Family Tree Midwifery
Lissa Duerr CPM, LM
1907 Mountain Road
Addison, Vermont 05491
Cell: 802-999-1985
Home: 802-759-2053
lissaduerr@hotmail.com
Call or email to set up a free consultaion or to learn more about midwifery and homebirth.
Philosophy of Midwifery Care
It is my deep belief that pregnancy and birth are inherently normal life events, events that ought to be nurtured by the core values of excellent care, trust, respect, and joy. The care a woman and her family receive at Family Tree Midwifery strives to reflect these core values. A woman learns to trust and respect her body and health, and in return the midwife, in keeping with the traditions of midwifery care, must monitor and safeguard the childbearing process. A woman should be trusted to choose where and with whom she feels the safest and most empowered to have the childbearing experience she desires and deserves.
We at Family Tree Midwifery are dedicated to providing the highest standard of care by offering balance between tradition and technology. Midwives are the facilitators of the natural process of pregnancy and birth and reserve intervention, invasive testing and procedures for situations outside of the parameters of normal. We allow as much time as woman and her family need to listen, interact, and educate, encouraging families to be fully involved in their care and in the welcoming of a new baby into the world.
Training and Experience
I was born at home during a March blizzard in 1978, so one could say that I was exposed to birthing alternatives and midwifery from the first breath. Even at a young age, I knew that there was something unique and powerful about my parents deciding to take birth out of the often-sterile confines of a hospital and reclaim the birth of their child as a sacred and intimate experience. Since my snowy birthday, I received by B.A. in Environmental Studies from Middlebury College, and after several years as an organic garden teacher and farmer, returned to the classroom in 2004 to attend Birthwise Midwifery School, from which I graduated in 2007.
My clinical experience includes working with midwifes and Naturopathic Doctors at St. Mary’s Hospital in Lewiston Maine, The Concord Birth and Wellness Center in New Hampshire, and a year-long preceptorship at Full Spectrum Midwifery in Burlington Vermont. During the winter of 2007 I had the pleasure of interning at a very busy birth center in the Philippines.
I am a Certified Professional Midwife (CPM) and am licensed to pracice midwifery in the state of Vermont. In addition, I have training in water birth, massage, and lactation counseling. As a dedicated midwife, I have close consulting relationships with other midwifes and obstetricians. I attend all prenatal and postpartum visits and one other qualified person and myself attend the birth.
Family Tree Midwifery Services
Prenatal Care: I provide consultation, initial lab/blood work, monitoring of weight, blood pressure, urinalysis, fetal heat tones, uterine growth, position of the baby, hemoglobin (iron) checks, blood glucose screening (per client), Group B strep culture (per client), nutritional counseling, birth education, addition testing and referrals (as needed), counseling, 36 week home visit, informational handouts, 24 hour on-call availability, midwife back up.
Birth: Labor assessment, continuous skilled and supportive active labor assistance, fetal monitoring (with a doppler or fetascope), monitoring of maternal vital signs, water birth if desired, management of birth of baby and placenta, breast feeding assistance, suturing of tears as indicated, newborn assessment/exam, monitoring of mother and baby until stable.
Postpartum Care: Home visit at 1 and 3 days following the birth, birth certificate, breastfeeding counseling, newborn metabolic screening test (as desired), 2 week office visit, 6 week visit with exam for mom and baby, birth control counseling, Pap smear (per client), 24 hour on-call availability.
Well Woman Care: Well woman exam including: blood pressure, weight, heart and lung check, breast exam and mammography referral as indicated, hemoglobin check, Pap smear, HIV and STI testing as desired, lab work as indicated per client, nutrition counseling, contraceptive method counseling, fertility counseling.
