Midwives are health care professionals specializing in pregnancy and birth. Midwives provide comprehensive prenatal care and education, labor and birth attendance, postpartum care to the birthing person, and care of the newborn, among others. Midwives monitor the physical, psychological, and social wellbeing of the birthing parent through the childbearing cycle. They also identify and refer clients who require obstetric attention or other interventions.

Home birth is a safe option for most pregnant people whose pregnancies are without complications. For some babies or parents, a hospital is a safer option, and part of the role of the midwife is to help families identify when their pregnancy is not low-risk and when a hospital birth may be a safer option. Here are some resources to learn more about home birth safety: 

a) The Homebirth Midwife Podcast

b) Outcomes of planned homebirth with CPMs in North America

c) Outcomes of planned homebirth after regulation in British Columbia

Yes! We encourage use of the waterbirth tub in labor for dealing with the intensity of contractions during birth, and we are passionate supporters of babies being born in the water if the mom wants that. If you’d like to see some examples of babies being born in the water in our practice, please look at the Reels section of our Instagram.

We are very passionate home birth VBAC providers. One of our midwives had an HBAC, or Homebirth After Cesarean, which you can learn more about here.

We will work closely with you to understand your story, how your Cesarean happened and why, what your goals are, and what your individualized risk picture is. For many people, HBAC is a safe choice, and we will review in detail your options during your consult with our practice. 

Our care varies a lot from individual to individual, so it looks different for every family based on their needs. So the short answer is: it depends! For a complete picture of what happens after the baby is born at a home visit, please check out our podcast on the subject, found here.

Essentially, we will help you bring your baby to your chest, help you give birth to your placenta, and help the cord be cut by the person who is choosing to do it. We give you some space for family time, keeping an eye out for any help you need and monitoring mom and baby’s wellbeing during that time. We offer help with getting feeding started, perform a thorough newborn exam, and evaluate you to see if you had any tearing and whether you need stitches, which we provide if they are needed. Then we tuck you into bed and get the heck out of there! 

We are trained and experienced in handling certain complications at home and know when a transfer to the hospital may be necessary. We have many, many episodes of our podcast about some of the common obstetric emergencies, which can be found here.

We cover shoulder dystocia (if the baby gets stuck), neonatal resuscitation, hemorrhage, and many others. We encourage you to ask any questions you have about safety during your consult with us. 

Not usually! Most people in our care do not see other provider types during their care with us. We perform the same clinical tasks a doctor would during a typical prenatal, and we offer hour-long prenatal appointments so we can cover basic clinical care and also get to know you and care for you personally. Rarely, someone may need additional care outside of their midwifery care, and we make referrals as needed.

Often. Most private insurances do not cover home birth at a 100% rate, but there is usually some level of coverage. If you would like to learn more about your particular insurance’s coverage of our care, you can complete a Verification of Benefits (VOB) through the billing company we work with, found here.

Insurance and birth can be very confusing, especially because most people do not know the true cost of their hospital birth until they get a bill after their baby is born. For more information about how cost works in our practice, please listen to the podcast episode we did on paying for your midwifery care.

The most recent research on planned home birth, which was published in 2014 by the Midwives Alliance of North America (MANA), found that among 17,000 families: 

- Only 4.5% of the 17,000 study participants required Pitocin augmentation or epidural analgesia. That is much lower than the average for the US, where 26% have Pitocin and 67% have epidurals. 

- 5.7% of the families who planned home births in the MANA dataset ended up birthing their babies via Cesarean, as compared to the 31% national average for full-term pregnancies. 

There are many other benefits to giving birth at home with midwives, including: 

- A focus on informed consent and informed choice. You’re in charge!

- Individualized care. We know that you know yourself better than we ever could, and it’s our job to listen to you and tailor your experience to your specific needs. 

- Continuity of care. We take care of you prenatally, at your birth, and for six weeks postpartum, so you have access to familiar, known care providers throughout your childbearing year. 

- Evidence based care. We practice in alignment with practice updates and evidence so we can provide up to date information to help you make decisions. 

Absolutely! This is your birth, and you are welcome to include the people that you want there. 

A lot! For a full list of what we have with us, please listen to the podcast episode we did, found here.

Essentially, we have everything needed for a low-risk vaginal birth. That includes a Doppler to listen to fetal heart tones; materials for monitoring maternal vitals in labor; IV equipment and IV antibiotics; neonatal resuscitation equipment; anti-hemorrhagic medications to control bleeding including Pitocin, Methergine, Misoprostol, and Tranexamic Acid; suturing material and Lidocaine; newborn medications and procedure equipment including a scale, measuring tape, erythromycin, and Vitamin K. 

Not usually! We want to leave the home as we would want our home to be after giving birth. Our goal is that when we leave, everything is cleaned up and you’re tucked into bed. We give all of our clients are tips and tricks before their labor in order to help prevent any mess.

Yes, we file both a birth certificate and a social security number for your baby. 

Yes! We love working with doulas and we think they are a wonderful asset to the birthing team. We want you to have the support and care that you need during your birth.