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Care From Early Pregnancy - 6 Weeks Postpartum
Prenatal Care
You will be seen at regular intervals beginning at 11-12 weeks for routine prenatal care. We are currently following the WHO schedule of prenatal visits during the COVID-19 pandemic. Your midwives are able to order all routine bloodwork and ultrasounds of pregnancy. Your midwives are on call 24/7 to provide care should any urgent concerns arise during your pregnancy. We can provide care in clinic, home, and hospital setting, whatever is most appropriate at the time.
Labour and Birth Care
One of the team midwives will be with you during active labour, birth, and the early postpartum period, acting as your primary caregiver. A second midwife will join you and your midwife when the birth becomes close. You may not have met the second midwife prior to the birth because she is from another midwifery team in the practice or, on very rare occasions, is a midwife from one of our other local Midwifery Practices (Lincoln Community Midwives in Beamsville or Sage Femmes Renaissance Midwifery in Welland).
Postpartum Care
Follow-up care is provided by your midwives at home or in hospital within approximately 24 hours and again on days 3 & 6. This follow-up care is unique in that midwives are the only practitioners who visit their clients at home during the first week postpartum. In addition, the midwives are on-call 24 hours a day, seven days a week. So, should you have an urgent concern when home, you can contact your midwife any time of the day. We provide care until 6 weeks postpartum.
Choice of Birthplace
Midwifery clients have the option of giving birth at home or in hospital. Midwives provide the same clinical care regardless of whether a woman delivers at home or hospital. In our practice we offer the choice of birth at:
- the client's home (or that of a relative or friend)
- our midwifery clinic (considered a homebirth)
- the Niagara Health System St. Catharines Site - 1200 Fourth Avenue
Out-of-hospital-birth is an option for most women in midwifery care since research has shown home birth to be as safe as hospital birth for both mother and baby provided:
- only women considered 'low-risk' birth at home - your midwife will determine your 'suitability' for a homebirth during the prenatal period
- midwives are in attendance and bring equipment necessary for birth and obstetrical emergencies
- there is a hospital which provides obstetrical care within a reasonable distance away
Birth at home has been shown to decrease the likelihood of needing medical interventions such as c-section, epidural or episiotomy. About 25% of women who plan home birth transfer to hospital, most often because of a long labour and/or request for pain relief. These situations are 'non-urgent' or 'non-emergent'. Only 1% of clients planning a home birth have an emergency transport to hospital by ambulance.
Approximately 70% of midwifery clients in Ontario choose to give birth in a hospital. If planning a hospital birth clients can expect:
- at-home labour assessments for most women
- midwives remaining with and caring for women during their active labour, birth and the early postpartum period
- labour and delivery of their baby to occur in the same room (birthing room)
- showers and a tub available for comfort / pain management
- pharmacological pain relief options such as narcotics and epidurals
- nursing staff sometimes involved in areas of clinical care
- amicable, collaborative interactions between nurses, midwives and physicians whenever working together
- the option of early discharge from hospital (around 3 hrs) – discharge will be delayed if there are concerns with mother or baby or if the woman chooses to stay longer
See the links below for more information on homebirth
College of Midwives Fact Sheet on Homebirth - http://www.cmo.on.ca/documents/home-birth-sheet-FINAL.pdf
McMaster Study finds Homebirth Safe- http://fhs.mcmaster.ca/main/news/news_2009/home_birth_study.html
Outcomes of homebirth with RMs vs. hospital birth with RMs and MDs - http://www.cmaj.ca/content/early/2009/08/31/cmaj.081869.short
Outcomes of homebirths with certified midwives: large prospective study in North America - http://www.bmj.com/content/330/7505/1416.full?ehom
