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Respectful Treatment

• Gentle, nurturing care that respects you, your family and your beliefs.
• Respect for your informed decisions about medical tests, recommendations, and interventions.
• Willingness to support your birth plan, including any family members and friends you may want present at the birth.
• Freedom to move, eat, bathe…to do what helps you during labor and birth; your midwife doesn't "prohibit" or "allow," but patiently supports and guides you.
• Respect for the birth process as it unfolds uniquely each time. Although amazing, being pregnant and giving birth are actually normal life processes for which a woman's body is well designed.

Personal Attention

• Prenatal visits that allow plenty of time for questions and answers. Sixty minutes or more for an initial prenatal appointment is anticipated.
• Meaningful discussions to explore and help resolve fears and concerns you or your family may have.
• Caring attention to develop a trusting and nurturing relationship that can help you to labor and give birth naturally and safely.

Plenty of Information

• Education about pregnancy, birth and the newborn, as well as breastfeeding and newborn care.
• Suggestions about ways you can take good care of yourself and your baby.
• Encouragement and practical suggestions for good nutrition and healthy lifestyle choices.
• Full information about any recommended tests, procedures, or treatments so you can make informed choices.

Appropriate Monitoring

• Regular and thorough check-ups for you and your baby throughout your pregnancy, during labor, and after the birth to make sure everyone is healthy and happy.
• Recommendations for diagnostic technology when appropriate.
• Preparing for the unexpected and for the rare emergency.
• Expertise in normal, natural childbirth. Because the certified nurse-midwives of Bethany Women’s Healthcare are experts in pregnancy and birth, they are experienced in variations of "normal" and recognize early signs of conditions that may indicate a medical condition or complication requiring consultation, collaboration, or referral with an obstetrician colleague.
• Consultations with and/or referral to other healthcare specialists if needed.

Confidence in Your Body

• Help with discovering your own body's ability to give birth, in its own way and in its own time.
• No routine treatments or arbitrary timetables that can interfere with your body's healthy process of laboring and birth.
• Truly individualized care, privacy, and natural childbirth.
• Support for doing the work of giving birth. Rather than someone else "delivering the baby," you are empowered to give birth to your baby!

Natural Techniques for Comfort

• Helping you cope with the discomfort of labor. Midwives have found that encouragement, massage, relaxation, laboring in water, change of positions, and other approaches are often very effective in minimizing pain or discomfort.
• Encouraging the progress of labor and helping you give birth to your baby gently and lovingly.
• Helping you avoid risks to yourself and your baby that are associated with many standard medical techniques and hospital protocols.

A Caregiver Who Stays With You

• Attentive, sensitive care and emotional support in tune with your needs throughout labor. Research has shown that having a "sympathetic female companion" with you all through labor and birth reduces the chance of complications and the likelihood of an unnecessary cesarean section. The Midwives Model of Care means that your midwife stays with you and "mothers the mother."
• Postpartum care and help with breastfeeding. After your baby is born, the midwife stays until breastfeeding is established and both you and your baby are resting comfortably. She will arrange a visit after the birth to check on you and your baby and answer any questions.