Traditional Midwifery
Model of Care
Caring for the Whole Person
The traditional midwifery model of care is holistic, tending to each client as a whole person. Health is comprised not only of the physical body, but social, spiritual, mental, and emotional aspects as well. Each client's course of care can be as unique as each person themselves. This healthcare model provides ample time to: build a relationship of mutual trust and respect; provide education and true informed consent; discuss options; and facilitate processes of shared decision making.
Routine Care
Prenatal
The prenatal care schedule follows guidelines informed by ACOG and the World Health Organization. Visits are typically 45 to 60 minutes long with time spent exclusively face-to-face with your midwife. Over the course of care, we monitor physical health by offering routine labs and assessing vitals, as well as fetal growth and wellbeing; through shared decision making, your midwife is also able to order and review ultrasounds. We allow ample time to provide individualized counsel. Topics covered include, but are not limited to: pregnancy symptoms & physical adaptations, self-care, preparation for birth, parenthood and more. In our care, your midwife is available at an on-call basis as clients are provided with information about reaching out for urgent and non-urgent matters.
Postpartum
The postpartum period begins immediately after birth, at which time the midwife remains at the family's home until two to six hours postpartum. Thereafter, clients recieve two visits within the first week and two additional visits up to 4-6 weeks postpartum. Care is focused on overall wellbeing, newborn feeding, growth, and more. Clients are educated prenatally on all medications and tests offered for the well newborn according to the American Academy of Pediatrics. These include: vitamin K & "eye ointment" medications, as well as hearing, metabolic and congenital heart formation screenings. Clients consenting to any or all of the above may be provided these medications and tests by your miwife in the home setting. Lifestyles Midwifery does not supply the CDC recommended hepatitis B vaccine. At any time, clients wishing to establish pediatric care may have records released to their provider of choice.



Areas of service
Midwife Ashtyn believes passionately that every family should have the option for homebirth, and thus provides services to a very wide area of central and southern Minnesota. Home visits for routine prenatal and postpartum care are available to residents of Jordan, New Prague, Belle Plaine, Carver and Chaska. In order to sustainably provide homebirth services to a wider radius, satellite meeting space is available for routine visits in Jordan, Chaska, Mankato, and Mountain Lake. All clients will receive a minimum of one prenatal home visit in the third trimester and two home visits in the first week postpartum.
