Early Labour
During early labour, you will be in the comfort of your own home with your support person/people. We will have reviewed ways to cope with early labour during your prenatal appointments.
Active Labour
You will page your midwife when you are in active (regular, strong contractions) labour. The initial labour assessment can be done at home or hospital, based on your choice of birthplace and what has been discussed with your midwife. Once active labour has been established, your midwife will monitor both you and your baby closely and are fully trained and prepared for a variety of issues that may arise.
On-Call Pager
You will have access to the on-call pager to call us when you are in labour, and we will respond within 10 minutes or (often) less.
When to Page
We will provide you with a list of emergencies that you should page your midwife about should they happen during your pregnancy. If your question/concern is not urgent, please contact our office during business hours. Your midwife will attempt to get back to you as soon as they can – usually the same day or the day after. You should page your midwife when you are in labour. Your midwife can either meet you at the hospital or come to your home to assess you, depending on your scenario or preference.
Continuity of Care
Our goal is to provide continuity of care, including having someone you know present throughout your labour and delivery. We hope this will be a midwife from your team, however in rare circumstances, this is not always the case. This is why our midwives work in teams at Born Midwives and you meet more than one midwife during your pregnancy – so you have a very good chance of knowing your care provider attending you during labour and birth. In the event both your primary and back up midwives are attending other clients, one of our midwives from another team will provide care temporarily for you until one of your midwives is available.