As midwives, we take a special interest in individuals and their families. We consider the social, psychological, emotional and spiritual needs of a woman to be of equal importance with her physical needs. Families are encouraged to take an active role in prenatal visits, during births and in the postpartum period. Care is always client-centered, meaning that it is the woman and her family who make fully informed choices about what lab tests they would like performed, what they would like to discuss during visits, which family members and friends will attend their birth, and how they will give birth.

A woman who chooses to labor and give birth at home or at the birth center has the freedom to be supported by the important people in her life, to move about inside and outdoors as she chooses, to eat and drink at her will, to use the bathtub for comfort, and to give birth in whatever position is best for her. Water births are available. Besides our monitoring of vital signs to ensure the safety of both the mom and baby, our involvement as midwives is entirely at the discretion of the woman. One woman will appreciate having moments of privacy, while another will benefit from being massaged by her midwife through every contraction and being offered suggestions for different positions or comfort measures. All births are natural, without the use of pain medications, and with the help of time tested comfort measures and undying encouragement. Babies are never separated from their families after birth and all monitoring is done with the baby safely and comfortably nuzzled in mom’s arms, where bonding can easily take place in the first crucial moments. Home visits are done at one and three days after the baby’s birth to assist with breastfeeding, answer questions, offer support, and do routine checkups on both mom and baby.

New born at the NNMMCHome and birth center births are safe for women who are healthy and who have uncomplicated pregnancies. Midwives are trained to safeguard the processes of pregnancy and birth and to acknowledge complications, most of which can be recognized with ample warning to allow time for non-emergent transport to the hospital in private vehicle. Midwives are also fully trained in emergency measures such as neonatal resuscitation and treatment for postpartum hemorrhage.

A woman who chooses to give birth in the hospital or who, for medical reasons, is not eligible for out of hospital birth may have the support of her midwife as a doula with her at the hospital. The midwife provides emotional and physical support to the woman and her family, helping them to make informed decisions and guiding them through the birth process in the hospital setting. In the case of a transport to the hospital from the birth center or from home, the midwife stays with the woman in this same capacity.