There is the obvious you get pregnant, go into labor, stay home, a midwife shows up (hopefully) and you have a baby, but besides that some people are curious how it kind of works.  There are lots of questions such as: Isn't there a lot of mess?  What if something goes wrong?  How do they check the baby?  What if Mom needs some extra care?  So here is a quick little post about the hows.


Each midwife has her own  ways of handling the details, but most will have you order a birth kit.  For us, this includes things like gloves, disposable paper sheet type things to just throw away, a foot print maker and more.  She brings along her own medical kit which includes things like oxygen, sutures and a scale for measuring the new baby.  You labor at your own home.  You don't have to listen to the other people screaming down the hall.  You don't have to worry about the other people down the hall listening to you scream.  You can walk around and you don't have to worry about your backside beaming through a paper nightgown.  So, you labor and then...  You have the baby.  The midwife is trained to handle lots of things and if it truly is a situation that needs the OR or the hospital for any reason, she knows that too.  Assuming it isn't necessary for you to make the trip to the hospital and you've now go a baby in your arms, she does the clean up.  She cares for mom, providing stitches or anything else needed.  She weighs and measures baby.  She makes sure mom, baby and even dad are ready and set before she takes off and then she leaves you to recuperate in the comfort of your own home where Dad does a wonderful job taking care of you.



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