Minnesota Birth Center was featured today in an informative article in the Star Tribune!  Click this link to read the full article.

We are excited to be able to offer more maternity care options for mothers and their families in the Twin Cities.  We believe that for a certain population of mothers, freestanding birth centers are an excellent option for prenatal, labor, birth, postpartum, and women’s health care.  At Minnesota Birth Center, we recognize that pregnancy and childbirth are significant experiences in women’s lives.  At our birth center, women are served well by our Certified Nurse Midwives who seek to provide holistic, evidence based education for women to feel empowered in making their own health care decisions.

Contact us at 612.545.5311  to learn more about our birth center and to schedule a visit at one of our orientation sessions including a tour of our birth center!

We would love to introduce the first sweet baby born at Minnesota Birth Center!  Beauty has such a strong, amazing mother and a loving father.  We are so proud to have been a part of the birth of Beauty and the birth of a new family.  Call or email us to schedule a time to attend our orientation session with one of our CNMs and tour our beautiful birth center.

by Martha Highfill, CNM

One of the common discomforts in pregnancy is leg cramping.  Leg cramps usually occur during the night time and can greatly affect a woman’s sleeping habits.  Some women are awoken during sleep with leg cramping with the only relief coming from movement of the affected leg.  When the foot is dorsiflexed (or when the toes are flexed towards the knee), the cramp is usually relieved.  Leg cramps often occur in one leg at a time (Hensley, 2009).  Although leg cramps do not cause any long term damage to the muscle, they may be very painful and disrupt sleep.  This can be quite troublesome for many pregnant women (Young & Jewell, 2011).

How common are leg cramps in pregnancy?

Leg cramps affect 30 to 50% of pregnant women during their pregnancy especially in the third trimester (Hensley, 2009; Young & Jewell, 2011).

What causes leg cramping in pregnancy?

It is not clear what exactly causes leg cramps in pregnancy.  They often occur in women that are physically active prior to and during pregnancy.  Some causes of leg cramping may be excessive exercise, little to no physical activity, dehydration, inadequate magnesium intake, and inadequate calcium intake (Hensley, 2009).  It has been suggested that slower blood circulation in the legs in pregnancy may contribute to leg cramps.  The pregnancy hormone progesterone makes the veins weaker during pregnancy which could lead to leg cramping, varicose veins, as well as other common discomforts in pregnancy (Young & Jewell, 2011).

What can I do if I have leg cramps in pregnancy?

Getting 30 minutes of exercise every day while pregnant will help improve overall mood, help blood circulation, as well as provide a general feeling of well-being.  Walking, jogging, swimming, and yoga are all great ways to exercise and stretch the muscles of the legs.  Make sure you stretch thoroughly before and after exercising.  Eating a healthy diet with a variety of vegetables and fruits, whole grains, lean proteins, and plenty of water is vital to remain healthy during pregnancy.

When you have a leg cramp, stand up and place your feet flat and firmly against the floor.  Some women find relief for leg cramps by wearing support hose during pregnancy.  Stretching your calves and legs before going to bed also may help prevent leg cramping during the night although there is a lack of evidence proving this.  However, there is some evidence that shows adding a daily magnesium supplement may help with leg cramping when there is a previous magnesium imbalance (Hensley, 2009; Young & Jewell, 2011).

You can also increase the amount of magnesium in your diet.  Foods that are high in magnesium include almonds, wheat bran, spinach, cashews, wheat germ, peanut butter, black-eyed peas, pinto beans, and brown rice.  Talk with your CNM about your individual needs if you have leg cramping during pregnancy.

References

Hensley, J. G.  (2009).  Leg cramps and restless legs syndrome in pregnancy.  Journal of Midwifery & Women’s Health, 54(3), 211-218.

Young, G., & Jewell, D.  (2011).  Interventions for leg cramps in pregnancy.  Cochrane Database for Systematic Reviews, 1.  DOI: 10.1002/14651858.CD000121.

by Mary-Signe Kelly, CNM

As children, we spend a lot of time in the sun.  It kept us  – and our parents – happy and healthy.  The sun is needed for almost all plants and animals to live.  Humans are no different.  One of the main reasons we need the sun is for vitamin D.  It’s been a hot topic in health the past couple of years, and rightfully so, since we are finding that many people are deficient in vitamin D.  Why is this?  Our bodies can make vitamin D from sunlight, but many experts believe we cannot, or do not get enough sunlight to make enough vitamin D.  Vitamin D also plays many important roles in keeping us healthy.  Research shows that vitamin D deficiency can lead to cancer, diabetes, cardiovascular disease, osteoporosis, and muscle problems.

What is Vitamin D?

In scientific terms, vitamin D is a fat-soluble vitamin that is made in the body from sun exposure or fortified dietary intake.  The two parts that make vitamin D are ergocalciferol (D2) from plant or fish sources and cholecalciferol (D3) from sunlight (1).  The liver and kidney then change these forms into molecules that our body can use.  Also the parathyroid hormone, calcitriol, a derivative of vitamin D, helps maintain calcium and phosphorus levels in the body.  Calcium and vitamin D are the main nutrients which keep our bones healthy and strong.

