An Apple a Day

It's official. Bye bye GP, hello midwife. She, whom we will call Pebble for privacy reasons, has a nursing background, has been a practicing midwife for 31 years, and is a listener. Like most midwives, she works with a buddy midwife (for whom we also received a glowing referral) to ensure accessibility in the event of needing to be two places at the same time.

Midwife-led primary care is emotionally focused (which Mom was quick to clarify the meaning of with respect to pain relief options during labour/delivery). For first time mothers they'll come to the home at the onset of labour and hang out until it's time for us all to go to the hospital. Most impressive, however, is the post-partum schedule of care. (Pebble was quite impressed with Mom's admission of being more worried about the breastfeeding part than the birth itself). They make house visits every two days for the first week, then once a week up to 4 weeks, then once again at 6 weeks. Mom's next appt with Pebble is at 19 weeks.