Philosophy of Care
“I believe midwifery is not just for the birth of a new child, but for a new mother, father and family, and the care that is received and the memory that it holds will stay with that family for the rest of their lives.”
Holistic Midwifery
The idea of Holistic Midwifery care is just that: to see and serve each woman for the individual that she is. Body. Mind. Spirit. When these areas are cared for, a midwife is setting up a mother and her child to have the highest chance for a successful, non-invasive, empowering birth and healthy postpartum experience.
The Midwives Model of care
The Midwives Model of Care™ is a fundamentally different approach to pregnancy and childbirth than contemporary obstetrics. Midwifery care is uniquely nurturing, hands-on care before, during, and after birth. Midwives are health care professionals specializing in pregnancy and childbirth who develop a trusting relationship with their clients, which results in confident, supported labor and birth. Midwives are trained to provide comprehensive prenatal care and education, guide labor and birth, address complications, and care for newborns. The Midwives Model of Care™ is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events. The application of this model has been proven to reduce to incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section. The Midwives Model of Care™ includes:
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.
Birth: a sacred, natural event
We believe that pregnancy and birth are not only sacred, but natural physiological events in a woman's life. Because of this belief, we practice midwifery with a strong respect for a woman’s intuition and in turn we protect the birthing space. We allow labor and delivery to take it’s natural course with limited interventions. Every woman is different–anatomically, emotionally, spiritually and mentally–and every woman's labor and birth journey will look a little different as well.
Educated Observation
In order for a woman to receive true holistic care through the child-bearing cycle, attentive, skilled and evidence-based support is necessary. The midwife’s primary responsibility is to protect and monitor each woman according to what is normal for her. As long as all remains within normal ranges, limited intervention is called for. However, when signs arise implying a possible complication, action must be taken immediately to resolve the issue before it becomes a complication.
Nurturing Atmosphere
Establishing a caring atmosphere provides a woman with a foundation of trust with her midwife that allows true self-expression, open and honest communication and promotes education and empowerment to the mother to make her own decisions about her care.
Informed consent
Our goal is for every women and family to be given the opportunity to make their own decisions about their individual care by providing unbiased, evidence-based research and information on the risks and benefits of each test or treatment offered, and giving every client the opportunity to discuss and ask questions. This is true informed choice. Along with the routine prenatal care that is provided at each appointment, ample time is always allowed for each family to discuss and answer any questions or concerns they may have.