Why Choose a Naturopathic Midwife?
What makes Naturopathic Midwives unique?
- We are trained not only as midwives, but as naturopathic physicians, which broadens the scope of care that you will experience from pregnancy and birth to complete natural family healthcare
- We are able to see you from preconception all the way through newborn, pediatric care, and as adults
- Our training makes us the most extensively trained experts in natural medicine during the childbearing years
Training
In addition to the naturopathic education, naturopathic midwives complete two to three years of coursework around pregnancy and childbirth. Coursework includes classes about normal pregnancy, childbirth, and postpartum as well as complications that can occur and how to manage these complications. Some other classes completed were neonatology, maternal and infant nutrition, and childbirth education. Our clinical training includes participation and management of prenatal visits, postpartum visits, and births. Washington state has one of the highest standards set for their licensed midwives in the country and require attendance and management of 100 births and 1,500 hours of clinical training. To become a licensed midwife in Washington state, we must pass a national exam (NARM) and a specific Washington state exam, which includes questions regarding our scope of practice.
The Midwifery Model of Care
The following is the philosophy by which midwives practice
- Pregnancy and birth are seen as normal aspects of our physiology and not as a disease process
- We support, protect, and avoid intervening with the normal physiology of pregnancy, labor, and breastfeeding
- The body of a woman is designed to give birth
- The woman’s experience of pregnancy and giving birth is valued and the possibility of complication does not supersede this
- The role of the midwife is to provide the woman with information and support her decision-making process
- Women and their partners have different needs, expectations, experiences, worries, desires, and decisions that shape their unique experience and midwives are attune to this
- Midwives are trained not only to screen for increased risk factors, but to help and support women making changes in their lives to reduce risks to themselves and their babies, taking time to educate and encourage these changes to be their healthiest
- When there is any deviation from the norm, midwives increase their vigilance for any signs of complications
- Interventions are not done preventively, they are done when they are needed. This helps to reduce complications from the interventions themselves.
- The health and safety of the woman and the baby are extremely important to midwives, but there is much more to pregnancy and childbirth
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