Spirit of Life Midwifery

Our beliefs, practices, and process.

The home birth midwives of Spirit of Life Midwifery provide holistic and comprehensive prenatal care, support during labor and birth (including water birth), and postpartum care. Prenatal visits are done in the office, and last an hour long-- time to have your questions answered and for your midwives to get to know you. Your midwives are there with you throughout your labor and birth, and you and your baby are never separated. After the birth, the midwives stay to make sure breastfeeding gets off to a good start and remain on-call for you during the postpartum time.

As your Community Midwives, we provide comprehensive holistic midwifery care throughout the childbearing year. What does this mean? It means you will know your midwives-- prenatal visits are about an hour long so we can get to know you and so you can get all of your questions answered. It means you will be listened to. It means you will give birth in the comfort of your own home with care providers you know and trust, surrounded by your support people, and then snuggle in with your baby after the birth in your own bed, never separated! It means your care will continue after the baby is born for help with breastfeeding, care of mom and baby, and again, to have someone that will hear your concerns and provide you with answers, or refer you to the right place if need be. Women who choose midwives say they wouldn't do it any other way...

At Spirit of Life Midwifery, we believe:

Childbirth is a normal, healthy process. The role of the midwife is to support and promote this normal process, while recognizing and dealing with any deviations from normal. Confidence in this normal process is promoted in all aspects of care.

Women have the right to seek care that is medically safe, fits their lifestyle and recognizes and respects their individual physical, social, cultural, psychological, economic, and gender non-conforming needs.

Women and families have the right and responsibility to assume an active role in their own health care. A team provides midwifery care with the client as an equal team member.

Because the family is the cornerstone of our social structure, maternity care must support and promote family unity and development. Family members, including siblings, should be involved in the childbearing experience to whatever extent the family desires. “Family” is defined by the client.

Education is an essential part of quality health care. With knowledge freely exchanged between midwife and client, women and their families are able to assume shared responsibility for and make informed choices about their health care.

We Support and Practice "The Midwives Model of Care"

“At the core of the Midwives Model of Care is deep respect for the normalcy of birth and for the uniqueness of each childbearing woman and her family. This approach to maternity care promotes health and helps prevent complications. Care providers who practice this model of care have excellent outcomes while providing safe individualized care.” The midwives model of care includes:

monitoring the physical, psychological and social well being of the mother throughout the childbearing cycle;
providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum
minimizing technological interventions; and identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention

“The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section”