Commonly Asked Questions about the Birth Center

Is it right for me?

How is care at the Mountain Midwifery Center different than hospital-based care?

Why Certified Nurse Midwives?

What if a transfer to the hospital is necessary?

What is your ratio of staff to patients? How are staffing needs met when several women deliver at the same time?

How do you handle the after hour care needs of your clients?

What is the average length of stay for women that deliver at the Birth Center?

What about the care of the newborn? Do you provide these services as well?

What type of preventative and medical services do you routinely provide? Do you provide primary healthcare services to your clients or only services related to maternity care?

Is it right for me?
Birth centers are for healthy moms and healthy babies. A healthy mother makes the kind of wellness choices that facilitate successful birth outside the hospital. The Mountain Midwifery Center’s prenatal care can help a mother-to-be achieve optimum wellness and avoid unnecessary risk. Extensive prenatal screening is in place to ensure that any potential problem is caught early.

As a “maxi-home,” high risk pregnancies must be referred to delivery facilities with more extensive resources. These conditions include HIV+, insulin managed diabetes, and hypertension managed by medication.

Mountain Midwifery Center regularly provides prenatal care to mothers with risk conditions that Colorado regulations bar us from admitting to the center in labor. For mothers with a wide variety of moderate risk conditions, our holistic care helps them to best prepare for a natural birth with a less restricted provider. Based on what we learn of a mother’s health and resources, we can refer her to a provider that will best match her condition and wishes. Conditions for which we can provide prenatal care include VBAC, obesity (BMI>40), twins, severe anemia and breech presentation.

If you're currently with another provider for your prenatal care but are considering a transfer to MMC, please decide before 32 weeks.  You need time to meet all of our midwives and gain their trust in our model of care.  We need time to bond with you as well.  Also, our facility does have a limited capacity and our schedule can fill up quickly.  When scheduling your first appointment with us, please keep in mind that our earliest availability is usually 2 to 3 weeks from the day you are calling.  There is a $25 no-show fee for missed appointments.

If you would like to use the Mountain Midwifery Center but are unsure whether it is the right place for you, feel free to Contact Us and please consider coming to a prospective client orientation.

How is care at the Mountain Midwifery Center different than hospital-based care?
At the Mountain Midwifery Center, we treat pregnancy, birth and the postpartum period as a normal, healthy part of a woman’s life—not an illness! We pride ourselves on giving families information to make informed healthcare decisions. Our prenatal visits are a minimum of 30 minutes with a midwife, so your midwives have the chance to get to know you and answer all of your questions. At the Mountain Midwifery Center, you are treated as an individual, not a number.

Our midwives, nurses and students are all highly skilled at supporting women in childbirth and beyond. During labor you will have constant care from your birth team instead of having someone arrive at the last minute to deliver your baby.

The Mountain Midwifery Center has two birth rooms, each with a queen sized bed and an AquaDoula labor/birth pool. You are required to drink in labor and eating is encouraged. Positions for labor and birth are not restricted. Your baby will be placed in your arms immediately after birth and we practice delayed cord clamping as well

Each mother receives careful guidance in the first few hours after birth so that when she is discharged between four and six hours after birth, she feels confident in her ability to breastfeed and care for her herself and baby. Our rigorous prenatal education ensures that families are well educated about the early postpartum period and know how to assess the well being of mother and baby after birth center discharge. The nurse-midwives and nursing staff closely follow the family at home and at office visits for the first few weeks of the new baby’s life.

Why Certified Nurse Midwives?
Certified Nurse-Midwives are experts in the care of uncomplicated pregnancy and birth. We are highly-skilled at caring for women in the birth center environment, where healthy women experiencing normal pregnancies can safely deliver with far less technology and intervention than is needed in the hospital for women with risk factors complicating their pregnancies. Our Certified Nurse-Midwives provide continuous support during labor and birth. Studies have shown that continuous labor support decreases the need for epidural anesthesia, medical interventions and cesarean sections. Certified Nurse-Midwives typically spend three times longer with their clients than do physicians. This allows ample time for developing the relationship most women desire with their health care-provider. The partnership that unfolds with our midwives will help you to stay healthy throughout pregnancy.

What if a transfer to the hospital is necessary?
Every birth center client is required to pre-register at Swedish Medical Center. This ensures a smooth transition from birth center to hospital in the event of a transfer. National statistics have been maintained on birth center outcomes for over 20 years, and it has been demonstrated that virtually all clients who transfer to the hospital do so on a non-emergency basis (typically for labor stimulating hormones or epidural analgesia). However, if an emergency transfer to the hospital during labor is necessary, this trip takes only 3 minutes by ambulance, putting us well within a 30 minute “decision to incision” standard for cesarean section that most hospitals strive to achieve. This emergency responsiveness is better than that provided by many rural hospitals. Care does not stop if a hospital transfer is required. Our style of care facilitates a smooth transition to the hospital and we stay involved through your baby’s birth. Our postpartum care continues as well, even in the event of a transfer to the hospital.

What is your ratio of staff to patients? How are staffing needs met when several women deliver at the same time?
2-3 clinical staff members are present at every birth at the Mountain Midwifery Center, including one or more CNMs. Additional staff are called in for multiple moms in labor.

How do you handle the after hour care needs of your clients?
A CNM is on call at all times.

What is the average length of stay for women that deliver at the Birth Center?
9-12 hours total, with 4-6 of those hours in the postpartum period.

What about the care of the newborn? Do you provide these services as well?
Yes, certified nurse-midwifes are licensed to provide newborn care. We work closely with area pediatricians and family physicians to provide continuity of care. The Mountain Midwifery Center offers all standard testing and treatments commonly offered to newborns in the first two weeks of your infant’s life.

What type of preventative and medical services do you routinely provide? Do you provide primary healthcare services to your clients or only services related to maternity care?
The Mountain Midwifery Center can provide the full range of primary care to women, including preventative care. We provide diet and exercise education, as well as routine screenings such as pap smears, cholesterol, glucose, thyroid testing, and a full range of family planning services.