04/02/2020
A Letter to Mothers and Families Considering Home Birth...
The Midwifery Care Response Team is a a collaboration and partnership between 3 long-time midwives who have practiced on the Big Island for more than 30 years. We offer the expertise of a Certified Nurse Midwife, two Certified Professional Midwives, a Registered Nurse, an Advanced Midwifery Student and a Traditional Hawaiian Midwife Apprentice. We are committed to serving the community on the Big Island through compassionate, competent, and safe maternity care. Due to the Covid-19 crisis we have decided to pool our resources and do all we can to provide safe and affordable maternity care to those families who have a high level of discomfort and concern about giving birth in a hospital at this time.
The choice to birth at home with a competent provider must be made with confidence, and trust in yourself and your provider. If after diligent and thoughtful research, the autonomy and safety of homebirth remains appealing, you are always are welcome to contact us, with the understanding that we may not be able take you on as a client since our caseloads may already be full.
Where people choose to give birth is a personal choice and influenced by different factors such as cultural and financial considerations, and sometimes it is influenced by global events such as the current Covid-19 pandemic. No matter how or why you are choosing homebirth we would like to give you a warm welcome.
We are expert at providing care in a homebirth setting, and you can rest assured that we are trained and competent at early recognition and treatment of labor and birth complications. If at any time we feel you need care and services that only a hospital can provide, we will not hesitate to actively facilitate a transfer and transport to the closest appropriate facility.
Pregnancy and birth can be a time of greater vulnerability and anxiety for women, especially in times of community wide uncertainty and stress. It is our hope that we can help guide you
through this challenge with a greater measure of confidence and peace. Even as the world around us changes, our bodies and babies do not change, we still have the capacity and strength to grow, birth, feed, and nurture our children.
Some important principles about homebirth and midwife-led care that may be different from what you have experienced before are:
- Explicit informed consent (we give you the information and you get to choose), very few things are “routine” or “protocol” unless it is an emergency
- We emphasize the importance of a balanced diet based on whole foods (fruits, vegetables, whole grains, quality protein, etc.)
- We emphasize emotional and physical self-care (exercise, meditation, tuning in, engaging in nurturing relationships)
Tips for your homebirth:
- We encourage you to have a wide network of support people during pregnancy and the postpartum period. For birth we encourage you to carefully select one or two dedicated support persons. This may be your partner, best friend, mother, or other family member. Be sure that the person/ people at your birth will be there to support YOU, not the other way around. We have found that having many people at the birth is generally not a good idea. You should feel supported without the added pressure to give attention to others.
- Some mothers and families are concerned about the potential pain and discomfort of labor and birth. We have many comfort measures, including a birth tub, we will employ to support you and keep your spirits up. All women have the potential to birth without pain medications.
- A good homebirth is one you prepare for. During the prenatal home visit, we will go over all the practical aspects, but it is your own responsibility to be emotionally prepared. Of course, we are here to guide and support you but ultimately it is your job to ensure that your environment is set up in a way that will help you feel emotionally safe and comfortable.
If Home Birth sounds like an option for you, call to schedule for a free no cost phone interview at 808 990-0394. During this interview we will review your medical and pregnancy history to determine if you are a good candidate for a Home Birth. We will also consider deep discounts in fees on a temporary bases depending on each family's individual situation
