Midwifery Care
Course of Care
Postpartum care
I will come to you in your home after the birth between 24-48 hours for a “1 day” visit. Usually closer to 24 hours. I will do a visit for both you and your baby. This visit is typically 1-2 hours, depending on how everyone is feeling. At this visit I will check your vitals, examine your perineum/sutures (if you had them), discuss any questions or concerns you have and help with breast feeding. I will also weigh your baby, do their first metabolic screen and do a screening for heart defect by checking their Oxygen saturation.
I will come to you again at 3 days.
Then you (and baby) will see me in my office at 1 week, 2 weeks, 3 weeks and 4 weeks. Depending on how things are going, we may see each other 5 weeks and then will have our final postpartum visit between 6-8 weeks
At the final postpartum visit, I can offer a PAP if you are due for one.
Newborn care
I can offer newborn care as part of postpartum care up to 28 days in OR. This means for healthy babies that are low risk and have had a normal course of care, I can be their primary care provider in that postpartum space until you are established with a pediatrician. Most folks get their baby established with a pediatrician around 4 weeks.
Consultation
Our very first time meeting will be a free 1 hour consultation. I prefer to do this in person to give us both an opportunity to get a sense of each other and see if we will be a good match to work together. This visit is a great time for you to come with a list of questions.
Prenatal care
During prenatal care, we will meet for an hour each visit at my office at Lilac Family Care. I recommend our first appointment (after a consultation) be around 12 weeks, (but it certainly can be earlier than that) because that is the time we can most reliably start hearing fetal heart tones with a doppler.
Scheduled prenatal visits will typically be every four weeks until you reach 32 weeks, then every two weeks until you reach 36 weeks, then weekly from then until you have your baby.
36 week home visit
At 36 weeks we will schedule a 2 hour home visit where I will come to your home. I will check in about your pregnancy as usual, but this is also an opportunity for me to familiarize myself with your birthing space.
Lab work
I can do all of the needed lab work (blood draws, urine collection, PAP) at my office or from your home. On occasion, I will need to send you to a lab to get blood drawn but most of the time I am able to do it in the office.
The lab I use is Quest Diagnostics and they also offer NIPT (Non Invasive Prenatal Testing, it is a form of genetic screening) through a blood draw after 10 weeks pregnancy.
Placenta Encapsulation
The placenta is such a wonderfully awesome organ and it can keep serving you long after birth. It makes a great, easy to take and easy to store postpartum medicine that can be very helpful for building your blood up after a normal birth and after an bigger blood loss. It also helps stabilize your mood and boost energy.
If you choose for me to encapsulate your placenta, I will take it home with me after the birth to encapsulate and have ready for you, usually by 3-4 days postpartum.
I also offer placenta encapsulation to clients who's birth I did not attend. Just reach out on the contact form and let me know ahead of time if you want to request my service and we can make a plan. This is also if you have a hospital birth but still want placenta encapsulation. We can make a pick up/drop off plan for that scenario as well.