Midwifery in Florida | Benefits of Homebirth
Homebirth Safety | Waterbirth

What Makes Midwifery Care Different?

The midwifery model of care views pregnancy and birth as a normal part of a woman's life and as a normal and healthy function of the woman's body. The midwife offers personalized and intimate care that puts the woman in charge, providing information and education that empowers the woman to make informed decisions for herself and her family.

Skilled midwifery care preserves the normal, physiological processes of pregnancy and labor without unnecessary intervention or technology. Midwives provide physical and emotional support and comfort, not only for the woman, but for her entire family. 

Midwives, on average, spend far more time with a woman during her pregnancy and birth than does a physician. She spends time getting to know the woman and her family and time developing a caring, trusting relationship.  In labor, a midwife stays with a woman throughout her entire labor and birth, offering physical and emotional support, encouragement and comfort. 

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Midwifery in Florida

Licensed midwives in Florida practice under Chapter 467 of the Florida statutes. Based on the European model of midwifery, they enter the profession of midwifery directly, without first becoming nurses. Education requirements include three years of academic and hands-on study, including attending a minimum of 75 births.

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Benefits of Homebirth

Giving birth at home means having the freedom to labor and birth without unwanted or unnecessary intervention. You can surround yourself with family and supporters, including your midwives, who know and care about you, not strangers who may or may not support natural birth. You can move around, eat and drink, labor and give birth in whatever manner you choose. You and your new baby are never separated.

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Homebirth Safety

Homebirth is safe. For healthy, low-risk women experiencing a normal pregnancy and labor, there is no demonstrable benefit to giving birth in a hospital. In fact, the risk of some complications, including cesarean section, is increased in the hospital setting without any improvement in outcomes.

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Waterbirth

Water is a simple and effective way to ease pain and comfort mothers during labor and birth and give newborns a gentle start in life. While not all mothers who labor in water will choose to remain in the water for the actual birth, most find that their labor is eased and relaxation greatly facilitated through use of the tub. Labor also tends to progress more rapidly, sometimes at a truly amazing rate.

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