Lebanon Valley Midwifery - Lebanon Valley Birth Center

Lebanon Valley Midwifery - Lebanon Valley Birth Center Pregnancy & women’s health care by certified nurse-midwives including births at home, our licensed, accredited birth center or the hospital

Lebanon Valley Midwifery and Women's Wellness
Lebanon Valley Birth Center

Philosophy and Mission of Care
LVMWW is a life-affirming birth and women’s wellness center specializing in the health care of women. Our mission is to provide safe, gentle, and sensitive care to the diverse families in our community. We believe that in an atmosphere of shared knowledge, mutual responsibility, and education, you are empowered to be an active partner in developing a plan for your care. We believe that optimal health care combines current scientific knowledge with a deep respect for your individual physical, social, spiritual, psychological, and economic needs. Women’s Health
LVMWW provides well-woman care, from a young woman’s first visit past the normal life event of menopause. Visits include a complete health history, physical exam, and screenings (Paps, etc.). Education, counseling, and guidance are available on a variety of topics: healthy lifestyle and wellness, nutrition, exercise and disease prevention. Most family planning options, including natural family planning and oral contraceptives, are available. Counseling and/or treatment for minor gyneco-urologic and infertility problems is provided with referral for more complicated ones. Pregnancy and Childbirth
Most babies are born are into the skillful, caring hands of a midwife. We believe pregnancy and childbirth is a natural, joyous event – a healthy, normal process. Our role is watch for your safety and to support you and your family through your childbearing year. We respect a woman’s right to determine her birthing experience, including a provider and birth setting in which she is safe and comfortable. We offer a free orientation visit. Pre-marital and/or pre-conception visits are encouraged. We limit the number of births in each month. Call as soon as you know you are pregnant to “reserve a spot”. Visits are in the office with occasional home, evening and weekend visits. A CNM is available at all times, as are our supportive physicians. We offer childbirth and breastfeeding classes and have a lactation consultant. We offer births at your home, in our Lebanon Valley Birth Center, which is state-licensed and CABC accredited, and we have privileges at WellSpan Ephrata Community Hospital. We offer water births and attend VBACs. Your midwife and a highly trained registered nurse will be present during your active labor, birth and for a few hours after. Postpartum (after birth) visits are shceduled though the first 6 weeks. We provide newborn care through 4 weeks if you choose. We accept self-pay clients and take many insurances.

12/22/2025

GREAT NEWS!

We are able to accept new pregnancies again. If you are pregnant with a due date of April 8, 2026 or later and would like to use our services, please call to register your pregnancy. We expect to get many calls as the news spreads, so contact us as soon as you can if you want to use our midwives for your pregnancy care!

Our phone number is 717-933-9743. Our office is open weekdays from 9 AM to noon, and 1 to 5 PM.

This is terrible, terrible news. Please keep them and their clients in your thoughts and prayers. Also stay tuned for wa...
11/20/2025

This is terrible, terrible news. Please keep them and their clients in your thoughts and prayers. Also stay tuned for ways to support PA birth centers, including ours.

After 47 years of serving our community and welcoming more than 16,000 babies, it is with very heavy hearts that we share that Lifecycle Wellness and Birth Center will be closing its doors in 2026.

From the beginning, Lifecycle Wellness has been dedicated to providing evidence-based, family-centered care that empowers clients to make informed choices and experience birth in a supportive, home-like environment. For decades, our team of Certified Nurse Midwives, Nurse Practitioners, Registered Nurses and staff have worked to create a model of care that honors the natural process of birth while ensuring safety, compassion, and respect for every family we serve. It has been our privilege to support so many of your families through some of life’s most meaningful moments.

Growing challenges have made it increasingly difficult for small, independent, and non-profit maternal health providers to exist. Birth centers are uniquely designed to serve healthy, low-risk pregnancies, yet shifts in public health and rising rates of medical complications have reduced the number of families eligible for this model of care. At the same time, the cost of maintaining high-quality, personalized services has continued to climb, from staffing and training to facility upkeep and liability coverage, while insurance reimbursement rates have not kept pace.

In addition, Pennsylvania, like much of the U.S., has seen a steady increase in malpractice insurance premiums and legal pressures on maternal health providers. These financial and regulatory challenges have been difficult for even large health systems to manage, and have forced many independent and community-based centers to close or merge. Despite our best efforts to adapt our model through partnerships, operational efficiencies, and advocacy, these pressures have grown too great to sustain. In today’s healthcare environment, it has become increasingly difficult for small, independent providers to continue offering the kind of individualized care that has always defined Lifecycle Wellness. (Continued in comments.)

