During pregnancy we monitor the health of you and your baby regularly, and are prepared to teach and to answer questions about proper diet, physical discomforts, exercise, sleep, travel, and concerns with labor. We encourage women to be involved in their pregnancy, and we support their decisions about the type of delivery experience they desire. A joyful and healthy start is what having a baby with a nurse midwife is all about! During labor we provide constant companionship, provide emotional and physical support, evaluate your progress and assist you in delivering your baby. We are there to make your delivery as natural and uncomplicated as possible, and may offer massage, water therapy, position changes, aromatherapy, and may also use a birthing ball or stool to assist the labor process. We also offer water birth services at Ridgeview Medical Center. Like physicians, nurse midwives are capable of using the tools of IV pain medication or epidural anesthesia, if necessary, and if you so choose. Certified nurse midwives are educated and qualified to be the primary caregivers for normal pregnancy and birth care, and a physician need not be present for prenatal visits, labor, or delivery. However, we work in affiliation with our OB/Gyn physicians at Western, and they are available should complications develop that may put a woman at risk. Follow-up care begins immediately at birth, as the nurse midwife examines the newborn, provides advice on breastfeeding, infant care, and self-care in the postpartum period.