Gentle Delivery Midwifery Services - Midwife Kelsey Martin, CPM

07/23/2025

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07/21/2025

A 2024 study looked at maternal and neonatal outcomes in midwife-attended planned home births versus planned hospital births in Spain.

Researchers analysed data from 3,463 low-risk births between 2016 and 2018, including 2,713 hospital and 750 home births.

They found several differences between the groups, which is often the case in this type of study.

“Women choosing home births typically had higher education levels and were predominantly Spanish. They were 3.43 times more likely to have a spontaneous birth and significantly less likely to undergo instrumental births than those in hospitals.

“Home births were associated with higher utilization of non-pharmacological analgesia and a more pronounced tendency to initiate breastfeeding within the first hour post birth. stronger inclination towards breastfeeding.

“Hospital births, conversely, showed higher use of the lithotomy position and epidural analgesia.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

“There were no significant differences in neonatal outcomes between the two groups.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

The researchers conclude that:

“Home births managed by midwives offered better obstetric and neonatal outcomes for low-risk women than hospital births.

"These results suggest home birth as a safe, viable option that promotes natural birthing processes and reduces medical interventions.

"The study supports the integration of midwife-led home birth into public health policies, affirming its benefits for maternal and neonatal health.” (Alcaraz-Vidal et al 2024).

We have added this to the ever-growing list of studies evidencing the safety of home birth on our home birth information hub.

You can find that, and the link to this study, at https://www.sarawickham.com/research-updates/is_home_birth_safe/

You can sign up to get my email updates (in which I share lots more than I post on social media) at https://www.sarawickham.com

07/19/2025

A neat article featuring a midwife I know personally (and who helped me get started training at the same TX birth center!) ❤️

https://simplybloominggrace.com/2025/07/18/so-god-made-a-midwife/?fbclid=IwQ0xDSwLnv1VjbGNrAue_UWV4dG4DYWVtAjExAAEeotJHQg_nzQ0JGDMJaBW5y-ZZCw0Y_bxlP9pqS_j9xQzVQrhtfY6n-Nx0TSg_aem_XEDpSFMlOp9Y_elTBkNhEA

The article highlights the rise in popularity of home births and midwifery, especially in rural areas like Northwest Kansas, where traditional healthcare access is limited. Midwife Sara Sowers emph…

07/15/2025

Thanks to all who joined us at the park yesterday for the mom !! It was a gorgeous morning, and the rain held off until after we were all packed up. 🙂 We had about 10 moms, lots of little people (around 13 or so were "my" babies 🥰), bubbles + tree climbing, and we enjoyed some good discussions on preparing for labor, adjusting from one child to more, pregnancy health, and more! I hope to get another one scheduled for late summer/early fall, so stay tuned...

07/15/2025

Keeping PA families aware...

07/13/2025

Reminder to come join us at the park tomorrow!! Let me know if you need more info...right now chance of rain is just 20%, so hopefully it still works out! I'll post an update on the Facebook event page and here if we need to postpone...

07/11/2025

This recent arrival involved a pretty special birth: not only was the family delighted to welcome a daughter, but they also sweetly invited my own daughter to attend, which was an answer-to-prayer-dream-come-true for her. My oldest has been studying midwifery and birth textbooks as part of her curriculum for the year, and has been longing for the time when she might be able to start training to be an assistant with future dreams of midwifery work. I think her smile looking down at this adorable newborn says it all! 

07/09/2025

Ready to go! Come see us downtown from 10-2 at the Arts Fest #339 on Allen St

07/03/2025

Hey local friends, mark your calendars to come see us in State College at the Arts Fest Children's and Youth Sidewalk Sale!! Wednesday July 9 from 10-2 on Allen St, look for booth #339.

My children have been hard at work making adorable painted peg dolls, cork boats that really float, teacup bird feeders, dress up capes, decorated note pads, natural soy candles, and cards using Matthias' bird photography. Matthias also chose some of his favorite shots to frame and mat, so those will be available, too. But most of all we want our friends to come say hi!

06/28/2025

I have had so many new students that have sent me messages about the “wrapped cord photo”. As I have said to many of you, midwives see them all the time. We are oftentimes surprised when we don’t. I’ve attended births where we had cords that looked like seat belts, backpacks, halos (lol), etc. we literally just unwrap them. Wharton’s Jelly is more protective than you’d think. Physiologically, just think about growing in a small space with a cord attached to you as you flip and dip for 9 months 😂 Yeah! To be expected right? So the skill is in knowing as much as you can about heart tones and decels. Early and late decels. Whether they’re in early labor or transition, station, and of course the baby’s position.

Niether here nor there, I found the original post and thought I’d share because if students are curious, I’m sure birthing folks are too 🤍

Original Post:

“The nuchal cord wrapping around baby's body and neck is a common fear for many parents.
For midwives, we aren't phased too much and it is actually a very common occurrence with a third of all babies born with the nuchal cord around their neck.

Understanding the physiology of the cord helps to alleviate some of the anxieties around this common occurrence. ✨Firstly, the cord is covered in Wharton’s jelly which protects the 3 blood vessels from the stretch and compression that is inevitable with a moving baby and birth. ✨Secondly, the average length of the umbilical cord is around 55cm giving plenty of left over cord to be comfortably wrapped around baby.

If the nuchal cord is around your baby's neck at birth. Do not be alarmed, remember that this is a common occurrence with most cords having some 'give' in them to continue supplying oxygen rich blood flow just like in pregnancy.❤
-Reposted from on IG”