Sunday, October 28, 2007

Sage Femme Birth Center

Something wonderful has been going on right under my nose, and I missed it. Sage Femme Birthcenter, in Kansas City Kansas is an absolute jewel. The doula conference I recently spoke at took place at Sage Femme. Though I've known about the birthcenter since before it opened, I've never visited there before. What a fabulous place. I'm a longtime admirer of the CNM who runs it and listened to her speak of her dream, years before it manifested. As I toured the birthcenter over the conference lunch break, I had an almost out-of-body experience. It hit me that I should be promoting this place. My kinswomen should be birthing there. My friends (okay friends kids) should be birthing there. I think I've just changed where I get my well-woman care. We do have another local solution to hospital birth.
Sage Femme.

www.sagefemmekc.org

4 comments:

Anonymous said...

Thank you. Will be checking this one out before I have another baby.

Dawn

Anonymous said...

Do you know how hopeful this makes me for my next birth if I am so blessed? I drive by that hospital and don't wish anymore, wish for the feeling I have had when things went better than this last time, or wish for more control over my memory of the last event. With the possibility of T-18 and being "high risk" I didn't have a choice for a center, and didn't know about one. Now I feel empowered, and especially know if I do prenatal screening tests, I will do them at the right time. I think my positive screen was based on doing the bloodwork from sonogram error and an OB thinking it was okay to take the blood at 15 weeks. It gave no margin for medical error, and my baby WAS born 3 days after the sonogram due date...but just having a later baby than the estimated due date was unusual for me. Mine cook and come out usually before my due date, even my first born. So, the sonogram could have been off by a week or more. Easily. And then the stupid prenatal tests were wrong and I was scared for NOTHING!

So, yes, a midwife looks so much better to me. As does not being afraid to go in earlier than I usually do (I went in 5 hours before the birth this time, intervention city...the last 3 babies before I had less than 2 hours at the hospital, less time for them to mess with me and it was late at night...so they were very slow to check on me...autonomy by default). Anyway, thank you much for posting this. It has given me less anxiety for thinking of ever birthing again.

Dawn

kirsten said...

Hey, thanks for the kind words, Sherry. It was really cool to me to take you on the tour - you know how surprised I was to hear it was your first view of SFBC. Funny I just about quoted you today without knowing it. A 19 year old AA woman came for a first appointment, referred by her "insurance list" of approved providers. She didn't have a CLUE what a birth center or a midwife was. So, I spent the next hour explaining and ended by saying that she can have the kind of birth she wants. She holds the power and nobody can take it unless she chooses to give it away. Here, I thought that was so profound - and you already said it! But it was wonderful to see the lights come on for her! At the Business of Being Born showing, the group concluded that the tide will only change if we can get into the jr and sr high schools and educate young women, before their minds have been poisoned.

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