Minnesota midwives who attend birth in the home.

 These midwives have made a special commitment to protecting a way of birth that is also a way of life. 

When emailing a midwife to see if she is available for your birth, be sure to mention your full name, phone numbers, town, due date, and tell her which baby this is for you in your email. 

Midwives: Please give current information to Gail Tully, see email in listing below. For information on midwife credential initials, scroll to the bottom, and check out the article on types of midwives in Minnesota for more information.

Midwives Serving Minneapolis, St. Paul and surrounding communities

Aly Folin CPM, LM

Clare Welter, CNM

Call Clare about her homebirth philosophy and services, and call Clare's partner, Emme Corbeil, to schedule an interview or appt. 612-381-1270.

Dearborn Midwifery

Family Tree Midwifery

Health Foundations

Birth Center opening in Feb. 2010

Jane Kirby, CPM

 Jeanne Bazille TM, CPM

Kim Garrett, CPM, LM

Do I need a doula at a home birth?

Women have been helping their neighbors at births for all human time. Experienced, calm women helping in the kitchen, with the children and selflessly doing what needs to be done truly enhances the healthy transition through late pregnancy, through birth, and into parenting or parenting anew. A woman who herself has had a homebirth and can self initiate household tasks in her birthing friend's home will bring an advantage of experience to the homebirthing mother.

If a doula herself has not had the homebirth experience for her own babies, a mature perspective and experience may help her to gain a thorough understanding of the differences of home and hospital labor support. A doula training may touch on homebirth, but is highly geared towards helping the birthing woman in the hospital birth-culture. In the hospital, a doula's calm and belief in birth becomes an emotional environment protecting the mother from the bustle and worry of a busy maternity ward. In the home an enveloping protection would be highly inappropriate.

The doula role at home will likely involve quite a bit of what the mother herself would be doing were she not in labor. In the hospital, the doula is not doing laundry or washing dishes, for instance! The doula for a homebirth family needs to remember the importance of several, short postpartum visits soon after the birth. She helps her celebrate her dreams, listens to her worries, and navigate the unexpected. She will become a friend in whose heart this child's birth will abide with some similarity, though not the intensity, with the mother. All this helps the woman transition into parenthood and accept the changes in her pace of life with the smile of another woman from her community circle. The doula is a peer of the mother.

A midwife is not a doula. She may think she gives the same care as a doula, but as a midwife and doula myself, I can assure you she cannot. She can be loving and kind, she can stay with the mother in labor, but she can not be a peer. She is the person you choose to guide you safely through the passage of Birth. And that in itself prevents her from being a doula--Just as a doula cannot give you the same perspective or advice as a midwife.

The midwife has responsibilities to see that equipment is set up for the birth right about the time the mother is in transition and needs a woman's reassurance. The midwife is checking the mother and baby's vital signs, charting and sometimes asking the mother to accept things she doesn't want, a position for progress that is not comfortable, a position to help her monitor the baby, perhaps even an intervention, etc. The doula doesn't assess you or your baby's health or your labor.

The doula is meeting with you in pregnancy and after the birth to see welcome, celebrate, commiserate, comfort, to refer you to community resources and witness your arrival into a new stage of your life. Its not that the midwife doesn't do some or all of these things, too, but she does them as a professional. The doula does them as a peer and therein lies all the difference. 

Its best when the doula meets your midwife in pregnancy and you and they speak openly together. Bring up a conversation about your desire to have them both  at your birth. Its your birth and you should have who you feel nurtured by there. Access to a doula is in Step One of CIMS 10-steps to Mother Friendly Care.

Gail Tully, midwife and doula

Maureen Dahl, CPM, LM

Morning Star Birth and Womens' Health Center

Nickie Kerrigan, TM, LC, CD 

www.helpinghandsbirthservices. com

North Star Midwifery

Peacefully Born Traditional Midwifery

Riversong Midwifery

Trillium Midwifery Care

Out State, Greater Minnesota Area Homebirth Midwives

Beth Bergeron, CPM, LM

Brenda Burke, TM, CPM candidate

Joy Parker, CPM, LM

Paula Bernini Feigal, CPM, LM

Rachel Knudson, T

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it >
 Gentle Hands Midwifery, LLC
507.845.2554

 

Mamatoto Midwifery/Peaceful Birthing

Monica Liddle, Dr. of Naturopathic and CPM

Deb McLaughlin, CPM candidate

Deb works with another Duluth midwife for your homebirth. She is preparing for her NARM exam for CPM midwife status.

Deb also sees clients for Craniosacral Therapy (and myofascial release) by appointment only on Monday, Tuesday, Thursday and Friday.  To schedule call 218-590-1891 or e-mail to:  This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it .

Tracie Meyers, CPM

Riverside North Maternity Care

Milaca, MN 56353

1 (888) 321-6715 (Leave a message with your name, due date, your town and which baby this is for you.)

http://www.riversidenorthmaternitycare.com/

Working with Sylvia Kosloski, CPM and apprentices

Sylvia Kosloski, CPM

Riverside North Maternity Care

Milaca, MN 56353

1 (888) 321-6715 (Leave a message with your name, due date, your town and which baby this is for you.)

http://www.riversidenorthmaternitycare.com/

Working with Tracie Meyers, CPM and apprentices

Katie Sandell CNM

Jana Voelke Studelska, CPM/LM    

Erika Urban, CPM, CD

This e-mail address is being protected from spambots. You need JavaScript enabled to view it
1035 Alpine Way
Saint Peter, MN 56082

507-933-4939
507-382-5407 (cell)

Ruth Wingeier, CNM

The letters behind the midwives' names:

CPM = Certified Professional Midwife, and

LM = Licensed Midwife, and is used to signify that the CPM is also licensed under Minnesota's voluntary licensure law. CPMs can be licensed, if they choose, under the Board of Medical Practitioners

CNM = Certified Nurse Midwife, all CNMs are licensed in Minnesota under the Board of Nursing, at this time. There are just a few CNMs that attend homebirths. Most CNMs are helping families in the hospital only. The only CNM in MN has hospital privileges and does homebirth is Ruth Wingeier in Long Prairie. 

TM = Traditional Midwife may be seen where the Traditional Midwife has not yet gotten, or does not intend to get, CPM status. If seen with CPM, it means that the midwifecame through the traditional route of acquiring midwifery skills and is used simply by preference of the midwife.

Two Midwife Groups in Minnesota provide guidance, support and oversite: Midwifery Now! (MNow!) and Minnesota Council of Certified Professional Midwives (MCCPM) See more about both groups at MinnesotaBirth.com. Click for Midwifery Groups to read a bit about MNow! and MCCPM. 

Join Midwifery organizations to support the cause!

Minnesotan's for Midwifery

Our local group. Join and build the support base!

And our national support group by parents:

Thanks to Midwife Karen Ehrlich of CA for sending this link out.