Eleven soon to be mothers are already on the roster to give birth this August at San Luis New Vida Birthing Center, the first facility of its kind in Yuma County.
Amanda Aguirre, CEO of the Regional Center for Border Health, says the center is for low-risk pregnancies only. "If you are not low risk, unfortunately you will not be able to deliver here."
Nurse Alexis Marquez says the center will focus on natural births without epidurals. "At a hospital we have all this medication for pain. This birth center is equipped with patient-safety medications," she said.
The 4,000-square-foot, home-like facility includes on-call rooms for providers, four midwives and a staff of obstetric clinicians.
Lucy Murrieta, maternal and child outreach supervisor, says the center will offer education and labor-preparation sessions, plus options such as water birth. "There is a lot of taboo out there that you have to have your epidural, and that's not necessarily true."
Dr. Michael Stevens, director of the birthing center, says the facility is licensed by the Arizona Department of Health Services and is awaiting national accreditation that will come in the following weeks. City Council member Carol Smith called the center important because "it gives people a choice."
We'll have more of this on Arizona Edition this weekend.
