Frequently Asked Questions

Informed consent is a cornerstone to midwifery care so it’s an important concept to understand. It means that you are the one making decisions about your body and your baby, and those decisions are based on clear, honest information- not pressure.

In practice, it looks like this:

• You’re given all the relevant information about a test, treatment, or choice- what it is, why it’s offered, the benefits, the risks, and the alternatives (including doing nothing).

• You have space to ask questions, take your time, and feel into what’s right for you.

• Your provider offers guidance without coercion—no fear tactics, no rushing, no “this is the only way.”

• You make a voluntary decision, and that choice is respected.

At its heart, informed consent is about trust, autonomy, and shared responsibility: you bring your values and intuition, your provider brings their knowledge and experience, and together you make decisions that feel aligned for you and your family.

Evidence shows that for low risk women, homebirth attended by a trained midwife has a similar rate of neonatal and maternal deaths but has a lower rate of interventions. PhD researcher, Sara Wickam wrote an excellent article on this topic, citing many studies. You can find it here.

Rarely, there are emergencies even for low risk mothers. Midwives are trained to handle emergencies that occur at home births. When emergencies call for a higher level of medical care, we transport. If you have any questions about how midwives handle emergencies, please ask!

As a licensed midwife, I am bound to the scope of practice that the state sets forth. In Colorado, that means that I can only offer women a home birth if they don’t have the following conditions:
Hypertension, diabetes, cardiac diseases, renal conditions, any chronic conditions not well controlled, active tuberculosis, syphilis, or gonorrhea infection at onset of labor, positive HIV or AIDs, hemoglobinopathies, or seizures. Sadly, in Colorado, it is against our regulations to attend the birth of twins or breech babies.

If you are not a candidate for home birth care but would still like midwifery prenatal or postpartum care, please reach out. I offer a free consult where we can discuss what collaborative care might look like to you.

You are not alone. All these letters are confusing. I actually made a chart which you can find here to break it all down. In short, CNM’s are nurse midwives trained in hospitals (they can practice at home or in a hospital) where as CPM’s are midwives trained in community settings and they have no hospital affiliations nor are they able to practice in hospitals.

In the Four Corner’s region, the only CNMs I am aware of, practice exclusively in the hospital and might be thought of as holistic hospital providers. While CPMs practice exclusively in community settings (home birth). If you’re interested to here more about what the CPM credential implies, you can read about it here.

A doula is a non-medical support person. There are death doulas, wedding doulas, birth and postpartum doulas, and more! Doulas are amazing at supporting and advocating for people during big life transitions. Training might be anywhere from 3 days to 3 months.

A midwife is a trained care provider, specialized in caring for low risk women during pregnancy, labor, birth, and postpartum. Training typically takes around 3-5 years. Midwifery is often called the oldest profession. It has changed in form but not in essence- midwives have been tending birth for thousands of years.