Midwives do things differently.

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Midwifery care is a collaboration between a client and a knowledgeable guide, who spends time getting to know the family, their preferences, hopes, and priorities. By choosing midwifery, you are taking responsibility for living a healthy lifestyle while pregnant, opting to invest in discussions about what options you have in care, and preparing for a birth with few routine interventions. 

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Appointments in this practice are offered at your home, with your family present if you would like. With appointments scheduled for an hour, there is enough time to check in on your and your baby's wellbeing, talk about topics of importance, interest, and answer your questions. Informed choice about procedures, diagnostics, and interventions is a hallmark of the midwifery model of care, and it means that you are taking in a lot of information and making decisions that feel right to you within your value system. Gina will draw any labwork needed in the office, and can refer for ultrasound and other testing as needed on a case by case basis. Some clients prefer shorter visits, and prefer the flexibility and familiarity of having one midwife who is mobile.

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Normal prenatal care in the practice means hour long visits in your home, monthly from the beginning of pregnancy to 28 weeks, every other week from 30-36 weeks, and weekly from 37 weeks until the birth. 

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Birth at home comes after getting to know your midwife and become comfortable with her. Two qualified midwives always attend each birth to ensure that you and your baby have skilled care available. During active labor, we monitor you and your baby, support physiological birth, and facilitate water birth or birth in any position. Physical and emotional support are part of the care.

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Your midwife monitors you and your baby after the baby is born and helps with any care that either of you need. Once you are both cleaned up, examined, fed, and everyone is stable, we clean up your home and tuck you into your own bed.

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Postpartum and newborn care is in your home at 1 day, 3 days, 1 week, 2 weeks, a check-in at 4 weeks, and a final visit at 6 weeks. Newborn spot test screening, hearing screening, and CCHD screening are all provided by your midwife.

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Gina Penka Corriveau, CPM, RM, IBCLC is both a registered midwife in Colorado, as well as an IBCLC, providing the highest level of lactation care. All lactation services for midwifery clients are included in the midwifery package. 

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Moonbabies Birth Services is part of the Denver Midwives Collective, a group of three midwives who each have their own group of clients, and who work together to cover each other's practices for days off. This promotes a healthy work/life balance to midwives and allows us to spend time hiking and occasionally a vacation. In midwifery, this is important, as the average midwife only stays in practice for fewer than 5 years. By supporting one another and our clients, we are supporting this model of care for many more families into the future.

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Some folks do better when giving birth elsewhere. Home birth is not an appropriate choice if your medical history includes the following:

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-Diabetes mellitus or gestational diabetes
-Hypertensive disease
- Pulmonary disease or cardiac disease which interferes with activities of daily living
- A history of thrombophlebitis or pulmonary embolism
- Blood dyscrasia, for example sickle cell anemia
- Seizures controlled by medication if you have seized within the last year
- Hepatitis B, HIV positive, or AIDS
- Current use of psychotropic medications if you are not under the care and monitoring of a physician during the pregnancy
- Current problematic substance use of drugs or alcohol
- Rh sensitization (positive antibody titer), diagnosis of “incompetent cervix”, or previous uncontrollable hemorrhage
- If you are planning a VBAC but live greater than 30 minutes to a suitable hospital facility
- If you have had a previous premature, stillborn, or neonatal death associated with maternal health or genetic anomaly without an intervening normal pregnancy