Midwifery Services and Postpartum

Sarah will file your baby’s birth certificate, and a social security card will be mailed to you upon request. She will provide up to eight weeks of postpartum care for the mother and baby. She will teach you about breast-feeding and warning signs to be aware of for potential health concerns. She offers newborn metabolic screenings, a test required by the State of Texas, within the first 72 hours and 2 weeks after birth to check for any rare metabolic diseases. Whether you deliver at Gentle Beginnings Birth Center or at home, Sarah will come to your home within 72 hours after your birth for your first postpartum visit.

After 6-8 weeks, Sarah can perform a well-women check-up and a pap smear to ensure that her client is recovering and is healthy to enjoy her new baby and her role as a mother!

midwife and home birth information, provided by Sarah Jones, Dallas Fort Worth midwife

Midwifery Services

My experience with the world of midwifery and non-hospital births began a few months into my pregnancy. A highschool friend of mine had recently had a little girl of her own with Sarah as her midwife and began talking to me about it on facebook. My first reaction was like many women I know, cautious and more than a little wary. After all, most of us don’t even know we have an option to have a baby outside of a hospital. We’re usually raised to think that giving birth is dangerous, scary, more pain than you can handle, and you certainly cant have a baby for less than 25 grand if you don’t have insurance.

But, my interest was still sparked, so my husband and I started looking into it more. Obsessive online research was done along with quite a few documentaries watched. I began to have more and more questions for my obgyn.

When I was about 19 weeks along, we found out that I was having a girl and decided to confront my doctor with the list of questions I had made. Yes, they still used forceps. Yes, they still used vacume extraction. Yes, if my labor went for too long, he would do a c section. Yes, if I went more than one week past my due date, they would induce. Yes, if my baby got too big they would do a c section (also note that during my visits, I had constantly been told that I wasnt gaining enough weight and that I needed to eat more carbs), Yes, episiotimies are pretty standard. No, there was no need to breastfeed immediately after birth. No, there was no need to wait for the umbilical cord to stop pulsing before cutting.

Upon leaving the office that day, I was more than a little upset and still filled with questions that my doctor had failed to answer. Everything always seemed rushed, impersonal, cold, and questions answered shortly. I felt very much that I was just a medical record number and not a scared, expectant, first time mom. We decided there in the doctor’s office parking lot that we wanted to schedule an interview with Sarah at Gentle Beginnings.

Within the next week, we were sitting in a room with Sarah and learning more in that hour long visit than I had my entire four months previously with my doctor. Every question we had was answered beyond thoroughly and she answered questions we had forgotten, or hadnt even thought of before. I loved that she had a very preventative treatment approach, instead of the “oh, its just normal in pregnancy, deal with it” response I had gotten from my doctor. I wasnt even her client yet and I already felt more like a person and actually listened to, instead of my previous position as just a number. We werent even out the door before I had pretty much decided that this was it. Birthing center with Sarah was the way to go.

Throughout the remainder of my pregnancy, I continued seeing Sarah and noticing very quickly that within just a couple weeks at most, I already felt healthier, more energetic, and more excited about my baby. Keeping food journals for her helped me see exactly what I was eating, what I needed to improve on, and easier to see the results I felt from it. Natural nutritional supplements like catalyn and betafood helped me feel better as well, instead of the continuous nauseated feeling the harsh prenatal vitamins gave me. Even towards the end of my term when my iron dropped, the solutions she gave me still didnt make me sick.

Throughout the last couple months of my pregnancy, I had joked with her that I was done. No more being pregnant in the middle of a Texas summer, I was ready to have my baby NOW! Nevermind that I was her last one due for a couple months, and a first time mom. But, low and behold, a week before my due date, I woke up in the middle of the night to contractions. I got up and walked around for a little bit, took a warm bath and benadryl and tried to lay back down. About a half hour after this, I realized that these contractions werent stopping or fading, and infact seemed to be in a pretty steady pattern. My husband, Stephen, was woken up by a nervous (and probably too excited) mom in labor at that point, being told that he needed to start timing conractions. Which he did. With his ipad. Why, yes. There IS an app for that.

