As you approach a new system of caring for women, your model also has to change. Birth Social is a sustainable model of care based on simple holistic principles. These principles are the foundation of the Birth Social Model of Care.
1. Strengthens and sustains the practice of midwifery through evidence-based practice, clinical expertise, and client preference.
2. Supports the physical, psychological, and social well-being of providers, families, and babies through environmental best practices, shared decision making, and community care.
3. Empowers and enriches childbirth communities both now and long into the future through education, self-care awareness, and support during the prenatal, birth, and postpartum cycles.
In the thick of midwifery, it is easy to forget about nurturing body, mind, and soul. Take time to build holistic management skills, so that you have more time to replenish and nourish yourselves. Self-care is the cornerstone of long term emotional, mental, and physical health. When midwives take time to take care of themselves, they are better able to take care of the families they serve.
Self-care goes beyond paying attention to the daily activities and routines that sustain body and soul. Self-care also includes holistic management skills, such as time management, diminishing demands, delegating, efficiency, structure, boundaries, broadening our community, creativity, and other systems that assist midwives in their professional careers
Time management is crucial when using the Birth Social model. Midwives in both small and large home or birth center practices will benefit from the efficiency, structure, and boundaries of group prenatal care. It saves both time and energy on a personal and professional level.
Sustainability is a relevant issue in the national and international midwifery world. Often, long hours require midwives to recover quickly – no matter the cost to them physically or emotionally or no matter the potential for burn out. Sustainable practice starts with holistic management skills that are essential to your success.
Midwives facilitating group care will spend approximately half the time per year in prenatal appointments than midwives who provide private one-on-one care, and without compromising the time they spend with a mother. Over the course of a year, this adds up to a few hours a week or a whole prenatal day that a midwife would have otherwise spent in one-on-one care. It is those few hours that are precious and meaningful in the light of a busy week.
When you combine prenatal appointments into group care, you are saving time that could be spent resting or rejuvenating yourselves, such as taking a hot bath, practicing yoga, spending time with your family, reading a book or just simply catching up without feeling completely rushed. R&R, as well as reducing stress, is an important component in providing competent care to mothers and babies. Create the time to nourish yourselves.
Midwives often spend a great deal of time creating handouts that are stapled or put in folders, binders, or other creative methods of providing information to their clients. Your Birth Journey: A Holistic Guide for Pregnancy covers the material that most midwives compile for their clients. Using this guide saves time for midwives. Supplemental information and handouts that are important to any midwifery practice can be used in addition to Birth Social.
It can be exhausting and emotionally draining to repeat things over and over again to each client multiple times per day. Midwives can deliver information to multiple families while support, knowledge, and experiences are transmitted laterally, from mother to mother and family to family. The bond between mother and midwife is strengthened in this relationship
Parents know exactly what is coming next in their care and what has already been covered through the use of Your Birth Journey: A Holistic Guide for Pregnancy, divided into a first-trimester section followed by eight chapters and chapter on the fourth trimester. Each chapter is designed to correspond to a regular prenatal schedule and checklist, such as nutrition, labs, when to call the midwife, complications, newborn care, home birth preparation, support, parenting decisions, and much more. The information encourages a parent’s engagement in her own care and puts her on the same platform with her midwife and peers during discussion in groups.
Connection is an important component to families seeking midwifery care, especially in a world where virtual communication has become the norm. Relationships with other mothers, families, and the community are now more vital for pregnant families than ever before. Humans are meant to socialize with one another. Midwives have the opportunity to bridge the gap between care and community connections through group prenatal care.
Empowering parents to maximize their own self-awareness and sense of personal autonomy is rewarding for everyone. When mothers are in charge of their own self-care and and self-management goals, they take more responsibility for the choices they make. Birth Social gives mothers the tools to to implement their involvement. Empowerment is a known ingredient in satisfying and safe outcomes.
Let’s face it – groups are way more fun than one-on-one interaction, both for parents and midwives. Parents have a chance to share, laugh, tell their stories, and also provide support to others as they engage in group activities.
Parents come to group from all different backgrounds, but the one thing they have in common is they are all planning an out-of-hospital birth. Some parents may already have family and friends that support their decisions. Other parents may not know anyone personally who has had an out-of-hospital birth, or their families may adamantly oppose their decision. Being in a room with other mothers and families who have chosen a similar path is validating to them.
Parents love their midwives. They also love and value their peers. When parents are in a peer to peer learning environment, they have the opportunity to pick up on the nuances and stories and elements and experiences of other parents in the room that a midwife could not possibly offer them on her own. This is also important for partners who may not otherwise engage in discussion on topics outside of the group. There is power in peer support.
When families have the opportunity to learn from each other, something magical happens. They value the insights and stories that other parents offer in a group. While the information that they discuss in group care is based on Your Birth Journey material, their stories are so much more powerful than words on pages.
We have found that many parents, during or after group, connect in various ways. They might go to dinner after group, meet up for lunch, call or text each other, or meet up postpartum for a play date with their babies. Many mothers become Facebook friends and support and follow each other in that way. Some families maintain friendships for years. Parents need community.
We are committed to a midwifery model of care that is sustainable. Our program provides tools to midwives to reach that goal and transform their practices into an equitable experience for both themselves and the parents they serve.
