The Midwives Model of Care™ is a fundamentally different approach to pregnancy and childbirth than contemporary obstetrics. Midwifery care is uniquely nurturing, hands-on care before, during, and after birth. Midwives are health care professionals specializing in pregnancy and childbirth who develop a trusting relationship with their clients, which results in confident, supported labor and birth. While there are different types of midwives practicing in various settings, all midwives are trained to provide comprehensive prenatal care and education, guide labor and birth, address complications, and care for newborns. The Midwives Model of Care™ is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal life events.

 The Midwives Model of Care includes:

• monitoring the physical, psychological and social well-being of the mother/birthing parent throughout the childbearing cycle

• providing the mother/birthing parent with individualized education, counseling, and prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and delivery, and postpartum support

• minimizing technological interventions and

• identifying and referring women/birthing people who require obstetrical attention.

• The application of this model has been proven to reduce to incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section. (Midwives Model of Care definition is Copyrighted © by the Midwifery Task Force, all rights reserved)

Midwives carry many different types of equipment and medications to help safely manage normal birth. Some of the equipment I bring includes:

• Resuscitation equipment for baby and mother: a bag and mask resuscitator and oxygen.

• Antihemorrhagic drugs to stop excessive postpartum bleeding.

• Monitoring equipment for you and your baby, including a doppler, blood pressure cuff and stethoscope, and infant stethoscope.

• Supplies for the newborn exam and any newborn procedures that you choose, including a scale, measuring tape, erythromycin ointment, and vitamin K.

• Suturing equipment to do repairs if tearing occurred, and lidocaine to numb for suturing.

As a homebirth midwife I am not able to be in network with any insurance. I do work with a biller who is very experienced in billing for homebirth. You can reach out to her to see what may be covered here.

I also offer a sliding scale for those on Medicaid or who need financial assistance.

You can reach us anytime via our contact page or email. We do our best to respond quickly—but please be patient as I am only one person!

No. While many midwives start as doulas, their training and roles are very different. A midwife is a healthcare professional, trained to monitor the health and well-being of you and your baby, A doula is trained to offer non-medical emotional and comfort support to help you cope throughout labor.  
We love doulas!

While Althea Midwifery doesn’t offer placenta processing, our apprentice midwife, Joyell, does! Learn more about her current offerings here.