Walking into a birth center I always get this sense of something much bigger, a sense that life is coming full circle and there is a strength here that’s hard to describe.

To give birth requires a kind of strength most women have never had to summon before having children.  I know I didn’t.

It took breaking everything I thought I knew and coming to a place of raw openness to understand the strength found deep within.

At Mountain Midwifery, that strength resinated from within the walls.  Like it absorbed all the incredible mama’s before and radiated that strength for the next set of mamas.  Ready to hold space and uplift when a mama needed it most.

I’m so excited to share my interview with Alison at Mountain Midwifery.  She has a passion and heart for this place and for all mamas.

These are her words about Mountain Midwifery.

“Our vision is to expand birth center care to as many women as possible.  Community birth options are a great and safer option for women with low risk pregnancies.”

“Mountain Midwifery’s philosophy is that the women’s body knows what it is doing and our mid wives operate from that place of knowing.  They’re trained to watch for red flags and what to do when a red flag presents itself, but if everything is going smoothly they are hands off.  We won’t push any intervention on a mother.”

“It’s wonderful, because people feel comfortable being here and baby’s being born, typically around 41.5 weeks especially first babies, you don’t get the hands off kind of care in a hospital. You get it here though. We stay hands off, because we know what’s normal for a birthing mother.”

“Prenatal care is incredible important here.  There’s a tour and meeting before they have to make a final decision.  It’s important they’re comfortable with their decision and confident.”

“What makes us special too is all the classes we offer both prenatal and postnatal.  We have a childbirth prep class specifically designed by the midwives that work here.  And anyone can take the class, you don’t have to birth here to take our classes.  They’ve customized it to be a natural childbirth class and methods to control pain.  We have a breastfeeding class, to help jump start their journey.  Planning for postpartum success class, which is a ‘what to expect’ those first 4 weeks.  It’s how to be supportive with everyone in mind”

“Mountain Midwifery Center has always been a very comfortable space for women to have their babies.  Our new space is very intentional, it’s easy for the staff to use the space and have things accessible but it’s also homey and comfortable.  Each room is a little different and speaks to different personalities.  It’s not sterile like a hospital. Comfort is #1, so they have a natural and calm birth.”

“After baby is born and it’s calm.  We have queen sized beds for a reason.  We want Dad and mom to get cozy with baby and have that intimate time together bonding with their new baby.  The midwife still has easy access to mom and baby.  The cord is cut long after it has stopped pulsing.  We draw labs from the cord instead of pricking baby.  The first hour is spent very quiet bonding.  Then we start to get mom up and cleaned up and assessing breastfeeding.  Then the families go home about 4 hours after giving birth.”

“We really want to be a resource to the community too.  So we offer our classes to the general public, not just mama’s birthing here.  The Doula meet and greet is really popular as well.  We also offer professional development classes.  They’re all on the website under the classes tab.”

“If you want a natural birth, a birth center is the place you should be.  But come visit.  Visiting and touring the space is the best way to get a sense if this is the right place for you. The birth center environment is more geared toward allowing mom and baby to do what is natural then a hospital.  If something changes and either mom or baby need help, then the hospital is right there.”

“We don’t require doula’s but recommend them.  A doula can be a great person to have because they are just focused on you and your partner and not also helping another birth. We also have doula’s on call that come last minute as well if a family decides last minute that they need a little extra support. We also have doula’s free of charge for families on medicaid.”

I highly recommend touring Mountain Midwifery. 

{be sure to check out the interview of Baby & Company as well}

Thank you so much Alison for taking the time to meet with you and share how special Mountain Midwifery is.  You’re doing amazing work!

xoxo – Rachael