The concept of 'choice' is ultimately what drew me to midwifery.
As a counselor in a residential program for pregnant and parenting teenage women in Boston, I witnessed the frustrating lack of options and choice available to them. When informed choices were offered, that alone was enough to empower, encourage, and transform them from teenagers to parents.
It is that same transformation that occurs with having choices and being powerful in our own lives that I want for every mother and family. I love being with families as they welcome their little ones into the world and their lives are changed forever.
It is truly one of the most incredible, powerful experiences, and I am so grateful for the opportunity and privilege to witness and hold space for these experiences.
As a licensed midwife in Washington State, I am able to offer safe, science-based, and comprehensive maternity care to low-risk women in an out-of-hospital setting. Women have the choice to birth at home or the birth center, and have access to all of the same examinations, testing, surveillance, and referrals that would be available under the care of an obstetrician.
Prenatal care with midwives differs from obstetric care in many ways, and several aspects that stand out for our clients are: longer visits, ample opportunity to ask questions and further your education, a compassionate, trusting relationship with your team, postpartum home visits and committed lactation support, and development of resources that will comprise your support network in the postpartum period. At the same time, midwifery care includes careful monitoring and nurturing of the well-being of both mother and baby prenatally, during the birth, and throughout the postpartum period.
Insurance coverage is available for midwifery care through most major health plans that serve Washington State, including DSHS/Medicaid. This coverage generally includes all visits, labs, ultrasounds, and facility fees from the start of your care through your final postpartum visit.
If you have questions regarding midwifery care, our practice, or whether our services are covered under your health plan, please feel free to contact the Puget Sound Birth Center.
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The Midwives Model of Care
The Midwives Model of Care is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life processes. 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
The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.
Copyright (c) 1996-2007, Midwifery Task Force, Inc., All Rights Reserved.
Midwives Oath:
As a midwife, I uphold the following guiding principles:
To work in partnership with women, respecting the dignity and rights of the women I work with, recognizing that the most important determinant of a healthy pregnancy is the mother herself.
To support women to make informed choices and take responsibility for their own well-being.
To understand that childbearing is primarily a personal and community event; a normal process that involves physical, emotional and spiritual factors.
To facilitate these normal processes utilizing a holistic approach, recognizing that each pregnancy and birth is unique.
I believe that midwifery care represents an important resource for improving the health of mothers, babies and families.
I am dedicated to the development and advancement of the profession in North America.
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