Question 1

What is a midwife?

Accepted Answer

I am a certified nurse midwife, meaning I have a bachelor's degree in nursing and a master's degree in nursing, specializing in caring for women throughout their lives. I am an independent practitioner who can care for you during your pregnancy, birth, and postpartum and continue to see you throughout your life for all women’s health care.

Question 2

Do you do home birth?

Accepted Answer

Currently, I only do hospital based birth out of Banner University in Phoenix AZ. But long term goal will be to offer home, birth center, and hospital based care with seamless continuity of providers based off your risks and desires.

We are currently looking at land in Verrado for our birth center and planning for 2026.

Follow us for updates.

Question 3

What is the difference between a doula and a midwife?

Accepted Answer

Certified Nurse Midwives are medical practitioners with master's/advanced practice degrees in health, pregnancy, and birth. We are there to provide medical care, education, and childbirth preparation and support you through your birth experience.

Doulas are labor/pregnancy support. Their main job is to build a relationship with you during pregnancy, including education and setting expectations to help you achieve your desires. They are with you through your birth experience to provide support, comfort, and often to take pictures. They are NOT medical providers, and although they are part of your team, they are not there to offer medical advice but to help you make informed decisions for your family.

Question 4

Do you take Insurance?

Accepted Answer

We are contracted with all major payors and continue to add more contracts to allow all patients to access our care. We also take self-pay and healthshare as well.

Question 5

What is the difference between a doula and a midwife?

Accepted Answer

Certified Nurse Midwives are medical practitioners with masters/advanced practice degrees in health, pregnancy, and birth. We are there to provide medical care, education, and childbirth preparation and support you through your birth experience.

Doulas are labor/pregnancy support. Their main job is to build a relationship with you during your pregnancy, including education and setting expectations to help you achieve your desires. They are with you through your birth experience to provide support, comfort, and often to take pictures. They are NOT medical providers, and although they are part of your team, they are not there to offer medical advice but to help you make informed decisions for your family.

Question 6

Can I see you after I have a baby?

Accepted Answer

Yes, we can continue to meet yearly for your well women’s exams, pap smears, and routine women’s screening.

Question 7

Do all midwives have the same training?

Accepted Answer

No, there are three types of midwives.

Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs)- Holds a bachelor's degree in nursing with a valid (RN license), and attend an accredited midwifery program.  CNMs provide initial and ongoing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. They conduct physical examinations; prescribe medications, including controlled substances and contraceptive methods; admit, manage, and discharge patients; order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic tests and order the use of medical devices. As practiced by CNMs, midwifery encompasses a full range of primary healthcare services for women from adolescence beyond menopause. These services include the independent provision of pre-conception care, care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, care of the normal newborn during the first 28 days of life, primary care, gynecologic and family planning services, and treatment of male partners for sexually transmitted infections. All settings - hospitals, homes, birth centers, and offices. The majority of CNMs and CMs attend births in hospitals.

Certified Midwife (CMs)-   Successful completion of required science & health courses and related health skills training prior to or within the midwifery education programs. CMs provide initial and ongoing comprehensive assessment, diagnosis, and treatment. They conduct physical examinations; prescribe medications, including controlled substances and contraceptive methods; admit, manage, and discharge patients; order and interpret laboratory and diagnostic tests and order the use of medical devices. As practiced by CMs, midwifery encompasses a full range of primary healthcare services for women from adolescence beyond menopause. These services include the independent provision of pre-conception care, care during pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period, care of the normal newborn during the first 28 days of life, primary care, gynecologic and family planning services, and treatment of male partners for sexually transmitted infections. All settings - hospitals, homes, birth centers, and offices. The majority of CNMs and CMs attend births in hospitals.

Professional Midwife (CPMs): The Midwifery Education Accreditation Council (MEAC) is authorized by the U.S. Department of Education to accredit midwifery education programs and institutions. The scope of recognition includes certificate and degree-granting institutions, programs within accredited institutions, and distance education programs. Midwifery, as practiced by CP, Ms offer expert care, education, counseling, and support to women and their families throughout the caregiving partnership, including pregnancy, birth, and the postpartum period. CPMs provide ongoing care throughout pregnancy, continuous, hands-on care during labor, birth, and the immediate postpartum period, and maternal and well-baby care through the 6-8 week postpartum period.

Question 8

I cannot get pregnant. Can I see a midwife?

Accepted Answer

Yes, midwives are a great place to start on your pre-pregnancy journey. Ideally, we love to work with moms to see how to optimize not only health but also fertility. We treat through nutrition and lifestyle changes alongside traditional western testing.

Question 9

What is different between traditional obstetrical model of care and the midwifery model of care?

Accepted Answer

The traditional midwifery model of care looks at the whole woman and birth as a normal physiological life event. The main focus is on how to keep mom and baby healthy, how to prepare mom for the changes of pregnancy, birth, and postpartum. We use health promotion and disease prevention alongside relationship building in private and group settings. The traditional medical model (obstetric) focuses on the health and the mother of a baby but doesn't have as much time built into their visits for education, disease prevention, and health promotion. Visits are usually 5-15 mins in length with less comprehensive disease prevention strategies.

Question 10

Can my midwife place my IUD or nexplanon?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Question 11

Does my midwife offer colposcopy for abnormal pap?

Accepted Answer

Yes.

Question 12

Does my midwife take care of high risk patients?

Accepted Answer

The short answer is yes. I believe that all women deserve a midwife, and you could argue that the model incorporates more education and prevention strategies to suit higher-risk pregnancies better. Still, they must be managed collaboratively with OBs and Maternal Fetal Medicine doctors. The question should be this.... who needs to be present at my delivery, what is the most likely mode of delivery, and am I a candidate for out-of-hospital birth based on my risk factors.

Question 13

Can midwives perform cesareans?

Accepted Answer

No, but they can either support you in the OR through the gentle cesarean protocol, or they can first assist in your cesarean with the collaborating OBGYN.

Question 14

What is the cesarean rate for your practice?

Accepted Answer

5%

tracy@moderndaymidwife.com

FAQ

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.”
~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own

about

services

women's health

resources

class info

FAQ

“Lock up your libraries if you like; but there is no gate, no lock, no bolt that you can set upon the freedom of my mind.” ~ Virginia Woolf, A Room of One's Own