Medical News
Charleston Birth Place - a new alternative to childbirth
By Tom Ratzloff Photos by Misty Woodward
May 8, 2008 - 1:36:19 PM

You’re pregnant.

Just one thing separates you from a future filled with flowers and Mother’s Day cards each May.

Childbirth.

And there’s the rub. With their bright lights and stainless-steel delivery tables, conventional hospital delivery rooms are not exactly welcoming or spa-worthy places.

But healthy, low-risk, mothers-to-be now have a new alternative - Charleston Birth Place. Since opening in January, the freestanding birth center located near Trident Medical Center offers the luxury of privacy and the assurance of safety. The facility has private birth suites that contain large beds, bathrooms and whirlpools. One satisfied customer compared the birthing room to a honeymoon suite.

Lesley Rathbun, a veteran labor and delivery nurse, family nurse practitioner and nurse-midwife, is founder of Charleston Birth Place. Her background includes high risk labor and delivery, neonatal intensive care, surgical assistance and childbirth education.

The Texas native was introduced to birth centers when she was a stay-at-home mom near an Amish community in Ohio. Like many Americans, she considered the prospect of giving birth outside of a hospital to be scary and dangerous. But those fears soon evaporated.

"A birth center provides a warm, caring and homelike setting where mothers are supported and respected as well as safe and secure," Rathbun said. "It’s a very relaxed atmosphere that feels more like someone’s well-kept home than a hospital. Above all, we give you the time and attention you need before, during and after the birth."

Charleston Birth Place has a 300-gallon pool that is used for water births, which can help relax the mother, relieve pain and speed up labor.

"It’s about the size of a four-person hot tub and mothers usually tell us they would consider giving birth in water again," Rathbun said.

Other homey amenities include kitchens where people can bring their own food and cook. In addition, the birth center has a shop called Bellies & Babies Boutique, which offers organic vitamins and products for mother and baby, cloth diapers, maternity/breastfeeding garments, nutritional supplements, breast pumps and supplies and unique gifts. If you want to document the event for posterity, professional photographer Misty Woodward is available to photograph a woman’s pregnancy and birth. (Her photos are shown on this page.)

Charleston Birth Place staff members and consultants also provide prenatal care and postpartum home visits. There are educational opportunities, too, through pregnancy/breastfeeding and infant care classes as well as prenatal and postnatal yoga.

Daniel Island resident Claire Witbeck teaches a "Birthing From Within" class at Charleston Birth Place. The mother of two chldren, Bella, 7, and Sully, 4, she is a birth doula, which means "servant" or "handmaiden" in Greek. She is trained to provide emotional support and attend to the physical comfort of women in labor as well as provide information.

The guiding principle of her Birthing From Within course is that childbirth is a profound rite of passage, not a medical event, and that the essence of preparing for labor is self-discovery. In other words, childbirth preparation is also parent preparation and initiation.

Charleston Birth Place also uses medical consultants from Low Country Women’s Specialists, Sweetgrass Pediatrics and Trident Regional Medical Center. In case of obstetric emergencies or complications, the hospital is minutes away.

"Trident Hospital is the most midwife-friendly in Charleston and our backup physicians provide us with wonderful support," Rathbun said. "It’s nice to see it from my window."

There are currently five freestanding birth centers in South Carolina, according to Rathun, who noted that her clients have included mothers from Pawley’s Island and Myrtle Beach.

Establishing her own business has been an adventure and one that she does not regret.

"I love what I do and I love this place," Rathbun said. "It’s a wonderful job."

For more information, go to www.charlestonbirthplace.com.