A pregnant woman, like any mother, is always looking out for what’s best for her child—and midwives recognize that, says Gail Margarita Raymon of Gentle Beginnings Midwifery. “We trust that with information and support for decision making, women know how to mother their babies right from the start,” she says.

Midwives help pregnant women achieve optimal nutrition, pay attention to their bodies’ need for exercise and rest, and nurture their emotional and spiritual selves, Raymon says, and that respect for natural intuition continues through labor and delivery. “Midwives are known as the guardians of normal birth,” she says. “This means supporting the physiological process of labor so that women give birth without unwanted or unnecessary interventions.”  

A mother-to-be should take time to research her many prenatal and childbirth options—reading about birth, talking with new moms, interviewing prospective healthcare providers, and touring hospitals so she has a better understanding of the differences between hospital and home births, Raymon says. “She should choose a setting that meets her and her family’s needs and find a practitioner who sees physiological birth as the norm,” she says. “The setting determines the kind of prenatal care and childbirth experience she can expect.” Women seeking midwifery care for a home birth can get contact information from NYHomeBirth.com or HudsonValleyBirthNetwork.com.

Gail Margarita Raymon is a certified nurse-midwife and certified lactation counselor. She offers home-birth midwife services, HypnoBirthing childbirth education, personalized guided imagery for childbirth, breast-feeding counseling and placental encapsulation. For more info, visit GentleBeginningsMidwiferyNY.com or contact Raymon at [email protected] or 845.628.2560.