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| The
Birth Center of Gainesville offers comprehensive care for pregnant
women, women in labor, postpartum follow-up visits, and well-woman
(gynecological) care for non-pregnant women, including birth control. |
Prenatal Care
Pregnancy is a unique and special time for a family, and at the Birth
Center of Gainesville, we honor the fact that each woman has different
needs and desires during her pregnancy. Our midwives strive to assist
the family in creating the best experience they can have throughout
their pregnancy and birth. Prenatal care at the Birth Center consists
of private appointments with a midwife beginning around 10 to 12 weeks
of pregnancy and continuing on until 6 weeks after the birth of your
baby. Visits begin with a one-hour initial interview and physical
examination, with following visits lasting 30 minutes and scheduled to
ensure comfort and familiarity with our intimate staff of midwives.
Clients are welcome to bring family or friends to visits if desired.
Prenatal care with our midwives includes medical testing*, discussion,
advice, and support on all of the following:
- Weight gain
- Blood pressure
- Routine lab work
- Genetic testing, if desired
- Glucose levels
- Fetal size and positioning
- Fetal heart tones (via doppler and/or fetoscope)
- Ultrasounds
- Pregnancy management and family concerns
- Nutrition counseling
- Emotional changes
- Other various health concerns
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what is the Midwifery
model of care?
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The "midwifery model" of care for
pregnant women is based on the fact that pregnancy and birth are normal
life experiences. The Midwives Model of Care includes:
***
Monitoring the physical, psychological, and social well-being of the
mother throughout the childbearing cycle
***
Providing the mother with individualized education, counseling, and
prenatal care, continuous hands-on assistance during labor and
delivery, and postpartum support
***
Minimizing technological interventions
***
Identifying and referring women who require obstetrical attention
The application of this woman-centered model of care has been proven to
reduce the incidence of birth injury, trauma, and cesarean section.
Citizens
for
Midwifery |
*Our midwives
work closely with the Women's Center at Shands teaching hospital in the
event that additional medical care not provided by the Birth Center is
necessary.
Prenatal care also includes attendance at a variety of free classes
offered by the Birth Center; see Classes &
Workshops for more information.
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Birth and Labor Support
If pregnancy is a special time for families, the birth day is the
crowning moment. We understand the needs of women in labor and strive
to provide a safe, comfortable, and relaxed environment where mothers
and families can enjoy the birth that they have spent many months
anticipating. Laboring women are encouraged to soak in our large spa
tub for pain relief, to walk, eat, drink, or otherwise move freely, and
to generally be themselves in whatever way seems right in the moment.
We are here to support your best birth as an
individual, not to manage or control it for you. Births are typically
attended by one Licensed Midwife and one to two Student Midwives of the
Florida
School
of Traditional Midwifery who will assist with minor duties. |
What we do:
- Intermittent monitoring of baby (heartbeat) and
mother (blood pressure and temperature)
- Minimal cervical checks
- Provide doula support, if desired
- Discuss progress openly with mother and/or
family as desired
- Suggest options for positioning to facilitate
easier birth
- Offer comfort measures such as water immersion,
massage, aromatherapy, music, food/drink, etc
- Provide emotional support during difficult
moments
- Provide a quiet, peaceful environment into
which baby can be calmly born
- Delay cord cutting and allow ample family
bonding time
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What
we do not do:
- Constant fetal monitoring (internal or external)
- Frequent cervical checks by several attendants
- Augment labor with drugs such as pitocin or
cervidil
- Deny family participation in birth
- Withhold food or drinks
- Confine laboring women to bed
- Provide narcotic pain relief or epidurals
- Caesarean sections, use of forceps, or
vacuum-assisted delivery
- Routine use of medical machinery, presence
bright lights, or high-traffic environments
- Separation of mother and baby or nursery stays
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Our well-trained midwives will
monitor the safety of mother and baby so that your birth can be
experienced without stress. Should transfer to a hospital during labor
become necessary, the family is accompanied to Shands Teaching Hospital
for additional care .
After birth, baby is immediately placed in the hands of the mother for
uninterrupted bonding for at least one hour and unlimited skin-to-skin
contact. During this time, breastfeeding is encouraged and assistance
is given as needed, and baby is given a full newborn assessment within
two hours of birth in the presence of the parents. Families then remain
in the care of the Birth Center midwives until they are ready to go
home, with a minimum stay of 2 hours.
Midwives at the Birth Center also attend home births for clients who
live no more than 30 minutes from Shands Hospital on a case-by-case
basis. If you are interested in a home birth, please contact us.
For more information, please see our Questions
&
Answers section. |
Postpartum Care & Support
After the birth of your baby, midwives at the Birth Center provide you
with ongoing support as you adjust to life with a new baby. This is
initially in the form of a 48-hour postpartum check-up to asses the
well-being of mother and baby, to discuss feelings about labor and
birth, and to provide assistance with any questions you may have. After
this visit, clients are seen again six weeks after birth for a final
physical assessment, to discuss any additional concerns, and to wrap-up
the process of pregnancy and birth with the midwife. In between the
final two visits, however, the Birth Center is always available to you
as a resource for health or emotional support, so do not hesitate to
give us a call if you need anything!
Common areas of postpartum assistance include breastfeeding support,
pelvic healing, newborn concerns, emotional changes, nutrition
counseling, and birth control methods. Our lactation consultant, Teresa
Glaser, is always available to you in addition to our 24/7 on-call
midwives.
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Well-Woman Care
The Birth Center of Gainesville is pleased to offer well-woman
gynecological care to clients who are not currently pregnant. Our
Certified Nurse Midwife/ARNP, Mary Ann Smith, provides this service on
Mondays and Thursdays to women needing any of the following:
- Annual exams
- Breast/Pelvic exams
- Pap smears
- Family planning
- Contraception management (including IUD insertion)
- Sexually-transmitted disease counseling, testing, or
treatment
- Other gynecological concerns
To make an appointment for well-woman care, please call the Birth
Center at (352) 372.4784. For more information on insurance and/or
costs of care, please see Payment &
Insurance. |
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