Why is Vitamin D so important? 

The main function of vitamin D is for bone health.  Vitamin D works with calcium for bone mineralization, bone growth, and bone remodeling.  Without vitamin D, bones become thin, brittle and misshapen.  Prolonged vitamin D deficiency leads to rickets in children and osteomalacia in adults.  Vitamin D deficiency can also cause generalized muscle aches and pains in bones and muscles and muscle weakness (2).  It also plays a part in cell growth, neuromuscular function, immune function, and reduction of inflammation.  Additionally, vitamin D helps with overall cell life (2) for example it can help prevent breast, colon and prostate cancers by causing the cancer cells to die.  Vitamin D has been shown to prevent Type 1 diabetes, rheumatoid arthritis and multiple sclerosis.  Vitamin D affects heart health – affecting the contractility of the heart, vascular tone, cardiac collagen and cardiac tissue maturation (1).

Who is at risk for vitamin D deficiency?

After looking at all the different research, it seems like everyone is at risk for vitamin D deficiency.  If you don’t spend enough time in the sun, don’t eat a lot of fortified foods or fish, have a mal-absorption issue, take certain drugs, are over 60, a child, pregnant, lactating, overweight, have dark skin, you could possibly have a vitamin D deficiency.  There are a lot of risk factors for vitamin D deficiency and it seems that since we can get it from the sun we ought to have enough vitamin D.  In fact, researchers have found we need to spend 15-30 minutes in the sun during peak hours 10 a.m. to 2 p.m., four to seven days a week, depending on our skin pigmentation.  But if you live north of Atlanta, the sun isn’t strong enough during the winter to make vitamin D (3).  With our concerns about skin cancer, wrinkles and our use of sunscreen daily, we just aren’t getting our vitamin D from the sun.

How much vitamin D do we need?

The Endocrine Society and the National Institutes of Health recommend that children less than 12 months get 400 IU (international units) of vitamin D daily.  Women and men need 400-600 IU per day.  Lactating women who do not supplement their children need between 4000-6000 IU/day (2, 3).  Pregnant women need 1000 IU of vitamin D every day.

How do we get enough vitamin D?

It is recommended that vitamin D levels in the body should be greater than 30 ng/ml.  But how do we get there?  We could move to the tropics and spend more time in the sun or we could try to increase our intake of vitamin D including foods that are high in vitamin D or fortified with vitamin D or taking supplements.  Vitamin D is a vital part of our life.  We all need to take more breaks in the sun to get our Vitamin D –Nurse-Midwife’s orders!

1. Syroney L & Franjesevic A. 2010. Vitamin D Deficiency: Screening and Treatment in Primary Care. Advance for Nurse Practitioners, May 2010: 37-40.

2. Holick MF, Binkley NC, Bischoff-Ferrari HA, Gordon CM, Hanley DA, Heaney RP, Murad H, Weaver CM. 2011 “Evaluation, Treatment, and Presentation of Vitamin D Deficiency: an Endocrine Society Clinical Practice Guideline. Journal of Clinical Endocrinology & Metabolism, 96(7):0000-0000.

3. National Institutes of Health. (2011) Dietary Supplement Fact Sheet: Vitamin D. Retrieved from http://ods.od.nih.gov/factsheets/vitamind Jan. 3, 2012.

A freestanding birth center is an ideal place for healthy mothers and babies to receive care throughout pregnancy, labor, birth, postpartum, and continuing care throughout the lifespan.  At Minnesota Birth Center, we emphasize woman centered care in partnership with Certified Nurse Midwives (CNMs).  Our CNMs balance the art of midwifery with modern obstetrical care as well as providing personalized, high quality care with appropriate use of interventions.  The freestanding birth center creates an environment that is safe and empowering as well as being comfortable and homelike.

Birth centers are a perfect location for the midwifery model of care to be practiced.  The midwifery model of care emphasizes continuous care and labor support from a midwife while focusing on the unique emotional, social, spiritual, and physical needs of the pregnant mother and her family.  At the birth center, we celebrate the normalcy of pregnancy and birth in a woman’s life.  We view pregnancy, birth, postpartum, and parenthood as a significant experience in the life of a family.

Birth centers provide screening for their clients to ensure the mother remains healthy and low-risk during pregnancy.  Birth centers offer extensive education throughout pregnancy to empower women to feel confident making informed decisions about their own and their baby’s health care.  At MBC, the care our CNMs provide is evidence based and we encourage parents to closely research their health care choices.

During labor, interventions that may be standard in the hospital are not routine in the birth center such as routine IV’s, continuous fetal monitoring, routine induction of labor, or epidurals.  The freestanding birth center setting encourages specialized care to each woman’s individual needs and concerns.  At our birth center, we encourage active birth with frequent position changes, hydrotherapy in the tub or shower including water birth, eating and drinking as you like in labor, wearing your own clothes, immediate skin-to-skin contact with your baby, breastfeeding, and a postpartum herbal bath for mother and baby if desired.

