Services - VT Midwives

Care across your lifespan

Well gynecology is provided by nurse-midwives in a variety of settings. Midwives bring a unique perspective to well gynecologic care from menarche ( the first period) through menopause ( after your last period). A person’s gynecologic health is tied to other health and lifestyle choices. Midwives know this and provide individualized care supporting a person’s sexual, reproductive, emotional, and physical health aims, goals and choices. Midwives are inclusive and sensitive to a person’s sexual orientation and gender identity. Midwives are able to provide STI screening, prescriptions, and services for birth control methods, abortion care, sexual and reproductive education, health education around nutrition and healthy life choices; pap smears and follow-up; routine blood pressure, cholesterol, thyroid, mammogram, colonoscopy and osteoporosis screening, and other primary care screening and treatments. Nurse-Midwives are with women for a life-time.

Water Birth

Midwives have supported hydrotherapy or immersion in water during labor and birth as long as birthing people have been laboring in tubs. There has been much evidence to show when people labor and/or birth in water have lower rates of cesarean section, report less pain and are more satisfied with their birth experience, have shorter active labor time, have shown no difference in perineal tearing between water and land births, and water birth was found to not impact newborn outcomes.

https://www.cochrane.org/CD000111/PREG_immersion-water-labour-and-birth

Breastfeeding support

Women/people who want to breastfeed/chestfeed should have every opportunity to be successful. Nurse-Midwives provide breastfeeding education and support starting in your prenatal care, assisting with your first latch after birth, and during those early days of learning for you and your baby. They continue to be available for support as you begin to pump to return to work, navigate supply changes as your baby grows, or care for you if an infection ( mastitis) or excoriated nipples become problematic for you.

Mood issues and mental health concerns

While pregnancy and new parenthood is a joyous and wonderful occasion there can be challenges and times where extra support is needed. Midwives are experts with the various emotional changes that may happen for a person as they experience this transition to parenthood. Midwives help people during the pregnancy and after to understand what is happening and where to find support in the resources available. Post-partum anxiety and depression are not a black and white issue; these mood concerns are a continuum where all new moms/parents struggle to some degree in the early weeks and months of parenthood. Midwives help new parents discern if and when they need more support in the form of counseling or medication.

Home or Hospital Birth Setting

Many people think midwifery is practiced mostly in the home. Vermont Nurse-Midwives offer birth services in your own home and in 8 out of the 11 hospitals throughout our state. In 2016, Vermont vital statistics sites 120 (almost 2%) of the 6,283 babies born in Vermont were born at home and 1,445 of the 6,283 births (almost 23%) were attended by midwives within a hospital setting. This makes 25% of Vermont babies are caught by the hands of a midwife! Midwives are experts at normal healthy pregnancy and birth; recent research shows midwifery care both in the home and in the hospital lead to better birth outcomes. See report here: https://www.sciencedaily.com/releases/2018/02/180221180521.htm

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