Personal and respectful professional nurse-midwifery services are available to women throughout every stage of a woman’s life. We will provide you with comprehensive, nurturing and culturally competent care and medical decisions will be made in consultation with you. Lab work, sonograms, and referral to medical specialists outside the Ob/Gyn area are provided when medically indicated.

Preconception counseling involves a visit to assess and advise women on how to achieve optimum health before pregnancy. This visit could include a physical exam, laboratory screening, nutritional assessment and counseling, assessment of the woman and her family for the emotional, psychosocial, and sexual effects of pregnancy, as well as the possible influence of environmental and occupational factors on pregnancy planning.

Family-centered prenatal care will start with your very first visit. Although the components of the first visit may vary with your estimated gestational age and whether you are starting your care with the Lone Star CNMs or transferring your care from another provider, your CNMs will closely monitor the progress of your pregnancy and work to teach you and answer all of your questions about nutrition, exercise, travel, pregnancy and birth decisions, and the maintenance of a healthy life style throughout your pregnancy.

When you start your care with Lone Star CNMs, your first prenatal visit will include a complete physical and the pregnancy panel of lab tests, a urine or blood pregnancy test if indicated, nutrition and exercise counseling, a review of your complete medical, obstetric and family history, and/or a review of any transferred records. Spouses, family members, friends, and/or your children are welcome at all prenatal visits according to your preferences.

Your second visit with your midwife will follow in two weeks and will include a review of your lab results and an initial sonogram if indicated by your fist examination and/or history. Subsequent visits will occur at four-week intervals until the 28th week, and then at two week intervals until week 36 at which time visits are every week until delivery. More frequent visits will be scheduled as indicated.

A routine sonogram will be scheduled for everyone who desires one around the 20th week of pregnancy. The sex of your baby can be discovered at that visit and many of our patients enjoy bringing spouses or family members to share that moment. A videotape of the sonogram will be made for you at you request.

Childbirth and breastfeeding classes will be encouraged as you progress through your pregnancy. As you near your delivery date, you will be encouraged to formulate a birth plan and share it with us and we will discuss and answer all your questions or concerns about your upcoming delivery decisions and requests.

During your labor at St. Luke’s Baptist Hospital, we will continue the continuity of care that you received throughout your prenatal course. The midwife on call will be there with you as well as any family or loved ones that will be a comfort and help to you during your labor and delivery.

Your midwife will encourage you to move about during labor, as you desire and as indicated by your or your baby’s well-being and to find the most comfortable position for labor. A walk in the hospital corridor, in your room, a soothing shower, relaxing in a rocking chair or the bed, or finding a position of comfort on the birthing ball are all options. You are encouraged to bring a CD player, aromatherapy scents, your favorite pillow or gown to optimize your comfort during this special time.

At the moment of birth, our focus will be on helping you to achieve the most satisfying and healthful birth possible. Many fathers will reach out to actually catch their baby once the midwife has safely delivered the head and shoulders. Our goal is to allow you to experience the miracle of your birth together and to intervene as little as possible while continuously keeping the safety of you and your baby at the fore.

If your labor becomes one of the few that requires specialized assistance, one of the Lone Star Ob/Gyn doctors is on call and readily available as needed. Obstetrical anesthesia is available 24 hours per day and seven days per week at St. Luke's, as are neonatal specialists and newborn care should that become necessary.

After delivery, it is our goal to keep mother and baby together. Your baby will be placed directly on your abdomen for skin-to-skin contact after delivery, if you desire. Keeping mother and baby together will continue in your postpartum course as baby moves with you from your labor and delivery suite to your private postpartum room.

During your postpartum period (i.e., the six weeks following delivery), your midwives will continue to be available to you. In the hospital, your midwives are on call for any problems that might occur and will visit you daily to ensure that you are progressing optimally. Follow-up visits will take place in the office at two weeks and six weeks following birth. Assistance with breastfeeding (including referral to a professional Lactation Consultant), management of the discomforts of postpartum, assessment of normal postpartum progress, and family planning options will be a part of your care.

Well woman care with a Lone Star CNM will include routine well-woman physical exams and pap smears, breast exams, as well as individualized counseling for and provision of family planning options. Patient education is always a component of midwifery care and we will offer instruction in breast self-exam, safe sex practices, and counseling to promote health and prevent disease as indicated by your history and physical exam.

Medications, when needed, can be prescribed by the CNMs at Lone Star Ob/Gyn; depending on the situation, the CNMs will prescribe antibiotics, birth control, vitamins and other medications. The nurse-midwives at Lone Star Ob/Gyn have full prescriptive privileges in accordance with their scope of practice in caring for women throughout the life span and as granted by the Texas State Board of Medical Examiners.