The Local Care Midwifery 2015 stats were just published. For me, reports like this always feel like a report card. Using that analogy, it looks like LCM got an A. We certainly did a good job -the client outcomes are wonderful. Yet it feels like we could have done better.

Just like when I was in school and actually getting report cards, this report seems incomplete. It doesn’t not include the women that entered care with LCM planning on a home birth that miscarried. It doesn’t include Baby Jonah, was heart was found to be still at his 20 week ultrasound. It doesn’t include Baby Olivia whose mom disparately wanted a water-birth at home after her previous C/S. But at 42 weeks, she still wasn’t even close to labor, and chose a repeat C/S. It doesn’t include all the women that wanted to conceive (and have their babies born into my hands). We certainly could have had more clients; 19 births in a year is low for this practice. Were there people who might have joined the practice but didn’t get a phone call or email returned? Probably. Are there folks that would have joined this practice but didn’t find us because I stopped writing blog posts and LCM’s web-ranking slipped. Probably.

2016 is well underway. The website is fresh and shiny (so pretty!). More importantly, the internal-guts/platform is working and I can actually create blog posts again. K. Michelle Doyle, Sarah Jenks, Loring Edwards all  still work at LCM. We added Chrissy Hotaling as Business Manager. New clients are being signed up. Returning clients are being welcomed with open arms. Well Women visits, Craniosacral visits and lactation support is scheduled regularly. We even have a few planned hospital births gestating. And most importantly, babies are being born into loving hands.

Michelle
May all babies be born into loving hands