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The following Midwives are those that follow community standards and are practicing with the support of the homebirth community, their colleagues and other collaborating providers in Connecticut. 

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Magnolia Midwifery (Christy D'Aquila CNM) 

Primal Roots Midwifery (Sera Gadbois, CPM & Lauriel Keys)

Kara Crawford, Midwife

Heart in Birth (Jody Mello)

Rya Midwifery (Camille Grant)

Family Midwifery (Gengi Proteau CPM & Cindy Bean)

Nancy Farr, CPM

If you have any questions, or more importantly, concerns, about someone not listed above, please feel free to reach out to any of us. 

 

It is imperative that you and your provider's philosophy and priorities match. Some of the questions we are asked the most are listed below. These questions help narrow down the providers philosophy and experience.

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1. How long have you been practicing midwifery in Connecticut and who assists you and backs you up?

2. Are you practicing with the support of your community?

3. What are your relationships like with the local hospitals and hospital based providers?

4. Why did you become a midwife?

5. What is your training/education/certification?

6. How many births do you take on per month/year?

7. How much do you charge, and by what date would the full amount be due?

8. Are you connected to a natural birth/natural parenting community I could get to know?

9. Can I/my partner catch the baby?

10. Do you carry drugs/medications and what do you use them for? 

11. At what point would I get ‘risked out’ of your practice?

12. How many weeks ‘overdue’ are you comfortable waiting? What does my care look like after 40 weeks?

13. What percentage of your clients give birth without any drugs? 

14. What is your cesarean rate? Common reasons for cesarean?

15. Do you support Vaginal Birth after Cesarean? What about after 2 or more? 

16. What does your normal newborn care look like? Can I decline interventions? 

17. Can you assess baby and me from a distance? Under what conditions will you be talking or touching us immediately after the birth?

18. Do you have experience with turning babies, and how?

19. What do you do in the case of a cord wrapped around the baby's neck?

20. We intend to do delayed cord clamping. What does that look like in your practice?

21. Do you have experience and recommendations for prenatal nutrition?

22. Do you routinely check for dilation? Can I refuse these exams? 

23. Are you familiar with other ways of assessing dilation? 

24. Do you provide care for twins?

25. Do you do the Gestational Diabetes screening? Is it required? What methods of testing will you use?

26. Do you continue to care for clients with Gestational Diabetes, or do you refer them to an obstetrics practice?

27. Do you recommend ultrasounds? How many and for what reason?

28. How do you monitor the baby during labor? How often?

29. Can I eat and drink during labor?

30. Do you test for Group B Strep? What does care look like for a GBS positive mother? 

31. When would you transfer me to a hospital in labor? What is your transfer rate? Most common reason for transfer?

32. Do you do routine episiotomies? Do you do any episiotomies?

33. What happens if I tear? 

34. What equipment do you bring with you to a birth? 

35. Are you trained in neonatal resuscitation?

36. I am an abuse survivor and this may affect my experience. Do you have training in counseling or other trauma-healing work?

37. What kind of postpartum care do you offer?

38. What do you think of encapsulating the placenta and consuming it? 

39. What do you think of laboring in a tub of water?  Can I give birth in the water? What education and experience do you have with Waterbirth?

40. What methods of pain management do you recommend?

41. What is your preferred method of communication, prenatally (phone, email, text)?

 

The "right" answers to these are different for everyone, but hopefully they are a good starting point for you to begin thinking about what is important to you. 

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