Your Birth Center in Midcoast Maine

At Northern Sun, we are pleased to offer families in Midcoast Maine the option of having their babies at a birth center as well as at home. A birth center gives families the option of an out-of-hospital birth that may be more peaceful and is within close proximity to a hospital. Ee are happy to announce the opening of our very own Birth Center at Northern Sun in the spring of 2011. In addition, we currently provide midwifery care to families choosing to have their babies at The Birth House in Bridgton – a beautiful setting in the heart of Maine. Prenatal visits are provided at the office of Northern Sun Family Health Care in either option.

The Birth Center at Northern Sun is located in the historic district of Topsham, Maine. The family room allows guests to be present and involved, while the bedroom provides privacy to the mother in labor. There is also a built in birth tub in the birth suite. The kitchen allows families to make their own food during their stay. The gardens surrounding the birth center provide freedom to walk, rest and relax during labor.

Birth at a birth center provides a familiar, warm environment where women can give birth and find healthcare that respects their desires and nourishes their dreams. Both the intimate, home-like quality of the setting and the welcoming, reassuring, professional nature of the staff embody the fundamental idea that birth is an essentially normal and powerful event. We believe that when a woman and her family are supported and involved in making decisions about their care, they are best equipped to meet the challenges of parenthood. Likewise, good healthcare throughout our lives is best served through information, partnership and trust between client and caregiver.

Birth in a birth center has been shown to be as safe as birth in a hospital for women who are low-risk. The difference is in the higher rates of intervention in a hospital such as induction, vacuum extraction, episiotomies and cesarean sections. The British Medical Journal published a study comparing out-of-hospital births to those in a hospital in 2005. In this study, the C-section rate was 30% in the hospital, versus 3.7% for planned home or birth center births.

For more information about birth at a birth center please see: The American Association of Birth Centers at www.birthcenters.org.