high satisfaction among parents who have given birth here.

There are many hospitals (98% of you will birth here). Please do your research: http://www.cesareanrates.com/…/02/colorado-cesarean-rates.h… See what your hospital’s rates are. Talk to your doctors. Go on a hospital tour. Ask your doctor questions, if you don’t feel they answered your questions: ask more.

You can birth at home and deliver your baby into the loving hands of a midwife. To Each Her Own Women’s Health Services, LTD. is a great resource for safe home birth for all moms and can accept insurance. There are also many CPMs or professional midwives in the area to birth at home.

Research your options. Think about what’s going to make you the happiest in your birth. We will improve maternity care in this country when we not only think, “Healthy mom, Healthy baby.” but also “Happy mom, Happy baby.” Both of these are important and possible.

We need to put more weight into a mother’s happiness. Happy mom happy baby. Postpartum depression and unnecessary interventions in labor are connected. We know that. When we focus equally on the happiness and healthiness of mom and the baby, we will really start getting somewhere.