Surrey Independent Midwives
 

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What we offer

We offer comprehensive antenatal care, birth attendance and postnatal care up to 28 days. The majority of our births are planned home births, approximately half of which are water births. We are experienced in VBAC ( vaginal birth after caesarian) at home.  We are used to looking  after women with previous traumatic birth experiences or sexual abuse and working through these issues at length, building up trust and confidence. 

Antenatally

Our aim is to provide individual care to meet individual needs. Each client receives approximately ten unhurried antenatal visits lasting about an hour from the midwife she has booked with. This gives us the opportunity to develop a trusting relationship so important for birthing.  Your and your baby’s health and safety are assessed at each visit.  We explore with you your options for your birth, whether you want a water birth or not, who you like to be present and any other issues you wish to discuss. We give you research based information about the choices you can make about your birth and will gradually introduce proven advice relevant to your stage of pregnancy, for instance optimal fetal positioning, perineal massage, diet and birth visualisation.  We also provide a non-judgemental exploration of positive and negative experiences, thoughts and emotions that arise about birthing or becoming a parent. If you have other children, we will get them involved.We have a large library of books and videos available to our clients covering many different aspects of pregnancy, birth and parenting. 

We are on call for you 24 hours a day from the moment you book with us until 28 days after your birth. By working together we are able to provide the security of knowing someone is always available.  Any blood, ultrasound or other screening required can be arranged usually through the NHS ( as you are entitled to it) or privately as appropriate.

Birth

When you go into labour, your midwife will attend from the time you feel you need her, offering support and encouragement as well as monitoring you and your baby to ensure that you are both safe and well throughout the labour and birth. You will be given clear instructions how to page or phone each of us. Your midwife will carry emergency equipment, which includes resuscitation equipment, oxygen, intravenous fluids, drugs to stop haemorrhage and Entonox ( gas and air). In the majority of our births, none of these are actually needed to be used. Your partner will be actively encouraged to be involved and given as much support as required. We will encourage you to eat and drink throughout your labour to give you strength for the actual birth. Once the baby is born, we try to give you and your partner precious time together to take in the amazing miracle that has just happened to you and time to cuddle your new baby. We will encourage you to breastfeed your baby as soon as your baby wants to suckle. This can be five minutes after the baby is born or longer, but we usually encourage it during the first hour. We will also perform a neonatal check on your baby and check you over thoroughly after the birth. Before we leave you, approximately three hours after the birth, we will give you clear instructions when to call us in case of any concerns.   

Postnatally

After the birth you and your baby will receive approximately another ten visits, decreasing in frequency until the 28^th day, as your confidence grows.  During these visits we will help you establish breastfeeding and learning how to cope with your new role of becoming a mother. On each occasion you and your baby will be given a thorough check to ensure that all is well. We take the time to talk about the birth and how it was for you and your family  welcoming the new  baby into the world and we will encourage you to write your birth story. We will also provide contraceptive advice and show you how to examine your breasts thoroughly.

All visits take place in the comfort and privacy of your own home.

Other Services

We run weekend workshops on active birth open to all couples.  You can come and explore what it means to become actively involved in the birth of your child or children, how to cope with the contractions through relaxation, visualisation and breathing etc. Partners will be given advice on how to support and help you in a positive way.  Please contact one of us for current details and a booking form. 

We all give regular talks for the NCT and home birth groups, as well as other midwives. 

We are members of a group of local like-minded women called ACCORD. These include a homeopath, reflexologist, chiropractor and acupuncturist. If you wish, we inter-refer antenatally to prepare you for your birth and can in some cases also arrange for one of the ACCORD members to be present during birth, depending on their commitments. We meet regularly to exchange ideas on how to improve the birth experience.