A midwife is a healthcare professional who has been trained to serve women through all the stages of a woman’s reproductive cycle, including assisting women through pregnancy, childbirth, and the postpartum period. They are also able to provide care for the newborn baby following the delivery, and the first few weeks of life.

A Birth Doula is professional birth worker who has been trained to provide educational, emotional and physical support to the couple before, during, and after labor. They are not medically trained, but they understand the labor process, and offer professional guidance and support throughout labor.

A Midwife and a Birth Doula have completely different roles. A Midwife is there to provide the medical aspect of care, and while they do help with position changes, comfort measures and encouragement during labor, it is not the same as having a Birth Doula, who is there, dedicated to providing the hands-on physical support, massage, verbal encouragement and helping with distractions through each contraction. Doulas help support both you and your partner, and help prevent “Partner Fatigue.”

Providing that type of support is a demanding job, and your Midwife, while she will be there supporting you, making suggestions as needed, and overseeing the labor and birthing process, cannot be so tired from serving as a Doula, that when it’s time to make medically-minded decisions, that she is worn out and not as sharp as needed.

A midwife is a medical professional who specializes in pregnancies and births, while a doula provides emotional and physical support to a woman during labor. Some women find that having both a midwife and a doula gives them the best possible care and support during childbirth. While midwives focus on the medical aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, focusing on keeping things progressing normally, doulas provide support to the mother and her partner to help ease anxiety, provide information and emotional support, offer massages and other forms of physical comfort. While midwives also provide some comfort measures and encouragement, you do not want a midwife who is physically and mentally exhausted when medical moments arrive. Being a doula is indeed, physical work. Midwives and doulas work well together, and each have distinctively different roles.

We are private pay, meaning our agreement is between the couple or individual birthing, and the Meraki Collective.

Chiropractic has been shown to shorten the length of labor, decrease the need for pain medication in labor, increase the chance of physiologic birth, and provider easier recovery from birth. Imbalances in the pelvis can change how the baby can move and how comfortable mom is during labor, and with our focus on the quality of her experience, we choose to have a chiropractor for every birthing mom at the Meraki Collective.

Our midwives are licensed by the State, and they do carry medications. From holistic and herbal approaches to IV’s and
emergency medicines, protocols are in place to protect you and help ensure your safety.

Yes, our team is adquetly trained and certified to support a family that desires a VBAC

Yes, our midwives are certified to support twin and breech births, and they have advanced training and skills to support families in these normal pregnancy and birth presentations.

Absolutely! Co care is an option available to families who want to birth in the hospital, but would like the care of a midwife to
answer questions, provide nutritional support and additional pregnancy and postpartum support.

That’s fantastic! You’re on a great path to staying well balanced and healthy during pregnancy. The goal of our prenatal care is so you can have a chiropractor present at birth should the need arise. The only time you will see the chiropractor here is with your prenatal visits, when you’re also seeing your midwife.

Our chiropractor, Dr. Marcia Schaefer, is internationally known for creating the Schaefer Protocol, which is adapted to pregnancy and able to address many health concerns and issues to prevent them before they arise. Alongside chiropractic care, she’s a wealth of knowledge for movement patterns and stability in pregnancy to ensure your journey is smooth.

Simply put, because chiropractors make their job easier!

Not only does baby have a spacious, balanced pelvis to move around in with chiropractic care, birth outcomes are better when a chiropractor is on the team, so they’re a vital piece of a great birth puzzle.

We are private pay, meaning our agreement is between the couple or individual birthing, and the Meraki Collective. We do not accept any third-party reimbursement, HSA or FSA.

As always, CHOICE is a vital key to your success and journey. You are always free to choose what you want, don’t want, and we are here to answer questions and provide insights if you desire them.

If you do not want a chiropractor at your birth, we honor your wishes and will not have one there.

Due to multiple reasons, we are not allowing personal chiropractors to be at births. They are more than welcome to come visit postpartum if you’d like!

Doulas have the opportunity to support members with continuity of care because, unlike the nursing staff in a hospital, they don’t have “shifts.” Instead, they are there until you give birth, plus 1 to 2 hours postpartum. (Some doulas work in teams if labor needs a rested doula to tend to a laboring woman’s needs.) They are also present postpartum to provide additional assistance and support.

Having a doula present at birth can significantly reduce the fatigue you experience during labor. Doulas are specially trained to support mothers before, during, and after labor, which can help reduce the stress and anxiety a mother feels. Doulas can also support partners, helping them feel more confident in their roles. Additionally, postpartum doulas can provide invaluable support to mothers in the early weeks after.

A midwife is a medical professional who specializes in pregnancies and births, while a doula provides emotional and physical support to a woman during labor. Some women find that having both a midwife and a doula gives them the best possible care and support during childbirth. While midwives focus on the medical aspects of pregnancy and childbirth, focusing on keeping things progressing normally, doulas provide support to the mother and her partner to help ease anxiety, provide information and emotional support, offer massages and other forms of physical comfort. While midwives also provide some comfort measures and encouragement, you do not want a midwife who is physically and mentally exhausted when medical moments arrive. Being a doula is indeed, physical work. Midwives and doulas work well together, and each have distinctively different roles.

Because we honor the whole person experience, we have a doula to support each family that births at the Meraki Collective. This is part of the program of care, available to anyone who desires to birth with our team.