Labor & Birth
When your labor is well-established, your midwife will come to your house and make final physical preparations for the birth. If you like she can offer suggestions or physical support to help you cope with labor and can also provide a physical assessment of internal progress and guide you through the actual birth of your baby. Essentially, you decide how involved you want your midwife to be.
One or two assistants will attend your birth as well to provide extra hands for quick preparation and clean up, as well as assist in life-saving procedures for mother and baby in rare emergent situations. These assistants will be familiar to you from your prenatal appointments.
Our ultimate goal is to make the birth of your baby as peaceful and smooth a transition as possible (unless you want cheering, of course!). This is best achieved by maintaining a respectful and quiet attendance, only interfering with the natural course of events when absolutely necessary, and allowing your newborn to acclimate and welcome his or her new surroundings gently and gradually.
We believe that healthy respect for the power of birth and life, as well as the timetable of the newborn, lays a foundation of conscientious parenting and living.
Postpartum
After your baby is born and everyone is settled, you will have time to bond as a new family while the midwife and assistants complete paperwork and clean up. Then we will weigh, measure, and examine your baby head to toe, and assist with breastfeeding. Typically we stay about 2 hours after the birth; return the next day for a check up, and again on the third day postpartum.
Postpartum visits in the office will resume at one week, three and six weeks. These visits are primarily to measure your baby’s growth and weight gain, and to debrief from the entire birth experience as you transition into a new role as a mother.