We encourage you to contact us to schedule a time to attend our orientation session and tour our beautiful birth center where you will learn even more about freestanding birth centers!

Certified Nurse Midwives are Registered Nurses with a master’s degree, and have education in two disciplines, Nursing and Midwifery.  CNMs are board certified, independently licensed, and have prescriptive authority in all 50 states.  They primarily work in clinics, birth centers, hospitals, provide pregnancy and gynecological care from puberty to menopause.  They are able to collect for insurance reimbursement with private insurance, Medicare and Medicaid.

Certified Nurse Midwives are experts in understanding the normalcy of birth and recognizing potential complications early.  They collaborate with physicians if complications arise.  They care for women who desire either a natural labor or a medicated labor (including epidurals), and can first assist during a cesarean section.  CNMs provide support during labor, and are open and respectful of birth preferences.  They have similar safety outcomes as obstetricians for mothers and babies, while having low rates of induction, cesarean section, and episiotomies.

What Does A Certified Nurse Midwife Believe?

A Certified Nurse Midwife affirms the power and strength of women and the importance of their health in the well-being of families, communities and nations.  We believe in the basic human rights of all persons, recognizing that women often incur an undue burden of risk when these rights are violated.

Our Midwives believe every person has a right to:

• Equitable, ethical, accessible quality health care that promotes healing and health
• Health care that respects human dignity, individuality and diversity among groups
• Complete and accurate information to make informed health care decisions
• Self-determination and active participation in health care decisions
• Involvement of a woman’s designated family members, to the extent desired, in all health care experiences

A Midwife believes in the best model of health care for a woman and her family:

• Promotes a continuous and compassionate partnership
• Acknowledges a person’s life experiences and knowledge
• Includes individualized methods of care and healing guided by the best evidence available
• Involves therapeutic use of human presence and skillful communication

Our Midwives honor the normalcy of women’s lifecycle events.  We believe in:

• Watchful waiting and non-intervention in normal processes
• Appropriate use of interventions and technology for current or potential health problems
• Consultation, collaboration and referral with other members of the health care team as needed to provide optimal health care

We affirm that midwifery care incorporates these qualities and that women’s health care needs are well-served through midwifery care.

Finally, we value formal education, lifelong individual learning, and the development and application of research to guide ethical and competent midwifery practice. These beliefs and values provide the foundation for commitment to individual and collective leadership at the community, state, national and international level to improve the health of women and their families worldwide.

Choosing a Caregiver

Usually the caregiver and the place of birth go hand in hand. However, there are separate considerations for each.

First, there is the decision about seeing a Certified Nurse Midwife (CNM), an OB/GYN physician, a family doctor, or a Certified Professional Midwife. We recommend this article from Childbirth Connection on the differences between those.

We like to talk about this choice in the context of paradigm we often use: Safe, Satisfying, Seamless.

Safe

• Does the caregiver practice in a way that is consistent with the best available research on safe and effective care?
• Is your caregiver able to properly assess your risks in pregnancy? Evidence shows that over-intervention, especially for low-risk mothers, does not produce ideal outcomes. On the other side, women with more risk factors for pregnancy do require the proper care.

Satisfying

• Is your caregiver committed to helping you achieve the most satisfying outcome for your pregnancy (which for most women is a spontaneous vaginal delivery)?
• Does your caregiver make you feel comfortable?
• Does your caregiver’s philosophy about pregnancy and personal style match your own?

Seamless

• Does your caregiver have a plan in place if you want or need to transfer care before or in labor?
• If you see a group rather than an individual, does that group have unity in mind and demonstrated teamwork so that the care is seamlessly provided by all caregivers?

At the Minnesota Birth Center, we designed our care in order to match all these three ideas.

Safe

We believe firmly in evidence-based care, relying on the best research available. The best research available currently shows that low-risk women get the best care and have the best outcomes when cared for by midwives (see the Milbank Report on Evidence-Based Maternity Care). Based on this research we want to ensure the safest birth possible, especially by assessing your potential risks in pregnancy. This is done by our Certified Nurse Midwives and by our medical director is Dr. Steve Calvin, a obstetrician who is a maternal-fetal medicine specialist.

Satisfying

We want you to feel comfortable. Our birth center is homey, clean, and inviting (see photos). Our staff is friendly yet professional. And we are committed to helping you have the most satisfying birth, which is a normal, natural, spontaneous vaginal delivery.

Seamless

Most pregnancies are normal, but complications do arise. This is not a failure but is actually part of the natural process of pregnancy as well. That’s why we have a built-in process and an established relationship with an OB/GYM group should your situation necessitate additional medical care before or during labor.

Click photo to open photo tour

We have received many compliments on the beautifully restored house that is our birth center. Some of you have even asked to have place on our website where they can more clearly see our space.

We now have a photo tour available on our website. If photos are not enough for you, come visit us in person by requesting a tour or call us to set up an initial consultation at 612-545-5311.

You can also read more about our historic Victorian-style house located at 2606 Chicago Ave.