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When you're pregnant, you have many options when it comes to your birth. You can have an unmedicated natural birth, a vaginal birth with epidural or a scheduled c-section. Assuming you're going natural you then have further options: do you want a hospital birth or a home birth (midwife assisted or not).
Read more: How risky is home birth?
But now you have another option in the brand new Origin Maternity Hospital in Panorama in Cape Town. It's a nice combination of a hospital birth but with the comforts of home.
Sometimes moms just aren't comfortable with the idea of not having a hospital close by in case of emergency or their homes aren't ideal for home birth. So this type of birthing place is a great option.
Joburg moms have had the option of going to Genesis Maternity Clinic and when I was pregnant with my son I was immensely jealous that they had this option and Cape Town moms didn't. So I was very excited to hear of the Origin Maternity Hospital.
At Origin, you can have a midwife assisted birth in the comfort of their luxury birthing suites which come with:
- Queen-size bed for the labouring woman and her partner
- Beautiful crib
- Specially designed birth bath
- Bar fridge with snacks
- En suite bathroom with spacious shower
Luxury birthing suite
- Three quarter-size bed for the labouring woman
- Crib for the newborn
- En suite bathroom with bath and shower
Once mom and baby are settled they are then moved to a 2-bed post-birth room.
Birthing Room
Two bed post-birth room
While Origin is mainly focussed on midwife-led births you do have the option of birthing with your OBGYN. Origin does have their own OBGYNs on staff and also a state of the art theatre in case of an emergency c-section.
According to Origin's website:
Origin embraces Family-Centred Maternity Care which supports women during a period of time when they are extremely vulnerable. This care model includes high-quality services that take the patients’ complete needs into consideration – from her family to her career, cultural and religious beliefs.
It’s a philosophy, as opposed to a rigid protocol, uniting care within the context of her family, as she defines family. FCMC provides a family-friendly environment focused on prevention, health, wellness, social support and the special and unique needs of each childbearing woman and her baby.
Women want personalised care from professionals which is sensitive to their cultural and religious beliefs. They want support from their partners, family, friends, obstetricians and midwives who regard the birth of their babies as sacred events.
It's a whole different mindset when it comes to childbirth in a society that sees this event as something that needs to take place in a cold and sterile hospital environment. Because Origin focuses on midwife-led birth, they are also VBAC-friendly which a lot of moms who've had c-sections look into as an option for subsequent births.
Read more: Beautiful c-section birth story caught on video
The prices as you can imagine are a bit steep and you can check out their website for the different birth packages. It doesn't seem affordable if you're an Average Jane who's paying cash but their medical aid rates don't seem too bad.
Take a look at the video tour of their beautiful facilities:
What do you think? Do you wish all births could be this beautiful? Tell us about your birth experience to chatback@parent24.com and we could publish them on the site.
