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Home is where the heart is, and that's where it is most natural to have your baby.
My becoming a home birth midwife grew from a desire to provide quality maternity care based in the community.
Over the years I have become disillusioned with hospital based care due to the conflicting needs of hospital care and those of the birthing mother. Receiving care from midwives and doctors you never met before makes it difficult for a laboring mother to let go and trust her carers.
I believe that it is important for every woman to receive care from a known midwife throughout her pregnancy, birth and the early parenting period.
All too often, we see the cascade of interventions that takes place in hospital care, which can often lead to more complications. There is often pressure of time which can make a laboring mother feel pressurized.
As a midwife, I understand that this is one of the most important transitions in your life. Those first hours with your newborn are so precious and can never be replaced. Staying at home in your own bed is a wonderful start with your newborn.
You are always supported, heard, cared for and respected. You choose the way you wish to birth. I offer a holistic model of care that supports the mother and baby's physical, emotional and social well-being. I spend time with you to form strong and trusting relationships.
Above all, I strive to ensure you feel informed, safe and confident throughout your pregnancy, birth and beyond.
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IMPORTANT INFORMATION ABOUT SAFETY OF HOME BIRTH
You made have heard about the recent Israeli study that claimed that an out-of hospital birth had a three times higher mortality rate for babies than an in-hospital birth.
It has been reported “The group found that 15 out of every 1,000 babies born in non-hospital settings, including planned home births but also unplanned and accidental out-of-hospital births, died either at birth or in the six weeks post-partum, compared to just five out of every 1,000 babies born in hospitals.” (Times Of Israel, 3 March 2019).
If this were to be the accurate, it would indeed be a frightening statistic!! However, this study failed in one very big way. The ONLY out-of hospital births were UNPLANNED! There were NO planned home births with a midwife or doctor in attendance included in the study!!
In the out-of hospital group, there were many women who had little or no prenatal care (26%) and premature babies (9%). These women gave birth either at home unattended, or on the way in the back of a truck. The hospital where the study was carried out covers a vast area of the Negev, home to Beduin populations who have great distances to cover to get to the hospital. These women simply didn't get to the hospital in time for the birth!
The findings therefore cannot be associated with groups of women planning a home birth with a midwife. These women are followed closely and any deviation from normal excludes them from a having a home birth.
In fact, statistics for responsible home birth gathered in Canada and the USA show less than a 1 in 1000 perinatal mortality rate which is even better than the hospitals in the same region, where the perinatal mortality rate is slightly higher. In one large study the rate of perinatal death per 1000 births was:
Planned home births with midwife: 0.35/1000
Planned hospital births: 0.57/1000 among women attended by a midwife
Planned hospital births: 0.64/1000 among those attended by a physician
(Outcomes of planned home birth with registered midwife versus planned hospital birth with midwife or physician CMAJ. 2009 Sep)
So we can see from research properly carried out, that PLANNED home birth outcomes are in fact BETTER than those of a hospital birth. How can that be???
Well, in the hospital many interventions are carried out, even for low risk women, that would not happen at home. Women who are low risk are exposed to a cascade of interventions that can lead to unnecessary complications. Just one example, artificial rupture of the membranes, which although generally considered safe, can cause cord prolapse, or other complications. In fact I was at a hospital birth where this happened. Thankfully all was well, but the mother had to have an emergency c-section, which now puts her in a high risk category for future births.
Obviously there some RARE incidents that can be better handled in a hospital setting with advanced equipment and doctors. However, as we know, there are ever increasing numbers of negligent cases against hospitals where the birth was botched, hospital birth is NO SAFER overall!!