After ten hours of labor at the birth center, Romans went to a hospital because of a minor complication and delivered a healthy boy with a physician. Salzburg has informal agreements with some physicians, but does not have hospital privileges. Quality and Cost of Care Birth centers, which typically have fewer overhead costs than hospitals, create a considerable difference in price for consumers. Despite the higher cost of a hospital birth, the level of care a woman receives with a midwife is as good or better than that which she gets with a physician.
Midwives also use fewer surgical procedures and medication during labor and delivery.
The report recommends that women consider delivery in a hospital by a certified nurse-midwife because they are far less likely to require the operation than obstetricians. But according to the consumer report, episiotomy causes more tears than it prevents. The report advises women to tell their care provider that they want to avoid episiotomy if possible. A study shows that babies delivered by midwives are also just as healthy, if not more so, than those delivered by physicians. American Health Line .