Your Prenatal Care Experience
- Meet and greet (virtual or in person) Free – We want to make sure you are a good candidate for home birth and give you the opportunity to meet us and see the clinic. This is a great opportunity for you to share what desires you have for your birth.
- Your first appointment – will be one hour (clinic is on Tues & Thurs). We will cover your history in more detail, perform a physical, discuss upcoming testing options, and draw initial lab work based on your history and needs.
- Appointment schedule – we will send you gmail invites for each appointment with the time, address, and sometimes goal of the visit. Visits are scheduled once a month until the 28th week, then every two weeks until the 36th week, and weekly thereafter. This may be altered according to individual needs. Around 36 weeks, we may come to your home for a prenatal exam, check your birth supplies, discuss your specific desires for your birth and meet others whom you plan to have at the birth.
- Your medical records – We use EMR (electronic medical records), Mobile Midwife – In your online profile you will enter your personal information, health and OB history, list your supplements etc. This is very useful if we need to send your records to another provider for a consult or email your records to you.
- Prenatal testing – Our goal is to educate and advise and not tell you what to do. You are never kept in the dark and we encourage open communication and questions. We want your involvement as an active participant in your pregnancy and birth. If we believe something is really important or critical for your safety or baby’s we will communicate our concerns. We want to give you plenty of time and information to help you decide which tests you actually want to do or want to decline. We try not to surprise you with requiring immediate decisions. Click here to read about all the tests we offer.
- We recommend supplements based on your individual needs – Our practice uses Wellevate, an online dispensary. We will send you a link with personalized recommendations, you will set up an account and buy directly. No tax and free shipping over $50. We keep some supplements in the office which cannot be found on Wellevate.
- Kids during prenatal appointments – We have a small toy area for children, but ask they not be left unattended during the prenatal. Some siblings love to join in with your care, helping hold the Doppler or measuring tape, etc.
- Virtual prenatal care – We have done this many times, not just during the COVID-19 pandemic. We have helped clients from TX, NB, IA, OR, MO, CA, SC, MS, FL, Philippines, Germany, Turkey, China, S. Africa, and all over Kansas. In some cases we share-care with your local provider or in some instances we give you one of our prenatal kits for at-home prenatal care. We provide thorough training so that you and your husband feel confident in checking blood pressure, fundal height, fetal heart rate and even cervical dilation. This is a good option if you live some distance away, if you’re from a state where home birth is illegal, if you are missionaries on the field (only coming back for the birth) if you travel for work etc.
- Our prenatal care clinic & birth suite – is located in the basement of Kathy’s home which is solely dedicated to midwifery care. Our clients love our cozy, homey environment. Our office manager, will greet you at the bottom of the stairs. She helps with filing birth certificates, ordering supplies, making birth kits, billing and scheduling. We have a prenatal office and a separate fully equipped birthing suite with an additional “plan B” birth room upstairs.
- Mama Natural childbirth classes – This is an investment you will not regret. Classes are highly encouraged for first time moms or if it’s your first natural birth. Once you take a thorough course like this, you can build upon it and use the knowledge the rest of your life . . . you can even use it to help other pregnant women, daughters, nieces etc. Someday we hope to build our own online classes taught from a Biblical perspective Click here to enroll in Mama Natural Childbirth Classes!
- Educational support – You will love this part of your prenatal care! This will include a newsletter for each trimester, parent handouts and other resources so that you can feel calm, confident and informed throughout pregnancy. We also have an extensive lending library which we keep updated with current resources as soon as they are released. We keep multiple copies of our favorites.
- You can call anytime with emergent questions – This is a relationship with open communication. It is not a typical care provider scenario where they are too busy, unavailable, know more than you and tell you what to do. We work with you in each pregnancy to build a life-time relationship.
- Our main job is to make sure that you remain low risk – 85% of complications can be determined before birth with good prenatal care. Because of this, most of our hard work is done in the prenatal period. The birth is a result of all the preparations we’ve done together during pregnancy. We have a sign in our office which reads: A midwife must possess the hand of a lady, the eyes of a hawk and the heart of a lion.
Your Birth & Postpartum Experience
- At the onset of labor – we stay in touch via the phone. We triage over the phone and decide together when it is time for you to either come to the birth suite or have us arrive at your home.
- When you arrive at the suite in active labor (or we arrive at your home) – We take your vitals, do an initial assessment and establish a plan. We monitor your labor progress and baby regularly. If there are deviations from normal, we tell you, discuss interventions and obtain your informed consent before acting. We will discuss advantages and disadvantages and make decisions together. Our practice highly encourages doulas, especially for first-time moms and VBACs.
- Nitrous oxide for pain relief – in low doses, nitrous is an anxiolytic (a drug used for anxiety relief) and an analgesic (a drug used for pain relief). According to the American College of Nurse-Midwives (ACNM), “Research has supported the reasonable efficacy, safety, and unique and beneficial qualities of N2O as an analgesic for labor and its use as a widely accepted component of quality maternity care” (2011). We have this available for use at the birthing suite but unfortunately cannot take it to home births. There is an additional fee of $200.
- Water birth & hydrotherapy – We have a spacious birth tub in our birthing suite for your use. Deep-water immersion allows for possible shorter labor, less pain in labor, lower chance of vaginal tears, and more. For first time moms, we usually recommend getting out at the very end so we can offer the support needed to help you not tear.
- Yes we do take VBACs – this is based on individual risk factors which we can assess at your meet & greet.
- After the birth – We do a full newborn exam. This includes a physical and neurological assessment, administration of vitamin K via injection or drops, eye ointment, salt bath (all of which can declined). We see many benefits of delayed bathing and want to discuss this with you in more detail. We ink footprints onto a keepsake card. We help initiate breastfeeding and make sure you and baby are stable. Discharge is usually within 2-3 hours after birth. When you go home depends on several individual factors.
- Newborn screening at the 24-48 hour visit – this is an in-person visit at your home or our office. We do a metabolic blood spot screen, hearing screen, CCHD (critical congenital heart defect) screen, and weight check. We address breastfeeding issues and assess your recovery. You will sign the birth certificate at this time.
- 2 week exam – the main point of this visit is to check baby’s weight gain. He should be back up to birth weight by 2 weeks. We also check on your healing and answer any questions about postpartum care and help make necessary adjustments.
- 6 week final postpartum exam – During this visit we will do a more extensive newborn exam and a final check up on you.
- Breastfeeding support – We have a breastfeeding Pinterest board which you will want to peruse prenatally so that you can prepare ahead of time. We have a copy of the Breast Feeding Boot Camp video which is a big help to our clients. We have several resources for referral as needed.
- Free weight checks – call ahead and drop by on a Tuesday or Thursday to weigh your baby, up to 30 lbs, using our top quality pediatric scale.