What services do you offer?

• Home Birth
• Birth Center Birth
• Water Birth
• Pre-conception counseling
• Breastfeeding Support
• Postpartum Care
• Well-woman Care including PAPs and breast exams
• Midwifery support care for those choosing to birth in a hospital
• Short-term Midwifery care for those visiting the area or who are planning to move before birth

Care with a midwife is personal as well as professional.  While maintaining excellence in care and training, I’ve chosen to limit my practice, enabling me to give each of my clients the kind of intimate experience they deserve. Each client’s prenatal visits and birth are tailored to meet her individual needs.

Since every part of your life is affected by your pregnancy, our care is holistic in that we do not look at you as another pregnant belly, but as a woman in process of nurturing and growing a child to be birthed.  Time is planned for answering your questions, listening to your concerns, suggesting resources.  If you have other children, you are welcome to bring them with you to visits, as well as other friends or family as you desire.

When you receive care from a midwife, you receive respectful treatment, personal attention, plenty of information, and appropriate monitoring.  These help you discover your own body’s ability to give birth in it’s own way and in it’s own time.

What about Water Birth?

Water is a natural relaxant; the buoyancy and freedom when you are immersed in water often helps ease the discomfort of labor so much it is referred to as “the midwives’ epidural”.  The warm water also helps soften your perineal skin, making tears less likely.  Since baby has been floating in amniotic fluid for it’s entire life, being born into the water is an easier transition to life outside the womb. I’ve been trained by Barbara Harper at Waterbirth International; the vast majority of my clients choose to birth in the water.

More information is available at Waterbirth International.      http://www.waterbirth.org

What is the best time to start care with a midwife?  What if I’m not pregnant? What if I want midwifery support, but don’t want to birth out of the hospital?

Since midwives provide not only pregnancy and birth care but pre-conception care and well-woman visits, beginning your care with your midwife from the start (or even before becoming pregnant) is optimal.  However, many women find they desire the more personal care or an out-of-hospital birth after they have already begun care with someone else, or perhaps you intend to birth in the hospital with your current care provider, but just want more information and support than you are receiving.  It is not uncommon for women to transfer care to a midwife part way through their pregnancy or receive midwifery support in addition to the care you have already planned.   Call for a free consultation to see if you are a candidate for this option!

What is your normal schedule for my visits?

Most prenatal visits are done in my home office in Newbury Park, except for a home visit around week 35-36.  The 1-day and 3-day postpartum visits are at your home, for the others clients again return to my home office.  Under some circumstances, visits can be arranged at your home instead.

I normally schedule monthly visits until 28 weeks, every other week until 36 weeks, then weekly visits until the birth, though sometimes this may vary slightly.  Following your birth, I will see you the day after your birth, then again at 3-5 days when your milk comes in, at two weeks if desired, and your final visit at 6 weeks post-partum, which includes a PAP unless unnecessary or declined.

My prenatal visits normally take about 1 hour, and may be a bit longer for the first visit or two to make sure everything is covered.  If there are reasons I feel more frequent visits may be helpful, I may schedule you more often.  I am also available via phone or text whenever you have a need to get in contact with me.

What is covered at my visits?

During all our visits, we are spending some time getting to know one another and develop the type of open, trusting relationship that is the hallmark of the Midwives Model of Care. We will be discussing your nutrition and exercise, your general well being, what preparations you may need to be making for your birth and answering any questions you may have.  I will also be reviewing any lab work or tests with you that may have recently been returned, and keeping record of your gestational age, blood pressure, pulse, weight, urine dip, baby’s growth, heart tones & movement.

What tests do you offer?

Prenatal blood work, cultures and ultrasounds are all available through Whole-Hearts Midwifery, but before doing any prenatal tests, I want to make sure you understand WHY they are being requested, and make sure you have given me your informed consent to order tests.  If you have an objection to any testing, we can discuss your options.

Your baby will be given a newborn exam only after you have had time to bond (providing your baby is breathing well at birth as most are), and before the birth, any treatments you want for your baby will be discussed fully with you.  You will decide the type of care your baby will receive.

Will I be able to get a birth certificate and Social Security number for my baby if the birth is not in a hospital?

Certainly!  In California, midwives are licensed care providers and are able to supply the information needed to enable your baby to have the documentation needed for birth certificates, social security and even passports.  Depending on which county the birth occurs (Los Angeles or Ventura), I will cover all the details with you to make obtaining these documents as easy as possible.

What areas do you serve?

Whole-Hearts Midwifery is located in Newbury Park.  We serve clients in Thousand Oaks, Simi Valley, Moorpark, Somis, Camarillo, Oxnard, El Rio, Port Hueneme, Point Mugu NAWS, Ventura, La Conchita, Agoura Hills, and Calabassas.

What are the costs of care with Whole-Hearts Midwifery?

Since costs vary according to the care you are seeking, your unique situation, and other considerations, I prefer to discuss cost at a FREE consultation visit. Various payment options are available, including insurance billing for PPO plans, and credit cards through PayPal. Although HMOs do not cover out of network providers, I do have clients with HMO insurance and they are able to have some of their care with the HMO, reducing their costs for out-of-hospital birth. Most find that midwifery care is a FRACTION of the cost of a hospital birth, and often covered by insurance, at least in part.