Welcome

 You might choose a planned home birth for many reasons, including:

• A desire to give birth in a familiar, relaxing environment surrounded by people of your choice
• A desire to wear your own clothes, take a shower or bath, eat, drink, and move around freely during labor
• A desire to control your labor position or other aspects of the birthing process
• A desire to give birth without medical interventions
• Cultural or religious norms or concerns
• A desire to avoid hospital 

 When you are in labor, one of our CNMs will come to your home and assess your and your baby’s wellbeing. As labor progresses, your birth team will be there with you every step of the way! You will be able to labor and birth wherever you are most comfortable, in your own environment, including waterbirth. After birth, you will relax and  begin bonding with your baby in the comfort of your own bed. 

Your baby will be in excellent hands and receive top notch care. Your midwife and nurse will assure he/she is healthy and eating well. All well newborn care can be done in the comfort of your own home! 

Planned home birth with educated, skilled attendants can be a safe, satisfying, cost‐effective care option for healthy, low‐risk women who want to give birth at home.

At Heart to Heart Homebirth, we use Certified Nurse-Midwives and Registered Nurses to attend your birth. You will also see our Medical Director, Dr.  Brian Gosser, MD at your first prenatal appointment. 

In healthy pregnant women, emergent complications arising during birth are rare, and life-threatening emergencies are even more rare. We value you and your family’s safety while respecting your birth experience.  We carry emergency medications and equipment to each birth, to assure the safest possible care. All of our providers are trained and skilled in emergency management. 

A midwife is a person that is trained in pregnancy and childbirth. Midwife literally means “with women.” Midwifery is one of the most ancient of professions, and at Heart to Heart Homebirth, we have great respect for the history of Midwifery, as well as a desire to make Midwifery care and out-of-hospital birth accessible to women again. 

Midwifery as practiced by Certified Nurse-Midwives (CNMs) encompasses a full range of primary health care services for women from adolescence to menopause. These services include the independent provision of primary care, gynecologic services, preconception care, care during pregnancy, childbirth and the postpartum period, and care of the normal newborn during the first 28 days of life. 

CNMs are educated in two disciplines: midwifery and nursing. They earn graduate degrees, complete a midwifery education program accredited by the Accreditation Commission for Midwifery Education (ACME), and pass a national certification examination administered by the American Midwifery Certification Board (AMCB) to receive the professional designation of CNM (ACNM, 2012).  The Certified Nurse-Midwives at Heart to Heart Homebirth are licensed as Advanced Practice Registered Nurses in the State of Missouri.