11/18/2025
11/17/2025

NYTimes Letter to the Editor ✒️

Many of you may have already seen the NY Times article "The ‘Worst Test in Medicine’ is Driving America’s High C-Section Rate" (https://www.nytimes.com/2025/11/06/health/electronic-fetal-monitoring-c-sections.html?unlocked_article_code=1.108.XT6J.Y2YuWc0Xc01e&smid=url-share ).
AABC sent a Letter to the Editor in response! Since our letter did not get published, we wanted to share it with you all here.
----------------
Dear Editor,

Thank you for highlighting the overreliance on continuous electronic fetal monitoring (EFM) and its role in rising Cesarean rates.

There is a solution to this epidemic. Midwifery-led birth centers use intermittent fetal monitoring instead of continuous EFM. They are an evidence-based model that delivers outcomes comparable to those of the top nations globally by offering holistic, family-centered care that protects and empowers patients, thereby enhancing both physical and mental well-being in our community.

Birth centers are fully integrated into the healthcare system and guided by principles of prevention, safety, appropriate medical intervention, and cost-effectiveness. While midwifery care can occur elsewhere, birth centers are unique in offering this dedicated, physiologic model.
Outcomes speak for themselves:
-Cesarean rates under 6%
-NICU admissions less than half the national average
-Low rates of interventions with superior overall outcomes

These results demonstrate the clinical excellence and fiscal prudence of the birth center model, reducing complications and costs while maintaining world-standard safety, lowering maternal mortality risk, and prioritizing maternal autonomy and satisfaction.

Respectfully,
Kate Bauer
Executive Director
American Association of Birth Centers
Perkiomenville, PA

11/06/2025

Decades of research have shown that round-the-clock fetal monitoring does not reliably predict fetal distress, and experts say it leads to many unnecessary surgeries. But it’s still used in nearly every birth in the U.S. because of business and legal concerns, a New York Times investigation found. https://nyti.ms/3WF7yLx

From our colleagues...                                                                  Good news!  Yesterday, the Midwi...
10/30/2025

From our colleagues... Good news!

Yesterday, the Midwifery Modernization Act (SB 507) passed through the House of Representative's Professional Licensure Committee, as did House Bill 1251 which will allow us to prescribe physical therapy.

There is a lot of support in the House for Midwifery. Many of them know and value midwifery care.

Additionally, yesterday, SB 507 also had first consideration on the full House floor and there [were] no discussions or amendments! We expect it to go for second consideration today, then it will be sent to appropriations committee for fiscal review. We anticipate no concerns there. Then it will go up for 3rd and FINAL review in mid-November. If it passes... it will go to the Governor's desk for signature!!!!!!!!!!!

These two bills are moving quickly so please drop an email or a quick call to your state Representative - even if they have been supportive.They WANT to hear from you. and they want and need thanks.

Here's how to find your PA State Representative:

Not sure who your PA legislator is? Use our new feature to discover who represents you in the legislature and US Congress.

Adapted from our nurse-midwife leaders...We need your FINAL push for advocacy for SB 507/ Midwifery Modernization Act! T...
10/18/2025

Adapted from our nurse-midwife leaders...

We need your FINAL push for advocacy for SB 507/ Midwifery Modernization Act!

The bill is very close to being brought to a vote to the full Senate floor in the coming week or two. The best thing we can do is personal advocacy to our Senators to ensure the bill is brought up to a vote.

Your MESSAGE CAN BE SIMPLE: I am a citizen of PA who uses or has used the services of midwives and/or gives/has given birth in a birth center. Senate Bill 507 will help expand the greatly needed midwifery services in PA. Please support this legislation coming to the Senate floor and vote for its passage.

Find your PA Senator: www.palegis.us/find-my-legislator

Full bill information: www.palegis.us/legislation/bills/2025/sb507

Thanks all!

Not sure who your PA legislator is? Use our new feature to discover who represents you in the legislature and US Congress.

Taking of and praying for these.
10/16/2025

Taking of and praying for these.

Address

770 Host Road
Womelsdorf, PA
19567

Opening Hours

Monday 9am - 5pm
Tuesday 9am - 5pm
Wednesday 9am - 5pm
Thursday 9am - 5pm
Friday 9am - 12pm

Telephone

+17179339743

Website

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