home birth
A study published in the June 2005 edition of the British Medical Journal found that for low-risk birthing people in the United States, planned home births are as safe as hospital births, and accomplished with much less medical intervention, compared with low risk hospital births. Our Licensed Midwives are trained to meet International Confederation of Midwives (ICM) educational standards.
Choosing to give birth at home involves more than statistics—people choose to give birth at home to preserve a gentle, familiar and comfortable setting for themselves and their newborn. Conception, pregnancy, birth and breastfeeding are natural processes and many parents are reluctant to see labor as a medical event. Giving birth naturally can be a profound, life-transforming experience, and yet the intensity of the process can be challenging. Your midwives will provide education and resources to help prepare you for what to expect and how to cope. The greatest obstacle is fear, which generates tension and resistance that can make coping with contractions more difficult. Generally, the more relaxed the mother, the easier the birth.
For many healthy, low-risk birthing people, home provides a supportive and safe environment in which to give birth. In the privacy and sanctity of your own home you can surround yourself with a team that’s ready to support you. Assisted by capable, well-trained midwives, your family has the freedom to create the experience they desire and welcome their new child with love and dignity.
By choosing to birth with the Midwives Cooperative, you will experience continuous care with the same midwives throughout your prenatal, labor, delivery and postpartum periods, facilitating trust and competent decision-making. You are free to explore a variety of creative comfort measures as you work with your own natural body rhythms and you will give birth in a position of your own choosing.
Babies born at home are welcomed as gently as possible. Your baby will remain with you, preserving the parent-infant bonding so crucial for the development of attachment. Breastfeeding is easier to establish when the baby can nurse immediately and on-demand. Births that take place at home typically involve less medical intervention for the birthing person and baby, giving the whole family the space to settle in while the midwives work quietly in the background to maintain safety and comfort.
When birth takes place at home it becomes an integral part of family life, with your chosen support people able to participate in a way that works for you.
water birth
heather shields photography
Waterbirth is the process of giving birth in a tub or pool of warm water. You may labor in water and then choose to get out for delivery, or decide to stay in the water for the birth of your baby.
The theory of water birth is that the baby has been in the amniotic sac for nine months and emerging into a water environment is gentler and less stressful for both you and baby. It is the belief of many midwives, and a growing number of obstetricians, that reducing stress during labor and birth also reduces fetal and maternal complications. Newborns do not inhale until they are exposed to air – they receive oxygen through the umbilical cord until they start to breathe on their own.
BENEFITS OF WATER DURING LABOR & BIRTH
Water is soothing, comfortable, relaxing
Buoyancy lessens your bodyweight, allows free movement and new positioning
Water alleviates stress-related hormones, allowing your body to produce endorphins, which are pain-inhibitors
Immersion in water often helps reduce blood pressure levels which had increased due to anxiety
Water provides a sense of privacy, which releases inhibitions, anxiety and fears
As you relax physically, you are also able to relax mentally, concentrating your efforts inward on the birth process
Warm water causes the perineum to become more elastic and relaxed, which reduces both the incidence and severity of tearing, lessening the need for stitches
(Source: American Pregnancy Association)
