What is a Assistant Midwife?
As a Midwife’s Assistant, I can provide continuity of care lacking in our fragmented health care and social service systems. Midwife’s Assistant can support the couples prenatally, during birth, postpartum, and family life. Traditionally, parents learned how to be parents and care for their children from their families and their community’s support. In these times, all too often, couples find themselves isolated with no one to “hang out with” to learn these things naturally. They may want to do things differently than their own parents. They may turn to books, TV, or the internet searching for their community. The Midwife’s Assistant is a person in their own community that you can get to know during pregnancy and feel comfortable turning to throughout the childbearing year. The Midwife’s Assistant will know this client, family, and particular circumstances and tailor her care to her individual needs. I am fully certified in newborn resuscitation and CPR as well.
A birth assistant (also known as a midwife's assistant) is a trained professional who provides assistance to a licensed midwife with births in out-of-hospital settings (home &/ birth center settings).
A birth assistant performs several duties including taking maternal and fetal vital signs, charting, setting up equipment, keeping the birth space clean and organized, providing assistance in emergency situations and more. Midwifery assistants support midwives in providing maternity care for low-risk women. Primarily, midwifery assistants are employed by direct-entry midwives to assist in birth centers or in a private home setting with prenatal, labor and birth and postpartum care. Midwifery assistants must be able to assess vital signs, react calmly and appropriately in an emergency and maintain client confidentiality.
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New parents process feelings and thoughts by talking with others. As they talk, clarity appears, and they are able to work out problems for themselves. The Midwife’s Assistant offers an understanding ear and a reflective perspective. The Midwife’s Assistants can directly help your family with cooking, shopping, doing household chores, child care, breastfeeding support, giving information, or sharing resources. Midwife’s Assistants also work under the direction of a Midwife to offer clients continuity of care.
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We know that one on one, in-home, personal support works better than large classes or brief visits with a care provider. Clients prefer this, and the whole family benefits from such intensive care. The Midwife’s Assistant always fosters family bonding, showing the partner or other family members how they can support the parents and baby.
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The Midwife’s Assistant will be familiar with local resources and refer clients to what they need. Midwife’s Assistants can work with the local health departments, social services, hospitals, homebirth midwives, birth education or breastfeeding groups, or her own. Midwife’s Assistants are also familiar with alternative/complementary health care modalities that are available.