Top Ten Reasons

10) Evidenced Based Care

As a midwife in private practice, I can provide evidenced based care (without first having to get approval from a committee). Evidenced based care is, well it’s based on evidence, not just anecdotes or culture.

Here is a wonderful post on evidenced based practices for obstetrical care. The blog it arises from, Evidence Based Birth is consistently wonderful.

Here is a link to the Cochrane Library, a wonderful resource for medical decision making.

9) Client Centered Care

A client’s entire being , their mind and yes, even soul, are at the heart of the care we provide. Body first, because after all, that’s what I am trained to do. From Pap smear to newborn exam, I always consider the entire person in front of me before proceeding. The care provided is based on the client’s needs, not my needs, and (not the needs of the Finance Committee).

Here is an excellent post about client (‘patient’) centered care.

8) Shared Decision Making

Decisions about a client’s care are achieved through shared decision making.  The community standard of care is presented, information related to that  standard is presented, clients ask questions, I answer questions and/or offer resources research and clients come up with a decision. A wide variety of information sources are used. Here is one source of shared decision tools. More are in the works, including ones specifically dealing with maternity care.

7) Appropriate Technology

For normal birth, very little is needed. But what is needed and used should be known to be helpful and not harmful. Intermittent auscultation with a Doppler or fetoscope are examples of appropriate technology. Self-inflating resuscitation bags (Ambu bags) are an example of appropriate technology used in the home birth setting. So are labor pools (not an epidural) for pain management and straws (not IVs) for supporting hydration.

6) Waste Reduction

There is a lot of waste in medical care these days. There is a lot of simple, physical waste, (aka trash). At LCM, we strive to use what we need, recycle what we can, waste as little as possible. For example, by utilizing shared electronic medical records (Private Practice), we are printing fewer and fewer pieces of paper every month.

When I was in hospital practice there were approximately 2 pounds of sterile paper drapes that were rarely used by the midwives but were part of every delivery set up. After every birth, these went, clean and unused, into the trash. At LCM, our standard birth supplies are reasonable, useful and either used or passed on (unused) to another client. We do not order products simply to throw them away.
Here is the LCM birth supply list that Michelle suggests for our clients.

5) Baby Friendly Care

The Baby Friendly Hospital Initiative is designed for hospitals. However, the principles,  guidelines and suggested practices can be adapted for any maternal child health care provider. Baby friendly, breast-feeding supportive care is integral to LCM. From education, immediate and uninterrupted skin to skin contact after birth, to extensive post partum support, LCM provides baby friendly care. And our breastfeeding rates show it: since the beginning of LCM (August 2009) to the present, 100% of LCM clients initiated breastfeeding and 99% were breastfeeding at the six week visit.

4) Mother Friendly Care

Local Care Midwifery and Michelle are endorsers of the Mother Friendly Care Initiative and mother friendly care is exactly what we provide. The Mission, Preamble, Principles and Ten Steps of the Mother Friendly Childbirth Initiative can be found here. At Local Care Midwifery, PLLC we incorporate all of this into our daily work. All of it. We truly believe in the Normalcy of Birth and the Empowerment of women and families. We believe that every woman should have Autonomy. We know that it is important to Do No Harm. At LCM, we and our clients have Responsibility for the care provided and care received.

3) Participation in Data Collection

Providing evidenced based care is a good thing in and of itself. However, ‘evidenced based care’ has to be based on evidence. To have evidence, you must have data. To have data, someone has to collect it. LCM participates in both the Midwives Alliance of North America Statistic Project (MANA Stats) and the American College of Nurse Midwives (ACNM) Benchmarking Project.

Here are links to information about both MANA and ACMN data collection.

2) Making Connections

It is important for pregnant and parenting families to have connections. After all, it takes a village, right? Though the LCM Moms & More groups and our regular Open Houses, making connections between clients is an integral part of the LCM practice. There are also the face to face connections that occur in the waiting area as a newly pregnant woman is leaving and a new mom (with baby) is arriving for a postpartum visit. Just simple introductions and casual interactions can facilitate life time connections between families.

Here is the link to our biweekly group, LCM Moms & More. (All are welcome)

And the NUMBER ONE I love having a planned home birth practice:

1) LOVE

It is said, “Do what you love. Love what you do.” For me, both are true.

I love midwifery and I love being a midwife, providing health care to women of all ages. From preteen to post menopause, 9 to 90, I get to care for them all.

I love home birth and I love having a practice, Local Care Midwifery, PLLC, that provides home birth services. From pre-conceptual consult to 6 week post partum visit, I get to care for families planning to welcome their babies into their home.

I am so blessed: I do what I love.
And I love what I do.

Michelle
May all babies be born into loving hands