Deliveries at Atrium Grow in First Year of Natural Beginnings Birth Center

Exceeding expectations in its first full year of operation, the Natural Beginnings Birth Center at Atrium Medical Center has met the demand of women in the Cincinnati region for a natural birth choice in a safer hospital setting.

Natural Beginnings Birth Center — the first comprehensive natural birth center located within an acute care hospital in the greater Cincinnati area — began offering services in December 2016. During the first year, 72 women opted to have their natural birth at Atrium in Middletown.

The natural birth program provides expectant mothers with services to labor without traditional interventions. Two private natural birthing suites for labor and delivery are part of the hospital’s Family Birth Center, offering an additional safety net of nursing and medical staff nearby who can respond with emergency and surgical care if necessary. The remodeled suites, which opened for patients in May 2017, feature queen-sized beds, built-in jacuzzi tubs, and more space for a family-friendly experience.

“At Natural Beginnings, I had a midwife with me the whole time, helping me through it. I wanted a water birth, and the birth tub was right in the room with me. Every single person at Natural Beginnings respected our wishes, and that’s enormous,” said Trina Brucker, of Maineville.

Overall, deliveries at Atrium increased 6.6 percent last year — from 896 births in 2016 to 956 in 2017. Last year’s growth includes babies born as part of the Natural Beginnings program.

“This is a beautiful, home-like birth center, letting you labor, deliver, and recover in the same room, with options available such as massages, aromatherapy, water birth, and other supports,” said Dr. Rhonda Washington, an obstetrician and gynecologist at Atrium Medical Center.

For more information about Natural Beginnings at Atrium, including how to enroll, call (513) 974-4291 or visit Natural Beginnings Birth Center. Mothers-to-be interested in touring Natural Beginnings can also call (513) 974-4291 to arrange a tour time. 

Back to the March 2018 issue of Premier Pulse