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PRENATAL &
POSTNATAL CARE
Every woman births in her own way,
every labor is a unique journey.
Whether this is your first pregnancy or your first natural childbirth, it is important to feel comfortable with your birthing choices. To help you become better informed, we have put together a list of frequently asked questions below our services. Should you have additional questions or concerns that are not addressed here or elsewhere on our website please contact us. We are happy to answer additional questions. We'd love for you to join us on a group tour of the birth center where you can meet the midwives, ask questions and get to know other families, like you, embarking on this amazing journey of parenthood.
Complete Prenatal Care
Prenatal care with Abundant Life Birth Center starts from the early stages of your pregnancy. There is no need for you to establish care elsewhere if you are low risk and planning on having your baby with us. The midwife team at Abundant Life Birth Center will see you completely throughout your pregnancy.
Your first visit is around the 10th week, or as soon as you have consulted, and for some, transferred from your current provider. This visit is extensive and will last about 1 to 1.5 hours. At this visit, your midwife will review your health history and profile from your new electronic health record. A physical, risk assessment and screening, nutritional overview, consent forms, and preventive care will be discussed. You will be offered initial blood work, a pap smear, and the opportunity to hear your baby’s heart tones. We will review your questions and concerns, as we will in every visit.
You will be invited to come back every 4 weeks until your 28th week of pregnancy, which will then start a two-week cycle. Weekly visits start once you are 36 weeks pregnant. Each of your follow up visits will last 30 to 45 minutes, one on one with your midwife. We look forward to your first visit with us.
Birth Center Birth
Birth Center Birth can be a great option for those who want more one on one individualized natural birth support than most hospitals can provide. Each birth suite is warm and inviting and provides you with privacy to give birth while being supported, protected, heard, comforted, and respected.
Once you are in active labor, your stay at Abundant Life Birth Center will begin. Like our home births, you will be supported physically, emotionally, and medically throughout your birth. You will get to know our midwives throughout your prenatal care so the day of your birth your support comes from someone you know and trust. Your midwife, birth assistants, and doula (should you choose to have one) will help you with comfort measures by encouraging position changes, using massage, and making sure you are well fed and hydrated.
Your midwife will monitor you and the baby throughout the labor, birth and the postpartum period. Complete newborn exams will be performed and you will be stable, nursing, and ready to return to your home before discharge. Most families are ready to return home 4 and 6 hours after birth.
Home Birth
Once your labor begins and you are in active labor your birth team will attend your home birth.
At home, you will be well supported physically, emotionally, spiritually, and medically through complete midwifery care. You will get to know your midwives throughout your prenatal care so that the day of your birth your support comes from someone you know and trust. Your midwife, birth assistants, and doula (if you choose to have one) will help you with comfort measures by encouraging position changes, using water therapy, helping your partner become more involved, using essential oils, massage, and making sure you are well fed and hydrated.
Freedom to labor in the safety of your own home can bring security and comfort to many families. Your midwife will monitor you and the baby throughout the labor, birth and postpartum period. Complete newborn exams will be performed and you will be stable and nursing and ready for a nap before discharge of care. Midwives stay postpartum for home births about 2 to 3 hours.
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Water Birth
Water birth can be an incredible addition to the relaxation and peace of a labor or birth. Filling a tub and lowering the lights brings a calm to a mother’s birth space almost instantaneously. She can then use the warmth of the water and it’s buoyancy to support and comfort her through each contraction that brings her closer to meeting her baby. The midwives and support staff of Abundant Life Birth Center are well trained in the safety and risk of water birth and are very comfortable with facilitating most labors and or births in water.
Postnatal Care
Abundant Life Birth Center provides care to the postpartum mother and baby for up to 6 weeks. We encourage you to have a relationship set up with a pediatrician for the baby prior to before labor.
We believe that support and guidance during the early postpartum weeks are essential for new families.
Your postpartum care includes; breastfeeding guidance and support, assessment of physical healing for the mom, discussion in regard to family planning and contraception, if desired, processing the birth experience, newborn metabolic screening, routine weight checks and feeding assessments, screening for any postpartum mood disorders, guidance and support around any challenges that may arise during postpartum transition and community resources for additional care if needed.
The first days and weeks after the birth of your baby are important for a successful transition, breastfeeding, bonding, and physical healing. Abundant Life Birth Center offers the following visits to evaluate your well-being after the baby is born: a midwife will visit your home 24-36 hours after your baby has been born. We then invite you to return to the office for visits when your baby is one week old, two weeks old and six weeks old. Additional appointments are made based on need.
Childbirth Education
Childbirth education has a vital role in helping our families prepare for birth. You will be given education and guidance at each prenatal encounter. We also offer childbirth education classes in either a 4-week series or 1 full day.
Our families love childbirth education classes and often ask to come back postpartum to tell their own birth stories. Childbirth education classes are offered to all families in our care and to any family in our area who is preparing for a natural birth either in or out of the hospital.
Please join us as part of your journey to equip yourself and your family for your upcoming birth. We also offer a variety of other amazing classes. Please visit our page of classes for more information.
Lactation Support
Breastfeeding can be one of the most rewarding experiences of your life. During your care at Abundant Life Birth Center, you will gain support, knowledge, and guidance in the prenatal and postpartum period to help better equip you to nourish your baby completely. We will encourage you prenatally to attend our Breastfeeding 101 classes. You will also have access to your midwives for breastfeeding support in the newborn period, as well as the access to get direct one on one lactation support in the office or your home from an amazing local lactation counselor. Those families that will birth with us or have attended our courses will have access to visits and support care packages with a lactation counselor contracted with Abundant Life Birth Center. She is also available to offer guidance, education, and support for families who have birthed with other providers. Call to sign up for one of our classes or to schedule your visit with a lactation counselor.