The Prenatal Meeting with Your Birth Doulas
When you work with Buddha Belly Doulas for labor support you get two doulas who are on-call for you 24/7! During pregnancy your doulas are available to answer questions, provide support and help you prepare for your special day. When you go into labor, whichever doula is on-call at the time will be the one…
Choosing an OB/GYN or Midwife (Hospital, Birth Center or Homebirth)
Is an OB/GYN or a Midwife the best choice for your prenatal care? How do the different options affect where you will give birth? There are many factors to consider when choosing your prenatal care provider and your birthing location. In addition to taking into account your personal health history, it also comes down to…
Which Tampa Bay Hospitals Permit Doulas? (updated January 2022)
As we know, COVID is currently surging throughout the greater Tampa Bay area. As such, visitor policies at local hospitals are frequently changing. So, which local hospitals are permitting doulas to support labor and delivery patients right now? First, we should note that professional doulas are not the same as “visitors.” Doulas are essential members…
Tampa Bay Hospital VBAC Rates 2019
Planning to have a VBAC? (VBAC = vaginal birth after cesarean.) Do you know the VBAC rate for your hospital? I know we say this a lot, but it bears repeating: the hospital that you choose to deliver your baby at has a huge impact on the outcome of your birth experience. In fact, it…
Tampa Bay Hospital C-Section Rates 2019
Do you know the c-section rate for your hospital? Without a doubt, your hospital of choice has a huge impact on the outcome of your birth experience. There are numerous factors to consider when choosing your hospital, and their cesarean rate should be at the top of the list. Experts explain more in this article…
The Birth Center of St. Pete
Last week I visited with the midwives at The Birth Center of St. Pete, a great birth location option for families who are interested in having a low-intervention, unmedicated labor and birth. They provide prenatal care, childbirth education, and midwifery care at the birth center or in a homebirth setting and lactation support. The midwives…
Tampa Birth Options: Labor of Love Birth Center
We are fortunate in Tampa Bay to have so many excellent birth location options, including Labor of Love Birth Center in Lutz – the “home of natural birthing.” For the last ten years, Labor of Love has been owned and operated by Bea Rowell, RM, LM, CPM. It is professionally and expertly staffed by four…
Giving Birth at AdventHealth Tampa
What is it like to give birth at AdventHealth Tampa? We recently toured and met with Birth Designer, Emily Sullivan, RN, BSN. Here are some of the things we learned about this hospital: Birth Designer The Birth Designer works with each mother-to-be to customize her birth experience and act as a liaison between her care…
Giving Birth at Clearwater’s Morton Plant Hospital
Tampa Bay is fortunate to have many different excellent birth options, including Morton Plant hospital in downtown Clearwater. Today we had a private tour and are pleased to share what we learned! Before You Go into Labor You’ll be able to pre-register and meet with a special “family admission nurse” to talk about your choices and…
Tampa Bay Cesarean Section Rates (2014)
The location and caregiver you choose will have a major role in the outcome of your birth. In fact this may be one of the most pivotal prenatal decisions that you will make. The World Health Organization proposes a cesarean section rate that does not exceed 15%. Below are the most recently published (2014) cesarean section rates for Tampa Bay…
16 Reasons We Recommend Tampa General Hospital for Childbirth {updated May 2021}
We have had great experiences with the medical professionals of Tampa General Hospital. We’ve been toured through the entire labor and delivery ward and NICU. We’ve been invited numerous times to speak at their childbirth classes as a guest speaker and to help in teaching comfort techniques to their students. Establishing relationships and building bridges…