Fourth Trimester Podcast Episode 161: Birth Center vs Hospital Birth – What Parents Should Know Before Choosing
When parents start thinking about their birth plan, they often focus on breathing techniques or what music they might play during labor. But one of the most important decisions actually comes earlier, which is where you will give birth.
In this episode we explore birth center vs hospital birth, and what parents should know before choosing where to welcome their baby.
Our guests for the episode are Certified Nurse Midwife Nancy Myrick, co-founder of the San Francisco Birth Center, along with Monica Levine, president of the San Francisco Birth Center Foundation. Nancy has attended births for more than three decades and brings deep experience across home, hospital, and birth center settings.
In this conversation we discuss:
• what birth center care actually looks like
• how midwife-led care differs from hospital birth
• what research says about outcomes for low-risk pregnancies
• why postpartum support is built into the birth center model
If you’re pregnant or planning a pregnancy, this episode will help you better understand your birth options.
Monica also shares her own experience giving birth at the San Francisco Birth Center and how that experience led her to support the foundation’s work expanding access to this type of care.
Understanding the differences between birth center and hospital birth can help families make more informed decisions about their care during pregnancy and beyond.
This episode is also part of Podcasthon, a global initiative where podcasters highlight nonprofits making a meaningful impact. We’re honored to spotlight the work of the San Francisco Birth Center Foundation, which helps make midwifery care more accessible to families in the Bay Area.
“Research shows that midwife-led care, like the model used in many birth centers, is associated with fewer interventions and excellent outcomes for low-risk pregnancies”
— Nancy Myrick, CNM, Co-Founder of San Francisco Birth Center
Find A Birth Center Near You
If you’re looking for a birth center in your area, here are a few resources we recommend:
American Association of Birth Centers AABC promotes and supports freestanding birth centers and midwifery units in all communities to achieve a high-value model of evidence-based care that is equitable, safe, and respectful.
Birth Center Equity Community birth centers are located in Black, Indigenous, communities of color and provide safe, culturally-reverent, midwifery-led maternal health care for all.
American College of Nurse-Midwives Considering midwifery for your pregnancy or well-woman care? The American College of Nurse-Midwives offers our easy Find a Midwife service for your convenience. ACNM members are all accredited, graduate-degree trained, advanced practice providers, who uphold the highest professional standards of care.
About Nancy Myrick, CNM
Nancy Myrick is a Certified Nurse-Midwife and has been the director of San Francisco Birth Center since 2015. She has practiced home birth midwifery since 2003 with Rites of Passage Midwifery. Nancy began attending births as a doula in 1993, received her RN in 2000, and completed her training in midwifery in 2003 through the UCSF Nurse Midwifery Education Program. She has attended hundreds of births in homes, birth centers, and hospitals and believes that choice in childbirth helps parents begin the long path toward building great humans!
About Monica Levine
Monica Levine has long been passionate about supporting families in their transition to parenthood.After experiencing the extraordinary care of the San Francisco Birth Center midwives at the birth of her own two children, she is particularly focused on protecting and expanding access to midwifery care and community birth. With a professional background in small business ownership, performing arts, as well as over a decade in venture capital administration, Monica brings organizational experience in a wide variety of situations to her role at the San Francisco Birth Center Foundation, where she is currently serving as interim president of the board of directors.
Full Show Notes
0:00 Why birth location matters for families
2:05 Hospital birth vs birth center birth explained
3:34 Nancy Myrick’s path to becoming a midwife
6:41 A real birth center birth story from a mother
11:00 Why relationship-based prenatal care matters
12:26 What a birth center actually looks like
16:33 Midwife vs OB-GYN roles during pregnancy and birth
19:24 Safety in birth centers and emotional support in labor
21:48 The hidden pressures inside hospital birth systems
24:33 Birth center care and why the foundation supports access
27:46 Training the next generation of midwives
28:19 Maternity care deserts and access to birth care
31:07 Why birth choice matters for families and communities
Selected links
Connect with Nancy Myrick sfbirthcenter.com | Instagram | Facebook | YouTube | LinkedIn
SF Birth Center Links SF Birth Center Info Sessions | SF Birth Center Foundation | Donate Here!
Books Spiritual Midwifery by Ina May Gaskin | Marginalization of Midwives in the United States: New Responses to an Old Story | | Listen to Me Good: The Story of an Alabama Midwife |
Learn more Birth Center Research on Outcomes | Embrace Empowerment: The Transformative Benefits of Birth Center Birthing | Home Birth As An Alternative To The Hospital | Why And How To Bond With Your Newborn – Dr Joanna Parga-Belinkie
Birth Place Lab facilitates multi-disciplinary and community-based participatory research on high quality maternity health care across birth settings
Connect with Fourth Trimester Facebook | Instagram
The content provided in this article(s) is provided for informational purposes only and does not constitute medical or other professional advice. Neither Sarah Trott nor Fourth Trimester Media Group LLC are liable for claims arising from the use of or reliance on information contained in this article.