services
Andaluz midwives provide comprehensive, family-centered prenatal, birth, and postpartum care. With births that take place in one of our beautiful birth centers or in the familiarity of your own home, our midwives are skilled and sensitive to each woman’s unique needs through the childbearing year.
Andaluz offers a variety of classes and workshops, many of them free, to best support families and help build community. We have active email lists and a strong social media presence to further connect families with one another.
In addition to your pregnancy and birth care, our midwives provide well baby care for the first six weeks, with the option to continue care with our naturopathic physician at the birth center for whole family care. With Andaluz, you and your baby receive the best of both worlds: respectful, safe, professional care that is also sensitive, and loving.
prenatal care
Unhurried one-hour prenatal visits are the hallmark of Andaluz midwifery care. With two midwives that will care for you prenatally and are on call for your birth, you will know and have a relationship with your birth attendants. No strangers, only invited and welcome guests.
Prenatal visits are scheduled routinely every four weeks until the 32nd week of pregnancy, then every two weeks until a month before you’re due, when we will meet weekly until you go into labor. Your midwives are flexible and accessible, offering additional appointments if needed and availability for communication between visits.
Prenatal testing, ultrasounds and labwork are offered and discussed in-depth. Along with your midwives, you participate in the decision-making process. Andaluz gives you the time you deserve and affords you the respect to be part of your care.
waterbirth
Andaluz midwives lead Oregon professionals with their experience and skill in waterbirth. The benefits of laboring and / or birthing in water are numerous to both you and your baby. The simple act of immersing yourself in a spacious tub of warm water immediately soothes the body, allowing buoyancy and a loss of gravity to assist with labor. Position changes are easier, there is a sense of privacy in the water, and your partner can even support you in the birth tub.
For the baby, moving from one warm fluid-filled environment (your body) to the birth tub allows for a gentle, unhurried transition to life outside the womb.
our birth centers
When you arrive at one of our beautiful birth centers in labor, you are greeted with familiar, excited faces, a softly lit room and a birth tub filled with warm water. All of our necessary safety and diagnostic equipment is readily available, but tucked out of sight until needed. The feeling is intimate, secure and personal.
Avoid routine medical interventions such as IVs, episiotomies, and unnecessary cesarean sections. Andaluz has a 3% cesarean rate, compared to the national average of over 30%.
home birth
If your desire is to have your baby in your own home, Andaluz midwives are experienced in bringing the necessary equipment and safety to your environment. Prenatal visits are done in one of our birth centers, with a home visit taking place a month before your due date.
Have your heart set on laboring or birthing in water? We have portable pools for your home birth.
vaginal birth after cesarean
Andaluz midwives love helping women plan and achieve a vaginal birth after cesarean (VBAC)! Over 90% of our clients intending a VBAC end up having a successful vaginal birth. Our midwives provide complete information about the risks and benefits of vaginal birth and elective cesarean so you can make the healthiest choice possible for you and your baby.
For more information about the safety and issues surrounding VBAC, please see our Resources page.
breech birth
Women with breech babies often have one choice in manner of birth: cesarean section. While there are various scenarios that make a cesarean a safer choice for breech birth, having a midwife that is skilled and knowledgeable about breech vaginal birth offers more options. Andaluz midwives are experienced with breech vaginal birth, including when an out-of-hospital breech birth may not be the safest route.
Due to current Oregon birth center laws, planned breech births cannot take place in our birth centers, but we offer skilled midwifery attendance at breech home births. Planning a vaginal breech birth takes a great deal of research and communication. Our midwives work hard to make sure that you have the tools and information you need to understand your options.
For more information on the safety and issues surrounding vaginal breech birth, please see our Resources page.
postpartum care
We love to pamper moms after birth! During your stay at the birth center, we order food for you and your partner from area restaurant favorites. Depending on insurance coverage and needs, most women choose to stay two days postpartum at the birth center. This provides ample time to bond and get breastfeeding off to a great start, while having support and care immediately available. A free postpartum massage is offered on your second day at the birth center.
Follow-up care includes a three day postpartum home visit, and a one-week, three week, and six week postpartum visit at the birth center. Of course, your midwives are available for consultation and questions 24 hours a day by phone.
newborn care
We won’t separate you from your sweet, new baby. You’ll have as much time as you want to bond with your baby, including choosing who touches and holds your baby. Andaluz midwives do newborn exams within the first two hours after birth, but they are done while the baby is in your arms and/or right by your side. Our midwifery staff adores babies and recognizes that each newborn is a conscious being, requiring gentle touch and awareness.
All parents are given information about State of Oregon requirements for newborns, such as antibiotic drops for the eyes, newborn metabolic screening and Vitamin K. We fully support your right to make decisions regarding your newborn’s care.
Andaluz midwives provide well baby care through the first six weeks, after which you are welcome to return to Andaluz for continued well baby (and family!) care with our naturopathic physician.
classes
Andaluz clients have a variety of classes to choose from for education and community-building. We offer childbirth education classes, free breastfeeding classes, and free yoga classes. In addition, there are frequently workshops on issues of interest to parents and women.
Classes are taught at the Portland birth center in our large, beautiful classroom. Please see our online calendar for dates and information, and our resources page for a handout explaining the classes.
our community
Andaluz has a large family of clients who enjoy getting together for potlucks, organized play groups, and “ladies night out”. We also have a Yahoo online group for Andaluz clients with over 500 members – this is a great resource for parents!
Please see our Resources page for more information about the online group, and “like” our Facebook page to stay current on events!