There's only ONE non-hospital birth center in the city of New Orleans?

It blew my mind, truly.

When I was planning my pregnancy the literal FIRST thing I did was google birth centers near me. My husband and I hadn't bought our house yet and while my dream was a home birth (which I did ultimately get to have and you can read about that here) we were living in a tiny shot gun home with five cats and there was just no way I was going to give birth there in any sort of comfort. So began my search for a birth center....

and what do you know, there happen to be three birth centers in New Orleans:

The Ochsner Perkin Alternative Birthing Center

The Touro Family Birthing Center

and Saige Birth Center

I'm sure you can guess which one isn't affiliated with a hospital.

Why does that matter, you ask?

When choosing a birth center, if you want to have a more natural and family-centered approach to childbirth without giving birth at home, you want the one that isn't a part of the hospital system. Point blank. They aim to provide a more intimate and personalized experience compared to hospitals, often offering options like water births, midwifery care, with a focus on non-interventionist practices.

Saige Birth Center is owned and operated by Tiffany Dietrich, a licensed midwife in the state of Louisiana. She has attended the births of over 600 babies, including my own. She attends home births, and also has a building with two birthing suites. Both suites have large beds and tubs in the room for water births. She is a dedicated medical professional and I fully endorse hiring her for your birth. (But hey, I'm definitely biased!)

However, if the idea of birthing without a hospital nearby is still just a little scary to you, a hospital birthing center can be a great way segway into a more alternative birth than the labor and delivery suite at your local hospital. They typically aim to create a more comfortable and less clinical atmosphere. Both Ochsner and Touro's birth centers are equipped with birthing tubs and support natural and medicated births and are definitely worth checking out!

I fully believe that more mothers deserve to have their dream birth and for a lot of women that looks like care outside of the traditional hospital setting with medical professionals who are with you every step of the way, not just when they are on the clock.

Not in New Orleans? Louisiana has a few other birth centers I will touch on in a future post.

xx