By Megan Wehring 

HAYS COUNTY — Expectant mothers are starting to think twice about having their babies in a hospital. 

While COVID-19 case numbers are increasing daily, hospitals are having to make tough decisions when it comes to protocols and the number of visitors allowed per patient. Hearing the news that they would be required to wear a mask during labor, some mothers are leaning more toward out-of-hospital care. 

“I have had four or five phone calls within the last week because hospitals are saying moms are going to have to labor with masks on,” said Stephanie Saunders, a licensed midwife in Kyle. “I’m getting calls from pregnant women who have been vaccinated who are willing to submit to COVID testing just to birth without a mask and being told they can’t [in a hospital]. They are coming to us solely so they don’t have to wear a mask.”

Saunders recounted that her daughter traveled from her station at an Air Force Base in New Mexico to Texas just to escape the stringent protocols, as the hospital said the reality is her husband may be allowed in one day but he may not be allowed in the next. 

Erica Steele, of Luminary Midwifery in San Marcos, agreed that there has been an influx of mothers and their families wanting a birth center birth. 

“Women started choosing to go outside of the hospital so they could have the power to choose who would be with them,” Steele said. “ It gives them the option to choose who can attend their birth, have more flexibility and still feel protected outside of the hospital.”

Mother Heather Darrell started out her pregnancy by seeing an OB-GYN for her firstborn son in 2018. But it wasn’t fitting her family’s needs so she decided to explore a homebirth option for a more personal experience. 

“When you decide to go an out-of-hospital route,” Darrell said, “it gives you a lot of freedom of choice, especially now, who you want to be there and how you want them to be involved.”

Midwifery offers women a sense of empowerment that they may not always find in a hospital, Steele said.

“Women don’t feel heard,” Steele said. “They don’t feel like their opinions are [valued] and wishes for their family are respected. This decision for bringing their baby into the world belongs to them and how they want to do it belongs to them.”