Home birth
Prenatal Care
Prenatal care is focused on providing individual midwifery care for every pregnant woman who thrives to have a natural birth. Depending on the place you wish to give birth, your prenatal care will vary.
If you decide to give birth at home, your care starts around 12 weeks, you may contact me already beforehand for a free “meet and greet appointment”. Prenatal care is a place to bring your questions, concerns and stories in addition to a health check-up for you and the baby.
I work out from my home, so all prenatal appointments will take place in this location (Parker, 80138), except the 36-week visit, which will be at your home.
Initial appointment
The initial prenatal appointment is a longer visit and may take up to 1,5 hours. This will give us the chance to get to know each other better and build a trust relationship. This will allow me to provide the best possible care for you and your family. It can also be very beneficial if your partner will be able to attend this appointment as well.
We will talk about the following topics and more:
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Informed consent, financial agreement, HIPPA guidelines
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Full health and medical history
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Nutrition
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Lab tests
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Questions, concerns, wishes
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Review any previous health records from other healthcare practitioners, if appropriate
Prenatal appointments
Your prenatal appointments starting with 12 weeks will be around 45 to 60 minutes long. From 12 to 28 weeks, we will meet once a month and from 28 to 36 weeks every other week. The 36-week visit will be held at your home, ideally together with your partner and the whole birth team (my assistant, doula etc.).
From 36 weeks on we will meet weekly until your birth. If you go over your due date we might even meet two times a week.
During our time I will…
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Monitor your health and overall progress
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Monitor baby’s well-being (listen to baby, measure growth, determine position etc.)
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Provide education on pregnancy and birth related topics so you are able to make informed choices surrounding your birth and postpartum period
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talk about your birth plan
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perform additional lab work (incl. GBS and Glucose tolerance testing, Rh antibody screening)
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answer questions, concerns
Labor and Birth
Every mother, every baby, every family is unique - therefore every labor and birth are remarkably special on its own. Welcoming your baby in your own home is one of the most peaceful, intimate and wonderful experiences full of love, patience, kindness and respect from your midwife team toward your family.
Labor
Whenever the big day comes and you welcome your baby into this world, I will be on call for you from 37 to 42 weeks, 24 hours 7 days a week. During early labor we will most likely talk every once in a while on the phone to discuss coping techniques, rest and how your partner can support you the best.
Once you are in active labor, I will come to your house to monitor the baby and your well-being and offer comfort measures if needed. Toward the end of labor, I will call my assistant and get prepared for birth
Birth
If you think about your birth, what do you imagine? Moving around the house while listening to your favorite songs? Waterbirth or a “land - birth”? A birth with just your partner and your midwife team or a big birthday party with your whole family?
Birth can be so individual and different for each woman, therefore I want to make sure to support you the best way possible with encouragement, optimal position options and monitoring you and your baby. When your baby is born, you yourself or one of the midwives will place the baby into your arms or onto your chest for immediate skin-to-skin bonding. Whenever your body decides it is the right time, you will deliver the placenta with our assistance, mostly 15 to 30 minutes after the birth of your baby.
In most cases a home birth is a very special and uncomplicated event for each family. For the rare event a problem occurs, every midwife is trained to handle birth complications. Furthermore, my assistant and I are trained in neonatal resuscitation.
Immediate Postpartum
The first two hours after your baby has been born is one of the most sacred times for a new family. As a midwife I want to honor and respect this special time and interfere as little as possible but assist you with skin-to-skin bonding, breastfeeding, and nourishing you and your family. When the time is right, I will monitor you and your baby with a vital check-up. After the bonding time, we will offer to have the umbilical cord cut and complete a newborn exam on your baby, including weighing and measuring it.
Postpartum Care
The first six weeks after birth are a time of rest, bonding, getting to know each other and adjusting to a new family life. This time can be very wonderful, sensitive but also very challenging sometimes. Therefore each mom should have the possibility to receive continuous midwifery care during this period of time → book your prenatal and postpartum visits for non-homebirth clients.
“One week in bed, second week around the bed, third week around the house”
To be able to fully recover after birth, your body and your baby need as much rest and help from family and friends as possible. Therefore, it is very important for your physical and emotional healing but also for the success to exclusively breastfeed to rest and stay in bed for at least one week. In China, Japan and Malaysia it is normal to have a “lying or sitting period” of at least three weeks to heal from childbirth.
First week
As already mentioned above it is very important to stay in bed for the first week, for that reason I will visit you and your baby in the first 24 to 48 hours as well as a second time between the 3rd and 7th day after birth in your home.
Those visits include:
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Newborn care:
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Vitals, weighing and checking for jaundice
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offer 24-hour Colorado State Metabolic Screen (heel prick blood test)
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offer CCHD screening (oxygen levels of newborn to help check for heart defects)
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look at latch during nursing
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Mother’s care
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Checking your healing and mental state
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Vitals
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Breastfeeding, latch, and position assistance
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Answering any questions and concerns
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I will also be available for phone calls and additional appointments if the need arises.
Week two through six
The 2-week visit will either be at your home or my office. We will determine this on your mental and physical health status as well as the baby's well-being and if a weight/breastfeeding check is needed. The 4-week (optional) and final 6-week visit will continue in my office.
Those visits include:
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Newborn care
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Vitals, weighing and checking for jaundice
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Offer the 2nd Colorado State Metabolic Screen (heel prick blood test)
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Suggestions about: sleep, babywearing, diapering, growth spurts
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Mother’s care
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check on mother’s physical and mental healing
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continue to offer nursing/feeding support
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Suggestions about:
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How and when to resume normal activities
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Pelvic floor training
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Exercising
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Preparing to go back to work
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Intimacy
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answering questions
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On occasion, I offer follow-up visits for mother and baby in the first year after birth for whenever questions or problems arise.