We provide comprehensive and personalized midwifery care during the prenatal period. We schedule

prenatal visits for one hour each month until your third trimester when we see every 2 weeks. At about

36 weeks of pregnancy we have a home visit (we deliver the birth tub, make sure all your supplies are

gathered, and make sure we can find your home in the dark!) and see you every week thereafter until

you have your baby. Prenatal visits include all the clinical components—taking your blood pressure and

pulse, measuring your belly, feeling the position of your baby, urinalysis, discussing any complaints and

discomforts, talking about good nutrition, etc. We have laboratory privileges with Legacy and can draw

all labs in our office. All tests and screens are offered to you with full informed choice and nothing is

performed just as a routine. Ultrasound referrals can be made with other practitioners if you desire. We

have knowledge of natural remedies for the normal discomforts of pregnancy. Herbs, homeopathy,

vitamin supplements and specific exercise can go a long way in helping alleve much of what you

experience. We can also refer you to other practitioners (chiropractors, acupuncturists, etc.). Good

midwifery care is based on having a relationship with you and listening to your hopes, fears, concerns, and

excitement during this transformative time in your life.

Our role during labor and birth are to monitor the well-being of mama and baby. We do this

by monitoring your vitals, listening to baby and keeping you fed and hydrated. We are

there to give information, answer questions, suggest different positions, fill the birth tub,

rub backs and shoulders, offer food and water, remind you to pee, listen to baby’s

heartbeat, take walks with you, hold you while you squat, put a cool cloth on your forehead,

and offer kind supportive words. We also read and knit inconspicuously in the corner as

you and your baby navigate the throes of labor. We carry herbal, homeopathic, and

allopathic medicines along with emergency equipment (including anti-hemorrhagic drugs, oxygen,

suturing materials, and IVs).

After you, your partner, or we catch your baby, he/she is placed on your chest and we can

check the sweet babe out while he/she is in your arms. You and your family have time to

bond and snuggle together while the midwife team discreetly checks on mama and baby,

brings/prepares a meal, cleans up and starts a load of laundry. We then do a complete

head-to-toe newborn exam which also includes weight and length. We help you get started

with breastfeeding and then tuck the new family into bed.

~Your own space, environment, things, germs.
~Less intervention.
~Freedom to move around and choose positions that come naturally.
~No routine IVs or external fetal monitors to be strapped to.
~ Freedom to eat and drink to maintain energy for the hard work of labor.
~Choice of who is with you—your family, friends, caregivers.
~Continuity of care—you know who will be at your birth. There are no shift-changes.
~Labor is allowed to progress at its own unique pace.
~Choice of water birth.
~Baby is not separated from mama.
~Cord is not clamped until after the birth of the placenta.
~Family togetherness-siblings can be present.
~Safety from interventions and separation of mama and baby.
~Breastfeeding is supported.
~Postpartum visits for mama and baby are done in your home for the first two weeks.

Balanced Birth Midwifery can provide water birth as a wonderful option for many families. We have found

laboring in the warm water to be a valuable tool for pain relief. A water birth tub can be loaned to you free of

charge, and is available for laboring giving birth , or both.

We continue to be on call for you if you have any questions or concerns during the postpartum period.

One of the midwife team will visit you at one day, then at three days, one week, and two weeks at your

home. The four and six week visits take place at our office.Postpartum visits include checking vital signs

of mama and baby, breastfeeding support, weighing of the baby, asking about your bleeding, and

answering any questions you may have. We also fill out a birth certificate, make keepsake footprints, and

offer newborn procedures. The final visit includes a full annual exam and birth control services if desired.

The last visit is always bittersweet as we say goodbye to our time of seeing you so frequently. We are

honored to have been present during this miraculous time.