As your Community Midwives, we provide comprehensive holistic midwifery care throughout the childbearing year. What does this mean? It means you will know your midwives-- prenatal visits are about an hour long so we can get to know you and so you can get all of your questions answered. It means you will be listened to. It means you will give birth in the comfort of your own home with care providers you know and trust, surrounded by your support people, and then snuggle in with your baby after the birth in your own bed, never separated! It means your care will continue after the baby is born for help with breastfeeding, care of mom and baby, and again, to have someone that will hear your concerns and provide you with answers, or refer you to the right place if need be. Women who choose midwives say they wouldn't do it any other way...
Please click on one of the following to read in detail on a particular part of our services, or just scroll down to read about the Complete Homebirth Midwifery Care package:
- Free Initial Consultation
- Prenatal Care
- Homebirth
- Postpartum Care/Newborn Care
- Nutritional/Herbal counseling
- Breastfeeding Assistance
- Well Woman Care
Open Circle Midwifery Services Homebirth Care Includes...
Free Initial Visit-
Before deciding on your care provider, we recommend meeting with a few to see what feels like the best fit for you. We offer a consultation visit at no charge which includes a full explanation of our services, who we are, and what we do. We encourage you to have a list of your questions written down so that we make sure we cover everything! To schedule this visit call either Deirdre (207-838-2157) or Robin (207-233-6888), or email us.Prenatal Care-
Prenatal care with Robin and Deirdre includes home visits starting at the beginning of your pregnancy (could be when you first find out, or later, depending on when you make your decision) and continue until you have your baby. The schedule of visits is the same as most pregnancy care providers: every four weeks until 28 weeks of pregnancy, every 2 weeks until 36 weeks of pregnancy, and then weekly until the baby is born. Visits are typically about an hour long. As midwives, we work in a partnership with you under the concept of informed choice. This means that we give you information about tests and treatments available to pregnant women, and then let you decide what is right for you and your family. We can draw blood right in the home, and can refer you for an ultrasound in Portland if desired or if the need arises. Because of informed choice, and because we work with healthy, low-risk women, there are no "routine" tests-- you choose which are right for you-- could be all, none, or somewhere in between.What happens at a prenatal visit? If you have had prenatal care before there are some things that are similar to care with a doctor, and some things that are hallmarks of midwifery care. We do the same things a doctor would do at a visit according to how far along in pregnancy you are, which include: blood pressure checks, urine dip for glucose and protein, listening to the baby's heartbeat, measuring fundal height (from your pubic bone to the top of your uterus to monitor growth), and palpating the position of the baby. These things take up about 10 minutes of the appointment and are often all a prenatal visit consists of with a doctor. The rest of our hour-long visits are filled with listening to how you are feeling, offering suggestions for the alleviation of pregnancy-related discomforts, talking about nutrition, preparation for birth and baby-care, answering questions, discussing risks and benefits of potential tests that are offered to you and generally establishing a relationship of mutual trust with you, our clients (not "patients"!).
Home Birth-
Birth is natural, women's bodies know how to birth their babies... and our bodies are influenced by our surroundings. Where can you relax and let go better than at home? No strangers, just your loved ones and the midwives you know and trust to support and guide you.Part of your care with Open Circle Midwifery Services is the birth itself, in your own home. Deirdre and Robin are on-call for you 24 hours a day/7 days a week, and will be in contact with you by phone starting as soon as you think labor may be starting.
During your labor and birth, your midwives will be there to support and encourage, make suggestions on position changes or things to facilitate the labor (for example; take a shower, a walk, eat some food, rest, dance, etc.), as well as monitoring the baby's heartbeat regularly with a hand-held device, and monitoring how mom is doing with the labor.
When your baby is being born, you can be in whatever position you find most comfortable; on our birth stool, in the tub, on hands and knees, squatting, lying on your side, or even on your back (the least common position of choice!). Your baby will be placed immediately on your chest.
These moments of falling in love with your baby, in your own home, with soft lights, little noise and a calm atmosphere are truly invaluable. We encourage breastfeeding within the first 30 minutes of birth, and will assist that process as needed.
After the birth, we stay to monitor mom and baby, do a complete newborn exam, clean up and make sure mom is fed and comfortable before leaving approximately four hours after the birth (longer as necessary). We leave you tucked in bed, as a family, ready to go to sleep, with a list of instructions on when to contact us and what to expect, and then return the next day for the 1 day postpartum visit.
