MILWAUKEE -- Many expectant parents are choosing midwives to deliver their babies. It might be millennials bringing midwifery back in vogue.
One could credit Kate Middleton who reportedly used midwives when she delivered.
Maybe it's the growing popularity around the PBS hit show, Call the Midwife.
An Ob-Gyn delivered Kelly Darmody's first baby.
"It felt scary, it felt stressful, and I never felt like I could kind of relax into the process at all. I just felt that there could be a different way," said Kelly Darmody.
Darmody chose a midwife to deliver her second child.
"This time around it felt so empowering," said Darmody.
Research brought Darmody to Authentic Birth Center in Wauwatosa,
"It was still painful, don't get me wrong, but it was beautiful and wonderful," said Darmody.
She is one of more than 500 women who have delivered at the center since it opened in 2013. Certified Professional Midwife LaNette McQuitty runs the community based birth center.
"We specialize in physiological birth. So not just natural birth, but physiological birth, which is when a mom is really in the instinctual part of their brain," said LaNette McQuitty.
Ob-Gyn: doctor who specializes in women's reproductive health, including any kind of emergency
Midwife: deliveries babies and helps with patients individual needs
Doula: emotional support for mother's during labor
McQuitty said the biggest benefit for mom's who choose a midwife is the community.
"That continuity of care, the conversational care that we give," said McQuitty.
Mom's have four birthing suites to choose from and McQuitty said water births are very popular at Authentic.
"We're just really going back to what was the norm," said McQuitty.
Parents come from all over the world to have their babies at the Wauwatosa center.
"We just had somebody fly in from Dubai, from Lebanon, from other parts of the world," said McQuitty.
McQuitty said she strategically built the center less than a mile from Children's Hospital in case there was an emergency.
"We're really trained to expect that unexpected. To really recognize before there's a crisis," said McQuitty.
McQuitty remembers three times when they have needed to rush a mom to the hospital during labor or delivery.
Some mom's want to deliver outside a hospital. Others prefer a midwife, but still want to deliver within hospital walls.
That's where MaryAnne Scherer comes in. She is the lead Certified Nurse Midwife at Aurora's Midwifery and Wellness Center at Aurora Sinai.
"It's really the best of both worlds because literally right down the hallway is a private OR suite if something should happen," said Scherer.
The program has been around for more than 30 years
"Midwives deliver about 30% of the babies here at Aurora Sinai," said MaryAnne Scherer.
There's a tub to labor in at the hospital, but there aren't any water births. You do have an option for an epidural.
Scherer said more people are being vocal about their delivery experiences and that's why mom's might be inspired to choose a midwife.
"I think that social media and women becoming more educated about or empowered about how they want they're healthcare to be," said Scherer.
Midwives are not legal in every state.
"There's two kinds of midwives in the state of Wisconsin," said Scherer.
Certified Nurse Midwives: a midwife that is also an advanced practice registered nurse
Certified Professional Midwives: certified to provide the midwives model of care
"Midwives have been kind of the best kept secret in Milwaukee and we don't really want to be a secret," said Scherer.
For more information on Midwifery & Wellness Center, click here.
For more information on the Authentic Birth Center, Wellness Collective, click here.
