Midwife Supported Birth

Our agenda at the Monterey Birth and Wellness Center is to provide you with the safety, empowerment, security and agency needed to ensure a positive, healthy experience during childbirth, when you are at your most vulnerable, yet most powerful.

The way we operate is very different from any other health care provider you may have encountered in the past. The relationship is based on trust. We are with you as a steady, guiding force throughout the entire process. We get to know you on an intimate level: your interpersonal relationships, the uniqueness of your family situation, all of your family’s medical history. We are there for you at all times. There are not many health care professionals to whom you can text an image of the contents of your newborn’s diaper with a question. At the MBWC, it’s all in a day’s work.

Schedule your free tour of our center. Email us at info@montereybirthcenter.com, call 831.717.4723, or book online 24/7. 

How We Work

We begin from a place of trust and continuity. Each of us has spent many hours with you and your family throughout the pregnancy. We are with you throughout the entire birth. Each time we check in, it’s like a friend has arrived – albeit a highly credentialed and experienced friend – who can empower you to make the right decisions for yourself and your baby. We give you agency, and the recognition that you are the parent. We respect your instincts and your opinion. You don’t need to be a people pleaser around us, you can let all that go.

This feeling of trust, autonomy and safety makes all the difference during the birth process. This is the most important day of your lives and we honor that. Not only do we monitor you and your baby utilizing the latest medical technology, assist them with their first breath, and help you nurse them for the first time, we celebrate the entire process as sacred.

When you first walk through the doors of our birth center you might mistake it for a spa or a beautifully appointed home. Our first appointment together can last two hours and each subsequent appointment may last up to one hour. We attend the birth, and then in the postpartum, you will come to our birth center about 4 more times. That continuity of care is yet another factor that really sets us apart.

Furthermore, during labor we provide the following: 

·       Specialized support as needed for water birth

·       Advice on ways to support normal labor, such as food, fluids, resting, walking, position change, breathing, etc.

·       Assessing effacement, dilation and station as necessary

·       Assessing fetal heart tones for deviations from normal

·       Perineal support and repair as necessary

·       Option of using Nitrous Oxide for anxiety and pain relief

Nitrous oxide is a tasteless, odorless gas that is self-administered by inhalation through a mask which can be used to provide some degree of pain relief during labor, delivery, or postpartum – such as suturing or certain rare emergency procedures. Those who take nitrous oxide in labor are fully awake, aware of their surroundings, and able to respond rationally to questions and directions. It typically causes a state of relaxation, euphoria, and a reduction or elimination of anxiety. It offers some degree of pain relief for most birthing people, though absolute relief cannot be guaranteed.  The research on nitrous oxide has not been shown to affect labor patterns, impact the strength of contractions, or cause depressed respiration (breathing problems) in babies after birth.

Schedule your free tour of our center. Email us at info@montereybirthcenter.com, call 831.717.4723, or book online 24/7.

What is a Midwife?

Technically speaking, a midwife is a medical professional who specializes in caring for people throughout their reproductive life, including menarche, fertility, pregnancy, postpartum, perimenopause and menopause. A certified professional midwife is a licensed healthcare provider who can administer medication and IVs, and has passed a national exam.

Some people tend to think of midwives as part of a supporting cast in the childbirth experience, similar to that of a lactation consultant or doula. In fact, midwives are professionally trained for years and certified to assist woman in every aspect of fertility, prenatal care, pregnancy, birth and postpartum care. A midwife can also provide care such as annual exams, pap smears, and chest exams.

Perhaps the defining characteristic of a midwife vs. an OBGYN is the family-centered approach. A midwife offers a shared decision-making model that gives agency to the pregnant person, who has the ultimate say over what happens to themselves and the baby during the process of pregnancy, birth and beyond. The emotional and social needs of the pregnant person and their child are considered to be on par with their physical needs.

 Schedule your free Prenatal Consultation of our center today.

Insurance

  • Insurance billing available for Anthem, Aetna, Cigna and Multiplan; please call to verify eligibility. Payment plans and financing also available.

  • Credit card and HSA card payments accepted.

  • Ask us about our Birth Package, which includes prenatal care, labor care, postpartum care, and state-of-the-art birthing rooms with a water birth tub.

Service Area

Providing midwifery care to Monterey County and some areas of San Benito and Santa Cruz Counties: Seaside, Monterey, Del Rey Oaks, Marina, Pacific Grove, Carmel, Pebble Beach, Carmel Valley, Big Sur, Salinas, Prunedale, Spreckels, Soledad, Gonzales, King City, Hollister, San Juan Bautista, Moss Landing, Castroville, Watsonville, Freedom, Santa Cruz, Aptos, Soquel and Capitola.