WHAT IS MIDWIFERY?
The word midwife means ‘with woman’. It means midwives partnering with clients and their families to facilitate and ease childbirth. The very nature of midwifery care is grounded in holistic health. All aspects of pregnancy, childbirth, newborn care, and breastfeeding are inherently normal and natural. By providing individualized care, we can promote and support a positive birth experience.
The midwifery model of care encourages clients to make informed choices about their pregnancy and birth. We believe that families are transformed by birth. All clients and families are unique and we tailor our care to your very personal needs. Midwives offer continuity of care and choice of birth place, including hospital or home births.
Midwives are registered health care practitioners. We are professionals who provide primary care to clients and their babies during pregnancy, labour, birth, and the postpartum period. Midwives provide the full course of care for low-risk clients. This includes physical examinations, screening, diagnostic tests, the assessment of abnormal conditions, and the conduct of normal vaginal deliveries , as well as postpartum care for the birthing parent and baby.
Midwives keep up to date on research and believe that it is our responsibility to provide comprehensive, holistic information so that clients can make informed choices at all stages of care.
During labour and birth, a midwife stays with a client and their family. Midwives are trained in the management of maternal and newborn emergency situations. We carry the equipment necessary to handle emergencies out of hospital. On the occasion that transport is necessary, midwives are skilled in identifying the appropriate time and method of transport. In case a transfer of care to another practitioner is required, the midwife continues to provide supportive care until such time that full care can resume. We work in collaboration with other health care professionals and will consult or refer as appropriate.
OUR PRACTICE
West Country Midwives provides full scope Canadian Model midwifery care to the families of West Central, Alberta. Clients may apply for care from any of the surrounding communities. Our main clinic space is located in Rocky Mountain House. We also run a satellite clinic in Drayton Valley. West Country Midwives serves the communities of O'Chiese, Sunchild, and Big Horn. We offer weekly clinic at the O'Chiese Health Center and the Sunchild Health Center. We visit the Big Horn Health Center once a month for client care and education.
We are not able to offer care to all who request. If we are able to accept you into care we will contact you prior to 12 weeks. Otherwise, your name will remain on the waitlist in case a spot does open up. If you do not hear from us please access prenatal care through a physician.
West Country Midwives assigns clients to teams based on caseload. An attempt will be made to place repeat clients with the midwifery team that provided previous care. Clients may be cared for by any of the midwives contracted to West Country Midwives. We are not able to accommodate requests for specific providers as we do a team caseload and call schedule.
CHOICE OF BIRTHPLACE
Our primary hospital site is the Rocky Mountain House Health Center. We also have privileges at Red Deer Regional Hospital Centre for clients requiring care at a level 2 hospital. We offer home birth in our catchment area. We are also able to offer out of hospital birth at our onsite birth suite located in our clinic space in Rocky.
OUR COMMITMENT
PRENATAL CARE
We take on a limited number of clients at any one time to make sure we can give you the care and attention you deserve. We strive to provide you with well informed care in order to reduce stress, allowing you to pay attention to your body and your baby.
BIRTHING GUIDANCE
We offer unwavering support to you and your family before, during and after birth. We are accessible to you and can offer various methods of labour support to suit your individual needs.
POSTPARTUM SUPPORT
Pregnancy, birth and the early days of child rearing can be very overhwelming. In the postpartum we strive to ensure you get the best information and care possible. No matter when you need us, we will be there offering support.