A text was sent to Sarah as a heads up at around 3:30 before she was called an hour later as the contractions continued to get a little worse. Something else I loved about this experience is that even after that initial phone call, I was still allowed to labor at home, in the comfort of my own familiar surroundings. We were instructed to get me into another warm bath, practice my breathing and relaxation tecniques and to let her know when my contractions lasted a minute or more and were a bit closer together.

Finally at around 7, Sarah was called again as I could only count and breathe through the contractions and we were told to meet her at the center. Never has a car ride felt that long.

When Sarah examined me, I was told I was at a five and instant joy mixed with fear. This was it! No turning back now for sure! I was put into the birthing pool to help manage the pain and instantly began to feel more relaxed and more sure of my decision as Sarah and her assistants Gina and Jamie helped me work through my pain with essential oils, breathing, prayer, and encouragement. Even the chiropractor I had been seeing was called in and helped turn my baby’s head a little so she would be in perfect position for birth. Stephen was never told to leave my side, and I wasnt made to just lay in bed with an iv. I was able to move around, and encouraged to eat and drink to keep my energy up.

I finally felt the urge to push a little while later and discovered that I was pretty much ready, just a little bit of cervix left which Sarah helped push away and ease the baby’s head over. It was finally time to meet my baby after a little more work.

After an hour or so of pushing, my little girl came into this world at 1:16 pm and was put right on my chest. I have never loved anyone or anything so completely and instantly in my life. She was perfect. Sticky, but perfect. And he will deny it til the day he dies, but I heard Stephen choke up when he saw her and touched her for the first time as I leaned back against him, still in position for pushing.

Im sure more things happened during and after labor than I remember, but I had my goal in my arms, and she was gorgeous. After Alice and I were checked out just to make sure everyone was breathing well with a good heartbeat, we were treated to a healing, herbal bath. I’ve never been a part of anything so beautiful in my life. Holding my new child in a calm, quiet room and warm bath with my husband at our side is something I will cherish for the rest of my life. Definitely an experience you will never get in a sterile hospital.

The rest of the day seemed to happen in a sleepy blur, I remember seeing family and Alice’s newborn exam (8 pounds, 9 ounces!!) and the center ordering in ihop for us new parents, but more than anything I remember the real compassion from all those who attended my labor and from the post partum team that stayed with us for a few hours until we were ready to go home.

The whole experience of pregnancy and birth that I had with Sarah is something I wouldnt change for anything. I learned more than I ever thought I would and found more strength in myself than I ever thought I had. I have more faith in myself as a mother and as a woman, and I know for certain that no one other than Sarah will be chosen to be my midwife for any future children.

- Delivered at Gentle Beginnings Birth Center

I feel very blessed to have had such an experience from the beginning of my pregnancy and even after the birth of my first child Henry. I loved how well I was cared for I never felt rushed or like I was just another client, Sarah was always there when I had any questions and never made me feel silly for asking. The level of comfort I felt with Sarah just grew over time and began to think of her as a friend that was taking very good care of me while I was pregnant. My labor started at 2 in the morning and she imediatly responded and walked us through what to do. At the birth center everything was quiet and peaceful, Sarah was ready and waiting. When things slowed down she prayed for me, you don’t get that treatment at a hospital. I believe a woman’s body is more than capable of birthing children with intervention in only the most extreme cases.

After it was all said and done I felt empowered, in the midst of labor there were very painful moments, but I look back and smile and know that I made the right decision and atribute a speedy recovery, healthy baby, and fond memories to my decision for a natural childbirth and using Sarah as my midwife. I will use Sarah as my midwife for my next child.

- Katie Browning

Sarah,

Thank you so much for all your hard work and dedication to us. You have made my transition into motherhood an experience I will treasure for the rest of my life. Your words of encouragement and support during my labor are greatly appreciated. I couldn’t have done it without you! Zachary and I are blessed with a beautiful baby boy and we are so thankful you had the patience to guide us through it all. Thank you from the bottom of our hearts.

- Bonnie, Zach, & Braydon