Your Birth Place Options in Monterey County

Compare local birth place options using current hospital data and community-informed notes, so you can bring clearer questions into conversations with your provider.

How this guide can support you

Choosing where to give birth can feel overwhelming. This guide is here to help you understand your options, notice what feels important to you, and prepare for conversations with your provider.

Monterey County Birth Place Comparison

View sources and definitions below

Download the full guide as PDF here.

* Most local hospitals allow drinking throughout labor, but some may only allow ice if you have an epidural. Eating solid food depends on the provider.

  • ** Photography is typically allowed, but permission may be needed from staff in the room.

  • ^ There is a local Certified Nurse Midwife who attends home births and has privileges at Natividad Medical Center for continuity of care.

Important notes about the comparison

  • Certified Nurse Midwife

  • Licensed Midwife

  • Certified Professional Midwife

  • First-time birth, full-term, one baby, head-down position

  • Trial of Labor After Cesarean

  • Vaginal Birth After Cesarean

  • Not applicable

Definitions

The Midwives Model of Care views pregnancy and birth as normal life processes and centers individualized care, education, support, and appropriate referral when obstetrical care is needed.

  • Monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle

  • Providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support

  • Minimizing technological interventions

  • Identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention

Copyright (c) 1996-2008, Midwifery Task Force, Inc., All Rights Reserved.

The Midwives Model of Care

  • Cal Hospital Compare

  • Cal Hospital Compare Mother and Baby Measures reporting period

  • Leapfrog Group

  • Outcomes of care for 16,924 planned home births in the United States

  • Original guide created by Cori Gentry of Birth Chemistry

  • Updated by Michele Nizza, Midwife, for Birth Network of Monterey County, 2026

References

  • Community Hospital of the Monterey Peninsula: (831) 624-5311

  • Natividad Medical Center: (831) 755-4111

  • Salinas Valley Health Medical Center: (831) 757-4333

Monterey County Hospitals

Additional resources

  • Birth Network of Monterey County

  • Birth Network Midwives

  • Birth Network of Santa Cruz County

  • National Association of Certified Professional Midwives

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