Note: Protocols and best practices for Covid-19 are changing rapidly. We are staying up-to-date on all recomendations and remain in close communication with our clients about updates to our protocols. The following is a base guideline and may need updating. Please feel free to reach out with any questions or concerns.
During this time of social distancing and self quarantine to reduce the risk of COVID exposure, a lot of people have questions about how these precautions will affect their pregnancy, their preferred place of birth and their newborn in the postpartum. The choice of a prenatal and postpartum care provider and a birth location remain very personal decisions and are based on unique factors to the person, family, and pregnancy. Each person may have a different outlook when it comes to hospital-based care vs home-based care, but the bottom line is: you are the expert on where you feel the safest and most supported during your pregnancy and postpartum. Coyote Midwifery is dedicated to providing prenatal / postpartum care and home birth to our community. The health and safety of our clients and the safety of Coyote midwives and families is paramount as we move forward. We have developed a COVID risk reduction protocol, based on the recommendations outlined by the CDC (found here), that we as midwives will follow while providing care to all who are in need of home-based care. Risk reduction protocol:
As information continues to roll in we will continue to review and update this protocol. We know as providers we can always be better. If you have any requests on how we can make you feel more safe during your home appointment or birth, please let us know! Thank you. Additional info: To learn more about the updated services being offered by Coyote Midwifery at this time, click here. For more information from the CDC on COVID and pregnancy, click here. For information from MD, Midwife and Herbalist, Aviva Romm, click here.
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Proudly introducing our upcoming documentary, Mama Bear Ok, a little background.
Why is this story important?
THE NEXT STEP
With so much love,
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Coyote Midwifery's Home-Based Postpartum Care
At Coyote Midwifery we believe that all birthing people should be granted access to comprehensive, personalized postpartum care, regardless of where they choose to give birth. Our home-based postpartum care package is designed for those attending prenatals and birthing in the hospital but who desire postpartum care tailored to the unique needs of the postpartum family. ⠀⠀⠀
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You shouldn't have to leave home to receive the care you need. Coyote’s postpartum care package is designed to protect the 4th trimester, which includes the initial three months after birth. This is a special time when parent and baby are adjusting to life separated while still relying on each other in so many ways. We come to you in your home to provide care in your nesting space. Remaining in this safe space can increase oxytocin while mitigating stress, allows for skin-to-skin and feeding on demand, promotes sleep and rest for healing bodies. ⠀⠀⠀
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Our hour-long appointments provide space for thoroughly assessing physical and emotional well-being and includes:⠀⠀⠀
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To learn more about Coyote Midwifery's postpartum care click the link below: ⠀
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You shouldn't have to leave home to receive the care you need. Coyote’s postpartum care package is designed to protect the 4th trimester, which includes the initial three months after birth. This is a special time when parent and baby are adjusting to life separated while still relying on each other in so many ways. We come to you in your home to provide care in your nesting space. Remaining in this safe space can increase oxytocin while mitigating stress, allows for skin-to-skin and feeding on demand, promotes sleep and rest for healing bodies. ⠀⠀⠀
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Our hour-long appointments provide space for thoroughly assessing physical and emotional well-being and includes:⠀⠀⠀
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- Vitals and wellness checks of both parent and baby at each visit⠀⠀⠀
- Comprehensive lactation / feeding support⠀⠀⠀
- Weight checks for baby⠀⠀⠀
- Baby wearing support and education⠀⠀⠀
- Emotional and Mental Support⠀⠀⠀
- 24–7 on-call phone and texting availability through 6 weeks postpartum⠀⠀
To learn more about Coyote Midwifery's postpartum care click the link below: ⠀
By Cheryl Gile
Joni wasn’t too eager to join the world. She was nine days past her due date. February 26th came and went, 27th, 28th….March 3rd we went to our doctor appointment and he performed a stretch and sweep to help get things rolling along. On March 4th at 3pm I felt my first contraction! We waited, dutifully counting the minutes between each one. After an hour my husband and I felt it was time and he called my mother. We raced to the hospital, running red lights while my mother was tossed around the back seat each time my husband took a corner. At the hospital the nurse set me up in a bed and strapped a monitor around my belly. After six hours of labor my cervix had only dilated to 3 cm. An x-ray was ordered to determine if I had enough room for the baby's head. A nurse came into the room and said there was enough room and I would be given a shot of Pitocin to help with contractions. We labored 12 hours; after about 5 hours of intense labor my brain shut down and I don’t remember anything else. My husband has never spoken about that forgotten time; it must have not been easy for him. I “woke up on March 5th at 8:00am, not realizing it was morning. The doctor performed an episiotomy and I was told it was time to push. 30 minutes into pushing this tiny little being into the world the doctor said, if the baby was not delivered in the next 10 minutes he would use forceps. So I pushed. |
Joni was delivered on March 5th at 9:02 in the morning. She weighed 8 lbs 6 ½ ounces, 20 ½ inches tall, and lots of dark brown hair; I am so blessed to have her in my life.
This is our birth story. 23-Feb-88 We went for a long walk around Kaanapali in the early evening, hoping to kick the birth into action. The baby was late and I was ready. While we were walking up the hill I stepped under a streetlight—pop! The streetlight burnt out. That’s weird. I walked under the next streetlight and it burnt out, too. Now that’s really weird. As I approached the third street light I said, “Wouldn’t you just freak out if this light burnt out, too?” Boom! The light went out. We were convinced this was a sign. The baby would come tonight, but back at home nothing happened. Everyone went to sleep and I read “What to Expect When You’re Expecting” for the thousandth time. 24-Feb-88, 12:30am +/- Ever so slowly I realized I was having contractions. I focused on them trying to determine if I really was in labor. Should I wake my husband or not? Yeah, maybe. After a few minutes of timing the contractions, we decided it was time to call the midwife. I went downstairs to wake up my friend, Sonja. She jumped up and down singing, “We’re going to have a baby, we’re going to have a baby.” The vague contractions shifted to back labor I wondered if I could really do this. This is so intense. I looked at Sonja who was still singing and thought to myself, “We’re not having a baby. I’m having a baby.” My midwife, Merrily, arrived and the back labor disappeared. No longer doubling over in pain, I walked to the lanai and got in the tub. Time shifted. No longer linear, it became circular and fluid. Sound became a tool I could rely on. With each breath, each moan, I could feel myself opening, time and space expanding, breathing with me. In the tub, out of the tub, back in the tub. Merrily had me moving around, checking heart tones, making sure everything was okay with the baby. As if from a far distance I hear her say, “If you don’t get in the tub now your baby will be born out here.” I climbed back in the tub. It felt so important to have my baby in the water. It was the only place I wanted to be. “You can feel the head if you want.” I reached down. “That’s your baby. Crowning.” |
Time shifted again—space and distance collapsed. Everything became Now.
There is no separation between myself and all who have ever breathed a breath.
There is no separation.
We are one.
We breathe.
My baby was in my arms. 4:47am
We are one. We breathe.
No one told me that the universe might reveal her secrets to you when you’re giving birth.
There is no separation between myself and all who have ever breathed a breath.
There is no separation.
We are one.
We breathe.
My baby was in my arms. 4:47am
We are one. We breathe.
No one told me that the universe might reveal her secrets to you when you’re giving birth.
Coyote Midwifery
Stories and insights from the wilds of the midwifery world.