A monitrice provides clinical care in the home during labor and transitions to a doula role once you arrive at a hospital or birth center to birth with their primary care team. For many women choosing a facility birth, their desire is to stay as home as long as possible. To facilitate this, they often hire a doula, or not, while subsequently being fearful to plan a home birth. Unfortunately, most doulas are not trained in the clinical aspects of labor and birth, nor is it the role of a doula to provide clinical care, and having a doula help you stay home as long as possible provides a false sense of reassurance. Utilizing the experience of a monitrice helps you to receive continuous labor support along with monitoring the well-being of mom and baby during labor and avoiding unnecessary interventions without fighting for your personal human rights in birth. The transition to the hospital allows you to still receive this same continuous care through birth with typical doula services of physical, emotional, and informational support. If your facility restricts additional support person during the COVID-19 pandemic, virtual support is available after you make your transition to the hospital.

Monitrice support is a middle ground between doula support and home birth midwifery care.  Many women that are not comfortable birthing at home, but also not comfortable laboring in a hospital or birth center, choose to have a midwife support them throughout labor at home to help them remain at home longer while also receiving midwifery care for monitoring the well-being of mother and baby.

Your monitrice support will include:

• Unlimited phone and message support through postpartum
• Access to the Esali Birth Online Labor & Birth Overview & my personal lending & resource library throughout your care
• 2 Prenatal Visits between weeks 30-37 weeks in your home to provide routine prenatal care of you and your baby as well as to discuss your birth wishes
• Clinical support through labor before transferring to your care provider and desired birth location. (I will come to you for support when your birth sensations are occurring at regular intervals and becoming closer together, or as soon as you desire my presence).
• While there is no one that can guarantee a prediction as to when you will birth your baby, we help you to remain at home for a comfortable length of time to help avoid unnecessary interventions within your chosen birth location.
• Doula support within your chosen birth location, remaining with you for approximately 1 hour following the birth (not included in COVID monitrice support)
• 1 Postpartum Visit:
  • Days 2-7 – This will occur after you have been discharged from your birth facility to check vitals on the mother and baby, monitor lochia and tears, provide breastfeeding support, complete the newborn screening if desired, and other general postpartum support.