Our Midwifery Services
Nurturing Hearts Birth Services provides home birth midwifery care from midwives who are both licensed in the state of Arizona and nationally certified as professional midwives through the North American Registry of Midwives.
We follow the Midwifery Model of Care, which is quite different from the Medical Model of care so many of us are accustomed to! Basically, we believe that individualized care and shared decision making should be the focus of normal, low-risk pregnancy care.
To read more about the Midwifery Model of Care, visit the Midwives Alliance of North America's website: https://mana.org/about-midwives/midwifery-model
So, what does Midwifery Care Look Like?
Prenatally
You can plan to see your midwife for prenatal appointments on the same schedule that you would be seeing any other pregnancy care provider. This schedule looks like every month until you reach 28 weeks, every two weeks until your 36th week, and every week after that until your baby is born!
We offer all routine labs, which can all be drawn in our office as part of your normal prenatal visits. Ultrasound and higher intervention genetic testing are not done in office, but we give referrals as needed.
One of the biggest differences between midwifery care and obstetric care is the length of prenatal visits. Routinely, we plan an hour and a half for your initial visit, and an hour for all visits after that, unless requested otherwise. This time is crucial to develop a trusting relationship with your midwife, as well as discussing in detail everything from diet to postpartum care plans. This allows for more in depth, holistic care and full, informed decison making.
During Labor & Birth
During Labor we will monitor your vital signs, track your baby's heart rate, and make sure your labor is progressing normally and that you remain low risk. We also help offer support as best we can, though it is always a great idea to hire a doula as well, to have someone solely dedicated to supporting you!
Your birth will be attended by your midwife AND a trained assistant. Assistants are trained in neonatal resuscitation, emergency skills, and CPR. We always do our best to make sure you can meet the assistant that will be at your birth prior to when you are in labor.
Postpartum
Postpartum we routinely offer a minimum of four visits, during which we can also provide all well-baby care until 6 weeks of age. We focus on supporting your healing physically and emotionally, establishing a breastfeeding relationship if that is what you desire, and monitoring to make sure postpartum complications don't develop or are treated promptly if they do.
In the postpartum period, we offer your baby both of the Newborn Screening Bloodspot tests, the Critical Congenital Heart Defect Screen, and Hearing Screening.
During this sacred time, we acknowledge that everyone's postpartum experience is quite different, and therefore these visits are focused on whatever schedule will support you best.