Yes, some hospitals offer alternative birthing choices like water, chair, and squatting births. Other hospitals require women to lay down in a bed and push in a more traditional method. Many pregnant women are surprised that traditional, medical hospitals offer alternative methods at all, but medicine is changing and sometimes results speak louder than tradition.
Choosing a Birthing Center
Women may have more luck finding support for alternative birthing methods if the hospital where the birth will take place has a birthing center. A birthing center is a complete unit with dedicated staff trained in alternative methods of labor and pain management. The settings look more like homes than hospitals and offer bathtubs, showers and birthing balls among other useful birthing tools.