Prenatal care
We offer a consult visit at no cost to discuss the risks and benefits of planned homebirth and reveiw your health history. Women who are healthy and have a low-risk pregnancy are considered for planned home birth. A risk assessment is done with the first visit and periodically through the pregnancy. Clients are seen in our office in Memphis and if they are new to the practice will be seen in their home at least once during the pregnancy. We provide full care and offer all the services one could receive from another provider. Outside lab tests are sent to AEL/Memphis Pathology Lab and ultrasounds are done through the Flinn Clinic, with 5 convientent Memphis locatins. Your visit schedule will be ased on your unique needs with a minimum of 7-8 visits. Each visit is between 45-60 minutes and the majority of the time is spent talking with you.
For most visits you will meet with borh Amy and Andrea together and you will mee Nikole at least once. Families ae welcome to join you at your visits. We encourage you to arrange to have anyone who will be with you for your birth meet the midwives at your home visit.
We encourage first time home birth parents to attend the child birth classes with Sarah Stockwell...
BirthCare
Your birth will be attended by both midwives or one midwife and one assistant. We come to your home as soon as you need us, and stay with you until you and your baby are stable after the immediate post birth period. We attend water births when requested. We are guests in your home and your birth is planned around your wishes and needs. While supporting you and monitoring your status, your labor progress and your baby's wellbeing before and after birth, we provide as much individualized labor support, or relief of your primary labor support partner, as asked for or needed.
Postpartum and Newborn Care
Immediate post-partum care includes breastfeeding support and birth clean-up. We stay until you have eaten, showered and the baby has nursed. We do a complete newborn exam after birth and at the postpartum visits. We return for in-home visits between 24-48 hours and between 5-7 days, more often if needed. The TN Newborn testing is completed at the postpartum visit. We file the TN Birth Certificate and a birth report is sent to your ongoing infant care provider for their records. You return to our office btwen 2-3 weeks and 5-6 weeks for further care.
Breastfeeding support
Breast feeding is best for both mom and baby! There is no longer any doubt that feeding artifical milk substitutes is not equal to providing breast milk for your baby. Research aounds to support this choice. The American Acdamy of Peditricians recommends exclusive breast feeding for the first six months (nothing else is needed) with continued breast feeding for the first year.
We are strong proponents of breast feeding and ask all our clients to plan on nursing their babies. Our practice has an almost perfect breastfeeding success rate at 6weeks and 6months post partum with most families nursing beyond the first year and we will work with you to initiate and sustain your breastfeeding relationship.
Amy and Andrea have extensive personal experience breast feeding and Andrea is a lactation eduator. We provide breastfeeding education during your prenatal visits, have resources in our lending library and work with you and your newborn as you develop the nursing couplet relationship. We will see you for addtional lactation support as needed and if needed will refer to one of the area lactation consultants for special needs.