This October of 2006 I am celebrating 25 years as a homebirth midwife serving the women and families of southern Vermont and New Hampshire and western Massachusetts! I love my work and feel privileged to be able to keep you company during your pregnancies and births and as you welcome your babies into the world and into your families.
As a midwife, I have witnessed over and over again, that if pregnancy and birth are allowed and supported to unfold as nature intended, without pressure and without interference, that birth can be safe, joyous and empowering. My goal, as your midwife, is to offer you information, care and support so that you can achieve superior health for yourself and your baby during your pregnancy, and to help you deepen your belief in your own power to give birth and to parent your children. Giving birth is a pivotal life process that offers you and your family the opportunity for great personal growth and change. Such an important journey deserves the personal care, attention and company of a midwife.
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| Mary and baby Grace | Mary with Laura and Aidan |
What Services Are Offered?
·Hour-long prenatal visits in my office in Brattleboro, with lots of time for your questions and concerns, as well as attention to your diet and health and the growth and development of your baby (and listening to your baby’s heartbeat, of course!).
·All necessary laboratory tests and ultrasound scans.
·Access to physician consultation if needed, as well as referrals to massage therapists, chiropractic care, and other therapies that you might need or desire.
·Information on needed supplies and on preparing your home for your birth.
·A home visit a month before your due date with me and the assistant who will accompany me to your birth.
·Birth preparation: Birth preparation classes as well as the loan of the Hypbirth program of birth preparation. Hypbirth has been of significant help to my clients in reducing the pain of labor and in achieving a more comfortable birth.
·The care, support and company of your midwife during your labor.
·Water birth: portable birth pools for rent.
·Care and support immediately after your birth to bond with your baby, and to get off to a good start with breastfeeding.
·Attention to your health and well-being and that of your baby in the hours immediately after birth, including a physical examination for your baby.
·Three home visits in the first week after your birth to support you in caring for your new baby.
·A home visit at three and at six weeks after the birth as well.
·Excellent consultation relationships with local physicians and hospitals in case you would need to go to a hospital during your labor. In the case of transfer to the hospital, I will accompany you to the hospital and stay with you during your labor and birth, remain with you for a period of time after your birth to support your bonding and breastfeeding, and provide you with the same home visit schedule described above.
Medicaid and most insurances accepted
Biography
I studied midwifery at The Maternity Center in El Paso, Texas in 1980-81, a free-standing birth center operated by midwives and a training center and school for midwives. I have been in practice in southern Vermont since October, 1981. My daughter was born at home in Putney in 1976, and I was privileged to be the midwife for my grandson’s birth, also at our home in Putney, in April, 2005.
I hold the national credential of Certified Professional Midwife, and I am licensed in both Vermont and New Hampshire. I earned a master’s degree in Counseling from Lesley University in Boston in 1989.
I have been active in the licensing of midwives in both Vermont and New Hampshire, as well as in the successful effort in both states to ensure that women wanting VBAC birth at home will have access to licensed midwives for that choice. I serve as a Midwife Advisor to the Office of Professional Regulation in the Vermont Secretary of State’s Office.
To protect and preserve access to homebirth requires constant vigilance and work on both the state and the national level. In addition to my work in Vermont and New Hampshire, I am the President of the National Association of Certified Professional Midwives (NACPM). NACPM is a professional association for midwives that works to support midwives in individual states and also to ensure that CPMs are represented in the development of public maternal health policy on the national level. NACPM is part of the national effort to grow the profession of midwifery and to increase access to midwives, and to ensure the success of the ultimate goal: the availability of a midwife for every mother. For more information about NACPM, visit our website at www.NACPM.org.
Call or e-mail for information and/or a free consultation:
802-251-0921
lawcing@sover.net
I look forward to hearing from you!
