When home births go wrong, hospitals can add to the complications

With each contraction, Maria Ibarra’s plan to deliver her daughter in her Ohio living room seemed less likely.

With each contraction, Maria Ibarra’s plan to deliver her daughter in her Ohio living room seemed less likely. The baby’s heart rate was slowing, her midwife said. They needed to go to the hospital right away.

Ibarra’s midwife, Meghan Nowland, tried calling the labor and delivery unit at the closest hospital from the car but had trouble reaching anyone. When a charge nurse finally answered, Nowland identified herself as a midwife and asked if the hospital would be able to admit Ibarra, whose baby had a concerning heartbeat.

But she was taken aback by the nurse’s response.

“She was like, ‘We just won’t take walk-ins,’” Nowland said.

Hospitals, by law, cannot turn away patients who show up in emergencies. But Nowland and nine other midwives interviewed said that situations like Ibarra’s arise far too often.